Here's a little skeleton dance for your body, brain & balance.

Happy Thursday! Here’s an anecdote, an exercise and an inspiration.

Anecdote: Over several years trying to learn a handstand away from the wall, I often tried to visualize myself nailing the pose. In my neuro yoga training this month, I learned I might have gotten better results doing the opposite.

Our brains like predictability. So if you are afraid of doing a handstand (or getting up from the couch) because you’re scared of falling, you should visualize the fall in detail— and see yourself getting through it. If you’ve mentally rehearsed a worst-case scenario in advance, your brain will be ready should it come to pass.

It turns out that swimmer Michael Phelps used this negative visualization technique to become the most decorated Olympian of all time. Here’s an article explaining his process. It can apply to a job interview, a presentation, a date, a performance, anything that has you on edge.

Exercise: In honor of Halloween, I made you a little skeleton dance in this video. It incorporates a few brain and balance drills from the neuro yoga course, and it will fire up your legs and arms.

Inspiration: For the second week in a row, I’m recommending a new book published by a friend. “Clementine Crane Prefers Not To” by Kristin Bair (O'Keeffe) is a hilarious and highly relatable (to me) novel featuring a perimenopausal mom tired of carrying her family’s mental load. Her to-do list is in her chest. She begins quoting Herman Melville’s Bartleby by saying, “I prefer not to.”

Whether or not you are in this stage of life, how many obligations do you say yes to when you’d really prefer to say no? I won’t be repeating Clementine’s mantra as often as she does, but between laughs and a few tears, the book got me inspired to start saying it sometimes. All of us deserve to think twice before giving away our most valuable resources, our time and energy.