~CENTERING~
Lesson One: Quiet Time
This may sound rather juvenile, but the best way to start is to
start simple. Many people lead busy, hectic days that are cut
off from the earth and the sky and the cycle of the seasons.
Rather than jumping in and straining your resources, start small.
Pick a time of day where you will have no interruptions. If you
are married or have children, gently explain that this is your
time for yourself, just like they sometimes have, and no one
should come and interrupt you. Give them a specific amount of
time that they are not to bother you and stick to it.
Go somewhere that is quiet and out of the way of everyone. Perhaps
this means taking a nice hot bath. This is a particularly good
way of starting. You will be doing something that you feel you
need to do, and at the same time, taking time out to be good to
yourself. If you only have strong lights in your bathroom, place
several candles near where you will be for illumination. You will
want nothing harsh or strident around you for this time. Soft music
will also help some, or it may be a distraction. Play with the
setting of your quiet space until you find something that appeals
to you.
Once you have prepared where you will be so that it holds no
distractions for you, sit quietly and let your mind clear. Don't
think of anything. If a thought does come to you, don't fight it.
Rather, just acknowledge it and tuck it away for later. As you
become more proficient at this, you will find it happening less
and less. The goal of this time is to relax you and prepare
yourself for the rest of your day or to relax from a hectic day.
Many people, before their ritual time, take such a bath o signal
that they are preparing to do something different from normal.
As simple as this sounds, it will take time to be able to do it
well. Do not grow discouraged if you cannot do it at first. Any
skill takes time to learn. If you find yourself feeling guilty
over taking this time, find out why. Listen to what that little
voice says when it makes you feel bad. Are you taking time away
from your children? Your mate? What if they need you while you're
here? Who will take care of them while you do this? What if someone
gets hurt?
All of these things are reasons that many women, and men, give for
not taking time for themselves. Their days are too filled, too busy,
and too hectic. Their children are too small, need too much attention,
or will only distract or interrupt them. There are all excuses.
Children do not, in most circumstances, need their parents with them
twenty-four hours a day. They sleep sometime. This period of time
does not have to be hours on end. It can be twenty minutes, if that's
all that can be spared.
If a person cannot find that little amount of time, their days are
already too busy and they will burn out. If this is the case with
you, some evaluation of what you are doing and how you are living
is necessary at this point to help you determine what your values
and needs are as opposed to your wants and desires. This time of
rest is necessary to rejuvenate and recuperate from a hard day or to
prepare for one. People spend their time running around from place to
place, looking where they are going, but seeing nothing. Take the time
to stop and see what the world holds for a person. Look at the sky and
the sunrise and the animals playing. Watch the sunset and marvel at
the colors and patterns. Learn to play again.
Lesson Two: Listening to the Body
When you have mastered Lesson One, it is time to move on. If you
find yourself growing distracted as you move forward, do not feel
like you cannot return to previous lessons. These lessons, while
in a certain order that are progressive, are not meant to be a goal
that you pass and never return to. Each of them should be repeated
periodically and added to as you find you need new things.
By listening to the body, you will learn to tell what state you are
in both physically and mentally. It is very hard to create an
illusion of where and what you are when you are truly listening
to what is going on inside of you. In order to listen, you need to
create a clear mind.
The next step on your path is to take your quiet time and start
using it. For this exercise, you can set up the room similarly to
the last lesson if you wish, or you can add a few things. Incense
or smudge will sometimes help to focus your mind and body if you
choose the correct ones. Sandalwood or sage is often a nice
compliment. Cedar, if you are not allergic to it is also a good
choice. Keep the lighting low and the room at a comfortable
temperature. Music with a low, steady beat may also be helpful in
the beginning, but if you find yourself listening to it rather than
to your body, then stop using it.
Sit quietly and clear your mind. When you reach the point that you
are concentrating on nothing, slowly turn your vision inward. People
will see different things. Some will see nothing. It will be dark
for others. Bright, glittering lights sometimes are inside of a
person. Notice where each or them are as they will be useful later
and mean different things.
Start to listen to your heartbeat. It is the music of your body.
This is the driving force that guides your life. It is the ancient
sound of the earth and the universe. Once you can do this, work
on feeling the blood moving through your body to this beat. Listen
for the swoosh that accompanies your heartbeat.
As you practice this, you will find yourself being able to clear
your mind and hear the rhythm of your body faster. This is the way
it should be. Sometimes you will need to be able to do this very
quickly for your own protection. You may feel a slight "dropping"
sensation when you do this quickly. That is simply you falling back
into yourself where you are most protected.
Listen to what your body is telling you when you are in this place.
Are you tired? Hungry? Full of energy and ready to go do something?
What might be good for you to do to retain a balance in your life?
If you are tired, rest. If you are hungry, eat. When you have a lot
of energy, play with your children or clean up the yard. This is the
time where you should start living your life in accordance with the
natural rhythms of your body. Pay attention to them and see where
they lead you.
When you begin to live life according to your needs, rather than by
living it according to externally imposed "requirements" you can
bring yourself back into harmony with the world around you. This
is important to learning to deal with the darker sides of life, the
times when it is hard to go on, or when you are tempted to do the
easier of two things when you know one is wrong. When you can listen
to your body, you can hear what you need rather than what the rest
of the world says you need. This is a very important distinction to
remember.
Lesson Three: Finding your Center
Again, the time that you've set aside as quiet time is the
perfect place and time to learn to do this. It takes a few
times to learn what will make you comfortable in your space.
Quiet your mind and slowly become aware of the sounds of your
body, the heartbeat, the blood moving through you. Follow the
blood around your body as it moves and 'look" around to see
what you can find.
You may find a spot, located between the breastbone and the
navel, possibly lower, that seems to be more solid. It may have
a dark, firm feel to it, or it may be a ball of light. It can
also be a combination of the two. Whatever it looks like or
feels like, this is your center. Here is where your being and
your soul, if that is what you call it, resides. It is the source
of all energy and it is where you will learn to work from. When
you are in this place, you will be more solid and harder to knock
off balance.
This is the place that you can rely on above all others to support
you and keep you stable. Whenever you are off-balance in your
life, you can come to this place to calm yourself. Eventually,
you will be able to come to this place in your everyday life
without sitting in your quiet place. That is the goal of the
next lesson you will do.
Lesson Four: Centering Yourself
When you are able to reach your center, it is time to connect to
it. Sit or lie in a comfortable position where you will not be
disturbed. Quiet your mind and sink down into yourself until you
are near your center. When you reach it, just examine it for a
while. See how it feels to you. When you get close to it do you
feel heavier? Is it smooth? Rough? Does it have a color to it?
When you feel that you have examined it and found out all that
you can from it, imagine yourself sinking through it and into the
inside of it. Look around yourself when you are there. Some people
see a room, perhaps the room they grew up in. Some people have
seen groves of trees. Still others have seen nothing but a darkness
that is comforting, much like the womb.
Now, listen. Sometimes there is a piece of music. Sometimes there
is chanting. Sometimes nothing more than the sound of your heartbeat
is heard in this place. Reach out and wrap that sound around you.
That is one source of your energy. It is what ties you to yourself.
It holds you together. That sound can guide you to your center
wherever you are, whatever you are doing.
This is a place of comfort. It is home. It is where you are yourself.
It is the source of all that you are, all that you can be, and it
holds all of your past. It is the rock that ties you to the earth
and keeps you whole and working. It is the stability in the storm.
Learn what it feels like and learn how to come here whenever you
need it.
(author unknown)
