"do nothing extra"

i LOVE this nugget...from page 127 of Birthing From Within

"What does a hen have to do to ensure the birth of her chicks? Just four things: relax, breathe, feel the earth beneath her, and then do nothing extra. These actions prevent stress that could adversely affect her unhatched eggs. If the hen feels stress, she may not be able to stay warm, and then her eggs may not hatch. If the hen does something extra, there will not be any chicks. For example, during the hatching process, the hen often gets up and turns the eggs over. Doing nothing extra means she does nothing unnecessary. She does not jump up and down on the eggs, poke holes to see if they are ready to hatch, or take 10-minute breaks. She simply instinctively turns them over.

...Chickens, like most creatures in nature, learn how to live without any coaching. They know how to relax, breathe, feel the ground, and do nothing extra..."

I love, love, love this. It comes from the book Birthing From Within, but originally it's from the book The Healing Art of Tai Chi by Martin Lee, et al.

fabulous teaching. do. nothing. extra. in conception. in birth. in life.