“All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.” – Blaise Pascal
 

Photo: robertcrow (via stock.xchang)

All eyes these days are focused on the turmoil of our global economy. While we can’t, individually, calm the chaos, it’s important for all of us to be able to stay on as even a keel as possible as we navigate a way through.

Successfully meeting workplace challenges can be likened to the way white-water rafters approach their sport. Beginners obsess about all the craggy rocks to avoid and the currents, whirlpools and undertows to circumvent, usually ending their runs feeling emotionally exhausted and physically drained. Experts focus on the ‘flow line’ where the currents guide them safely through the roughest areas with a minimum of mental and emotional stress. They end their runs on a high, with energy to spare.

In tough, uncertain times, clarity, focus and inner peace are paramount, especially when you’re forced to make decisions that could affect your life well into the future. One of the most effective ways to maintain a quiet mind, a peaceful heart and a relaxed body during these rough times is through the practice of ‘centering’.

What is ‘centering’?

Being centered is a state where you engage life from a place of tranquility and self-awareness. When you are centered, you can move through your day with a sense of purpose, unencumbered by frustration and free from reactivity; open to whatever appears in your experience, regardless of the events, circumstances and people with whom you must engaged. Many know this place of centeredness as being ‘in the zone’, experiencing ‘flow’ or operating at peak performance with a heightened sense of well being.

From a centered state, you can approach every event and individual as an opportunity to be your true self in this moment. You aren’t caught up in mental gymnastics or judgments. You aren’t trying to conceal yourself by being fake or phony. You’re mentally alert, free from tension, able to move with a grace and ease that is flowing, not rigid; acutely conscious of your current environment and intentional about what needs to be done. To be centered is to be in a place of creativity, discovery and insight, where you can take care of whatever you need to do without effort or struggle, interacting with others from an inner place of understanding, authenticity and integrity.

How can you center yourself?

1. Recall a time when you were engaged in an activity and you felt on top of the world; when time stood still and you felt a deep sense of excitement and adventure; when you experienced a heightened sense of well being. Visualize that state as clearly as you can.
2. Notice your present state of being—your head, your heart, your body. Sense as much of yourself as you can in this moment, but do it with curiosity and acceptance, not with judgment. Focus on the feeling. Allow the feeling to immerse your total being. Bathe in it.
3. Breathe calmly and deeply into your belly, holding your breath for a few seconds and exhaling with a long breath, deeply and quietly. Inhale and exhale naturally—no pursing your lips, no noise with the exhalation, no trying. Just let it happen and focus on your breathing.
4. Sense your feet on the floor and allow the floor to support you; relax your shoulders, upper body and legs so you don’t have to shore yourself up. If you are seated, sense your butt in your chair and allow your chair to support you. Breathe deeply and focus on your body. Soon, your mind will quiet and clear. Your Inner Judge and Critic will diminish in its chatter and intensity. Your body will relax. Your heart will open. This is a place of centeredness.
5. Now permit yourself to let go totally. Don’t be attached to outcomes or goals. Allow your experience to flow and trust the process of centering to support you in whatever you are engaged in right now. Trust is essential. In time, you’ll find yourself experiencing degrees of inner peace, even in the midst of fire-fights, tense negotiations and conflict-resolution sessions.
6. Allow centeredness to become a major part of the fabric of who you are at work. If you do, your ability to see the world around you with clarity and insight will grow stronger and your ability to listen will be heightened.

How to make Centeredness a habit

• Live every day with attention. Be clear about your life purpose, your goals at work, and why you are doing what you’re doing. Don’t be tense about it. Don’t try. Just let it happen.
• In times of stress, breathe deeply, remind yourself of your intentions and goals and chose to show up being authentic. Aim to base every interaction you engage in on your understanding of the greatest good for all involved.
• Cut out the usual excuses for why you can’t take time to center: there’s no time; it doesn’t work; I’ll never be able to do it now. The antidote to the excuses is to stop thinking about centering and just do it.
• Don’t judge centering as a chore; choose to make it a fun thing, a bit of an adventure. You’ll find yourself easing more gently into the practice.
• As often as you can throughout your day, re-create your sense of centeredness, even for a few seconds or minutes. It helps to find times when you can be alone with yourself for a few minutes to breathe deeply, and just be.
• Persistence and consistency are important aspects of creating a centering practice. Purposefully center yourself many times throughout the day, even when you are not feeling particularly upset or in need of centering. This will help to deepen your practice so it becomes routine. Placing subtle reminders around your workspace can help you remember to center on a consistent basis.

Centering allows your True Self to emerge

Centering allows you to connect with your authenticity. The more you’re centered, the more you’ll be attuned to inner sources of wisdom, leading to right knowing, right understanding and right action; the more you’ll be able to move away from your ego-driven, judgmental mind. When you’re caught in the prison of your ego, your thoughts and emotions will usually be reactive, judgmental and, more often than not, negative. They’ll block out the positive feelings, insights, connections and creativity that lie deeper within.

Centered living is a way of re-energizing and refreshing yourself; a means to de-stress, focus and slow yourself down so you can be truly present to your experience.

“All this talk and turmoil and noise and movement and desire is outside of the veil; within the veil is silence and calm and rest.” —Bayazid al-Bistami

“Wisdom means listening to the still, small voice, the whisper that can be easily lost in the whirlwind of busyness, expectations, and conventions of the world . . .” —Jean M. Blomquist

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