Having blogged previously about trying to balance study with getting out in the sunshine, I got some interesting feedback about how well I was doing on that score: I discovered I had a severe vitamin D deficiency. Doctors orders are to take some horse-strength supplements, and mainly to get out in the sunshine.

This is proving a bit difficult in the UK at the moment as the sun appears to have gone on holiday, but I am due for a two week break myself and will soon be heading off to sunny Spain. For health reasons, obviously.

Meanwhile, this has all made me reconsider my skills piece, which I had originally wanted to do on using dramatic or acting techniques in facilitation. I had already done quite a lot of research on the original topic, but had not managed to find anyone who taught this particular skill. There seem to be lots of very interesting ex-actors and actresses using their experience in their own facilitation, but I just couldn't seem to find anyone who taught it and was available. While it wouldn't be impossible to somehow cobble a skillset together myself, having felt rather under the weather until the Vitamin D supplements started to kick in, this felt like a bit too much of a mountain to climb.

I also reflected on the fact that the impact of topping up on a critical vitamin that I hadn't realised I was low on had at least as dramatic an effect on improving my performance as any course I'd been on. This linked into and brought more to life for me some of the Organisation Development theory we'd been studying about the idea of 'self as instrument'.

Like most theory this means various different things to different people, but for me it seems to be about the fact that who you are and how you are affects the quality and impact of the work you do. This made me think about the possibility of learning to meditate. I had noticed a few articles here and there about the positive benefits of learning this skill, including improved health, productivity and general wellbeing. I wondered how this would work and what impact it might have on my practice.

I have to admit, I did hesitate quite a bit at first. I'm not quite sure why, perhaps it was a bit of British reserve or something, but meditation seemed a bit of an 'out there' choice to me. I didn't feel it was something I could fully understand... it wasn't quite... logical. But in the end I decided that if I wasn't going to stretch my horizons on an MSc in People and Organisational Development, then when was I? This seemed like a skill you could only really learn about by experiencing it, and I was really curious about it. So I have decided to shift my skills piece, and my set seem happy to support this. I will let you know how it goes.