Every day, every way, I get better

Ellis the emu loves listening to music. He especially liked visiting his friend the possum and listening to him play guitar. He borrowed Possum’s guitar a few times but it sounded terrible. Ellis was embarrassed and gave the guitar back to Possum, saying, “I can’t do this, I’m terrible at guitar. I wish it was as easy for me as it is for you.” Possum laughed and told Ellis that he used to be worse, but he wanted to be able to play so much that he kept at it until little by little he got better. “If you practice it as much as I do Ellis, you will get better too,” he told Ellis.

So Ellis borrowed a guitar again. For the first few weeks he got angry at himself and told Possum he would never get this. Ellis was surprised when Possum told him that he actually sounded better than the last time he played. He realised that telling himself he couldn’t do it wasn’t helping him, and it wasn’t even true. He was learning! Little by little, he admitted to himself that it was getting easier to remember chords. He decided that he would change his approach.

One morning he pulled out his mat, sat down, took a deep breath and told himself, “Every day, in every way, I get better and better.” He felt more relaxed, and more powerful. Whenever he messed up and felt defeated, he reminded himself, “Every day, in every way, I get better and better,” and felt a little better about his efforts that day. He knew they would add up over time, and keep adding up.

The best thing was, he realised he could get better at everything he did. If he kept falling over doing his yoga Tree pose, he would tell himself “Every day, in every way, I get better and better,” and try again. If he had a cold he would tell himself “Every day, in every way, I get better and better,” and his cold didn’t seem to last as long. Ellis could do anything! It would just take time, effort and patience. 

Ellis is still practicing the guitar. Every day, he sounds a little better, and feels a little better too.

You can train yourself like Ellis did too. 

Have your mat laid out ready when you wake up in the morning.

Sit down in Lotus pose and relax.

Take a deep breath and tell yourself
“Every day, in every way, I get better and better.”

Repeat 10 times as soon as you get up in the morning, and before you go to bed at night.

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