Hi,
I'm Dr.
Diana Hill.
I'm a clinical psychologist and author of Wise Effort.
In today's In This Moment practice,
You're going to practice getting centered.
It's particularly helpful to use this practice when your mind is distracted,
When you're in a conflict,
When your energy is kind of frantic and scattered.
You're afraid of your emotions or engulfed of them.
We want to get centered so that we can act from our wisest self.
And today,
We're going to practice three ways of getting centered.
You can do this over and over and over again whenever you need it.
The first practice is to get centered with the breath.
Bring your awareness to your natural breath,
Simply observing each inhale and exhale as it flows through your body.
Breathing in,
I'm aware that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I'm aware that I'm breathing out.
In.
Your attention moves to your very center of your body,
The breath moving in the center of your body.
Breathing in,
I'm aware that I'm breathing in.
And breathing out,
I'm aware that I'm breathing out.
In this next step of getting centered,
We will take that center of our body and we will press our feet into the ground and connect all the way down to the center of the earth,
Imagining that there's roots growing from your feet or from your seat all the way down to the center of the earth,
Pressing down,
Feeling yourself physically rooted,
Physically centered.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Rooted and centered.
And then finally,
We will connect with the center of our heart,
The center of our heart that holds our values,
What's important to us,
And what matters most in this moment so I can center myself in my heart space,
Contacting your heart,
What you care about,
What's important here.
Breathing in and out of your heart so that you feel centered with your breath.
Breathing in,
I'm aware that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I'm aware that I'm breathing out.
You feel centered with your body,
Pressing my feet into the ground.
I feel grounded all the way to the center of the earth.
And you feel centered in the heart,
Aware of what matters most in this moment,
Heart-centered.
Resting in the heart space,
Trusting in your heart space.
You can trust yourself in this moment to settle your nervous system with slow breathing,
Centered breathing.
You can trust the ground,
The solid ground beneath you,
Supporting you.
You can trust your heart,
Your good heart,
Your good nature,
Your natural intelligence,
Your values.
Feeling centered in your breath,
Feeling centered in your body,
Feeling centered in your heart.
You can practice this exercise of centering any time that you need it.
Come back here,
Bookmark it,
Return to it,
Just this moment.
