Basics · 4.1

Finding your center

The idea at the heart of this classAttention and resistance

Attention A seated figure, split light and dark, sits in a small dusty blue egg inside a field of six pastel bands, rose, gold and mint, woven over and under each other and over the lap, above a lilac and rose mound, with three small colored forms in the corners. Points of light come in from the forms to just outside the egg, each keeping a thin tie. A lens of light presses against a small salmon disc beside a small standing person, and the disc swells past them. Threads gather the points to the forehead and a large blue ball is woven on a sphere, blue one way and rose, gold and mint the other, over and under, goes out to the far corner and comes back; a purple knot with three crossings sits in the woven field. A small scene grows inside the ball, then it shrinks to a pea at the center of the head. Two thin streams visit the feet, which are grounded. Last, a gold sweep runs most of the knot's thread as it swells and glows, and the purple rest wobbles, lightly, and settles.

This class’s practice

Walk your attention to your center

6 steps, playing in turn. Choose a number to hold one.

Ground, then adjust your aura: closer in if you feel exposed, wider if cramped. What you are centering is your attention.

01:12 to 02:22

Put attention on a point on the wall ahead, then the wall behind, then ahead again, noticing how each feels.

02:22 to 03:59

Bring it closer in stages, from halfway to the wall to the aura's edge, then along a forehead-to-back-of-head line to just past halfway.

03:59 to 05:40

Rest attention in the center of the head, which is the sixth chakra and seat of awareness. Release any pressure down the grounding.

05:40 to 07:08

Make a gold sun of your own energy; let it shine through the crown into the head center, then down through body and aura.

07:21 to 08:07

From head center, be aware of all directions, your body and your field at once. You can be centered elsewhere too.

08:07 to 09:40

All 6 steps: Walk your attention to your center
  1. IGround, then adjust your aura: closer in if you feel exposed, wider if cramped. What you are centering is your attention.01:12 to 02:22
  2. IIPut attention on a point on the wall ahead, then the wall behind, then ahead again, noticing how each feels.02:22 to 03:59
  3. IIIBring it closer in stages, from halfway to the wall to the aura's edge, then along a forehead-to-back-of-head line to just past halfway.03:59 to 05:40
  4. IVRest attention in the center of the head, which is the sixth chakra and seat of awareness. Release any pressure down the grounding.05:40 to 07:08
  5. VMake a gold sun of your own energy; let it shine through the crown into the head center, then down through body and aura.07:21 to 08:07
  6. VIFrom head center, be aware of all directions, your body and your field at once. You can be centered elsewhere too.08:07 to 09:40

Basics 4.1, 01:12 to 09:40

Attention gathered back to one place to notice from.The gathered ball Resistance, partly cleared The blue ball is the instructor's color from the class. Every other color only tells parts apart.
GatheredA place to notice fromThe center of the head. Things keep their size.
Pressed closeThings look biggerAttention against something makes it loom, like the mug held to the camera.

The center of the head pictures the model, not a place in the skull, and meeting resistance with amusement is not a promise it clears for good.

Centering means gathering attention into the middle of the head, the seat of awareness, where you are in charge of yourself.

Prepare the body and adjustable space

Ideas hereChakrasGrounding

Centering begins with grounding because the body needs a stable place before attention moves inward. Create a grounding cord from the first chakra to the center of the earth. Let it have motion and flow. Send aches, pain, thoughts and anxiety down it so there is more room for you.

Then notice that your energy is not only inside the body. It also extends around you as a field. If the field feels too open or exposed, bring it closer. If it feels cramped, let it move out a little. Ground that space too. Centering is not making the body rigid. It is bringing attention back to a place where you can use it.

The first distinction is simple: what gets centered is attention. Attention often rests on people, tasks, walls, screens or unfinished concerns. This practice shows attention how to come home.

Walk attention inward

Ideas hereAttention and resistanceAura and layersChakrasGrounding

Move attention in stages so the body can feel the difference:

  1. Put attention on a point on the wall in front of you.
  2. Move it to the wall behind you.
  3. Bring it back to the wall in front.
  4. Bring it halfway between your face and the wall.
  5. Bring it to the edge of the aura, about two feet in front of the forehead.
  6. Bring it halfway into the aura.
  7. Draw a line from the forehead to the back of the head, then move attention just past halfway back, into the center of the head.

The center of the head is the sixth chakra, the seat of awareness. Rest attention there. If pressure appears, release it down the grounding. If attention gets knocked out, return. There is no need to fight the movement. Come back and let the space clear.

The image is that the lights are on and you are home. Awareness is not on the wall anymore. It is inside the place that can look, choose and receive information.

A center does not shrink awareness

Ideas hereAttention and resistanceAura and layersGold

Create a gold sun above the head filled with your unique energy. Let it shine through the crown into the center of the head, then through the torso, arms, hands, legs, feet and aura. Filling the center with your own life force helps that seat belong to you.

There are other centers for other activities. Attention may rest in the belly during physical exercise. For meditation and open awareness, the working center is the middle of the head.

Being in the head center does not narrow awareness. From there, awareness can extend in every direction: front, back, left, right, above and below. The body and whole energy field can be noticed at once without effort.

The result is the driver's seat. You are not in charge of other people. You are in charge of yourself. Breathe, open the eyes and stretch when ready.

Recording notes

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Recordings

  • Class 4 Centering Lesson #1 ~ Finding Your Center.mp3

The times show where each part of this lesson comes from in the class recording. Each recording file starts at 0:00.

Where each section comes from

About this account

Editing note: The recording ends with a stray "you" that adds no teaching.

Practice

The guided practice runs from 00:00:10 to 00:10:25. Do it whole, from the preparation through the return. It uses tools from earlier lessons.

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