Feeling Frazzled? Try a Centering Practice.

As my client and I begin our time together, I invite them into the space with a breath, a moment for both of us to leave the thoughts and concerns from the previous moments and arrive. We breathe in and out as a transition, a centering activity that allows us to bring focused attention to our conversation and our work.

Centering is a basic practice in embodied self-awareness.  It was one of the first activities I learned in coach training, and it continues to be a daily practice.  Centering is both simple and infinitely layered.  The basics can be learned in a few minutes and practiced for a lifetime.

What exactly is centering?  It’s a practice of finding that physical and energetic place where you are calm, energized, open, powerful, aware.  You’re ready and at your best. Centering starts with aligning posture vertically, but it is much more than a vertical body structure.  Structure provides the vehicle through which you can better sense the ground, yourself, and the space around you.  A centered body is aware of itself and of its surroundings. Energy flows freely.  The body is energized and engaged. 

Amanda Blake, in her book, “Your Body is Your Brain”, asserts that “The basic somatic practice that undergirds resilience, emotional regulation and self-mastery is the capacity to centre yourself.” She goes on to describe how centering allows us to return to a state of coherence when we are frazzled, to sit with uncomfortable emotions without doing something to make them go away, and to align ourselves so that energy flows freely throughout the body. 1  These things – resilience, emotional regulation, and self-mastery – are the keys to our ongoing personal development and success, so it makes sense to get good at this practice.

My centering practice has evolved over time. It’s founded on the process I learned in my coach training and also heavily influenced by the work of Amanda Blake. Here’s a condensed version of that process:  

·       The first dimension is aligning the vertical axis of the body, with ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees, knees over ankles. 

·       The second dimension is width, bringing attention to the outside edges of the head, arms and legs and sensing place of balance between these sides. 

·       The third dimension, depth, is sensing the front, back and internal organs of the body.  

·       After these three steps, you locate the physical center, just below the naval and centered in the width and depth of the body, then breathe into this space.

·       The last dimension is centering in care. This is noticing the body sensations that arise when you care deeply about something or someone. This ability to have an embodied awareness of caring about something is important in knowing what we want and why we want it.

When I started this practice, some of the suggestions were out of reach, for example, it was difficult, if not impossible, to sense my back. Today, sometimes it’s available, other times it’s not.  The other big change is the length of time it takes: while the above centering practice can be expanded to several minutes, which is a great opportunity for an in-depth exploration of the sensations of a centered body, with practice it can also be done in few moments. 

Several years later when I began my Aikido practice, centering became much more integrated in my life.  Aikido is a martial art that combines martial techniques and internal discipline; students learn to blend with and redirect the energy of an attacker.   A centered body structure that facilitates energy flow is foundational to all movements.  Simply by attending training I increased the frequency of my centering practice. As I trained, I began to feel the benefits of a centered body:  movements were more successful when I was aligned.  I paid more attention to the felt sense of my body in other daily activities too, while doing dishes, walking the dog, or in conversation, in conflict.  

The steps I follow now to center myself have evolved, influenced from my Aikido training.  Continued practice has taught my nervous system to pay attention to more of my body, and with this awareness I sense more easily if I am centered and also when I am not. 

With clients who are new to centering, frequent practice is essential.  Many of us can center ourselves in a moment of calm, but the real power is having it integrated so that it’s available in action.  I work with clients to find ways to practice multiple times a day when the stakes are low or non-existent, for example, when getting up from a chair, walking through a doorway, getting in or out of a vehicle, or immediately before meetings. The purpose is to build muscle memory that becomes a centering habit.

Which brings us back to Amanda Blake’s assertion that centering underpins resilience, emotional regulation, and self-mastery.  The real value of a regular centering practice is to be able to notice and return to center when I’m inevitably thrown off – by an “attacker” in Aikido or by a bad day – morning mayhem, critical feedback, crashed computer, my own insecurities – those moments.  That’s when an embodied practice of returning to center becomes a go-to tool and a practice that helps me bring my best self to life.

1 Your Body is Your Brain, Amanda Blake, p 111

For Amanda Blake’s centering resources, check out her website www.embright.org for her 7-day centering challenge in her free resource, “Stress to Serenity” guide.