The Practice of Centering

What if within this pivotal moment in human history, there was an extraordinary opportunity just waiting for you to claim it? One where you can awaken your true power and become an agent of positive change.

It all starts with little steps, like awareness, daily choices. If we are only paying attention to outer things (CNN, Facebook, Netflix, busy schedules and To Do lists), then what are we not present to? Our attention is one of our most precious resources.

Life is a busy journey, with our attention being pulled in many different directions, often at the same time. There are external distractions, full schedules, and also internal distractions. Even briefly, stepping off the carousel of daily routines can be a rich resource to access our inner strength and wisdom.

In college I created a self-directed course focused on visiting different spiritual communities. One site was at a Zen temple. First, you left your shoes at the door, a symbol of leaving the ordinary world behind. There were three parts of the meditation experience: Silence. Sitting. Walking. On occasion there would be a short discourse, but mostly there were long periods of sitting.

An optional element offered during sitting, was to gesture that you wanted to be “focused.” This involved being struck from behind on the back of the shoulder firmly with a bamboo stick. In the formal Zen tradition, the master would use the stick on aspirants--to get the attention of one whose mind was drifting or falling asleep; or to strike at the very instant the student was on the precipice of awakening in order to prompt “satori” or instant enlightenment.

My curious, novice mind wanted to know what it would feel like, so I would gesture for the stick. Plus, I reasoned, what if that stick could send ME over the edge to a sudden awakening. Why not? From the Buddhist practice of meditation, zazen, I learned to embody fully a sense of stillness, to quiet the body and the mind, and just * be * present. *

However, there are many ways to practice being present. Every day we make choices about how to spend our time, energy, attention, and resources. The seeds we are planting today with our choices and actions / reflect what we care about. What we pay attention to, or not, matters.

There are many exercises that can enable us to respond and reset in the face of life’s distractions. The capacity to self-regulate, in a healthy way, is one of the most important life skills we can learn. Otherwise, our sense of well-being is at the mercy of forces outside of ourselves. And, life is full of situations that pull us off center.

It is both an act of resistance and resilience to explore ways to activate our inner compass, the part within our being that guides us to a place of greater knowing, greater giving, and greater peace. This inner compass offers a sense of clarity for the day-to-day moments, the habits of the heart.

With everything going on in the world it may feel counterintuitive to even imagine taking time to slow down, listen, and find our center. Yet, there are benefits in learning deeper ways to connect and center:

• Cultivating capacity for a sense of calm, peace, and balance
• Developing ways to self-regulate thoughts and feelings for overall well being
• Deepening connection to self, life, spirit, and others.

Engaging a regular practice, whether this is a brief time each day or extended time, does create new ways to see, feel, and know. It opens the door to possibilities for change, for transformation. Tapping into our own inner wisdom is a great gift waiting to be opened. But the opening process requires some learning and unlearning, some doing and undoing.

What would it take to make some space to slow down and meet life as it is? Time to slow down, time to listen, time to grow deeper in appreciation. Time to be together. Time to just be.

The first three Wednesdays in November 2025 I will be offering a class that speaks to these themes -- The Practice of Centering: Simple Pathways for Enriching Your Life.
Click here to register and learn more (there will be no zen sticks involved!).

Whether you join the class or not, please take some time this month to tend to your inner life. Give yourself the gift of time and space, rest and reflection, community and connection.

May it be so.

Daniel