Meeting the center

One of the most powerful tools for living consciously is, of course, meditation. But there's another simple tool you can use to start, and use throughout, your day even when you a) don't have time to meditate, b) can't get your brain to shut up during your meditation, or c) whatever your reason is for not meditating.

The tool (practice) is called "grounding and centering," and it's just as handy for getting your toddler to calm down as it is for getting your inner toddler to calm down. The practice. common to several religious traditions, is used to sharpen focus and open yourself up to divine intervention/guidance.

The two parts can be done together or separately as you need, and only take a few minutes (less time with practice) to bring you back to yourself, regardless of the distraction.

Grounding: the practice of grounding involves feeling yourself connected to the earth (thus enhancing stability). A good way to start is to imagine yourself sitting on the ground leaning against a tree or large boulder. Feel how strong that is, how rooted. In your imagination, now, let yourself merge into the tree or boulder. Now you  are the one who is rooted. Just the imagining of this can relax your body.

Centering: centering can be used to focus when your mental energy is jumping all over the place, or when you're feeling attacked and you need to present a clear case (attacks of nerves count). This practice uses the traditional 7 chakras as a guidepost: you're looking for the solar plexus chakra, which can be imagined as a clear yellow light (it is, of course, located roughly at the solar plexus, or right about the center of your body). Of the many areas governed by this chakra's energy, the one that deals with will/focus/personal boundaries (depending on your situation) are what you're looking for. Mind you, it works just as well even if you think the chakra system is a bunch of hooey. Locate this center, imagine the yellow light. Now imagine the light spreading throughout your body. The brilliance loosens up all those irritating little energy blocks that are keeping you scattered. When your body is full of yellow light, start to pull it back in to your center. When it's back in place, in a nice, bright, yellow ball, take a few deep breaths.

Used in the morning, the dual practice is one way to get the day off to a clear-headed, focused start. During the day, when demands on your time start to pull your focus off your path, you can use one or the other or both to walk yourself back to where you need to be.