Suzanne Askham

Wellbeing notes: do these three things every day

A simple way to bring balance to your life is to follow a Mind Body Spirit checklist: to do one thing for your body, one thing for your mind, and one thing for your spirit – every single day. These actions don’t need to take very long, and yet they have the power to bring you a sense of purpose and of happiness.

To give you an example, my checklist this morning went as follows.

Body: a walk in the local fields, breathing in the cidery fragrance of crab apples in wintry hedgerows.

Mind: reading from an anthology of garden poetry. Today that included wise words from the 20th Century landscape architect, Russell Page: “To plant trees is to give body and life to one’s dreams of a better world.”

Spirit: meditating for five minutes on the theme of loving kindness (more about this next month).

A relative has been stuck in hospital, hundreds of miles from us. Her daily Mind Body Spirit checklist includes the following. Body: walk a little further along the hospital corridors than she did yesterday. Mind: write a haiku and share with others. Spirit: read from a pocket companion of inspirational writings. She’s doing remarkably well despite major health challenges. Her Mind Body Spirit checklist helps her to feel positive and perhaps it even assists a little in her recovery.

So my question for you is this: how do you choose to care for your mind, body and spirit today?