{"id":281,"date":"2009-02-04T12:20:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-04T12:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wpdude.com\/test\/?p=281"},"modified":"2025-01-08T12:59:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T12:59:23","slug":"centering-at-work-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.integrationtraining.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/02\/centering-at-work-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Centering at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Centering At Work<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do you get yourself together at work? What do you do when you\u2019ve \u201clost it\u201d to regain \u201cit\u201d and what exactly did you lose? When you\u2019re at your best, how much better is your work that when you\u2019re merely OK, and how do you make sure you\u2019re at your best as often as possible?<\/p>\n

These question and others like them are about centre and the process of centering. There are other ways of wording this phenomenon depending on the context such as being in \u201cthe zone\u201d (sports), being in a flow state (psychological) or in a state of grace or mushin (religious\/meditative). This relaxed yet alert state of body and mind is nothing exotic, watch any child at play and they have it \u2013 focused, yet not stressed, fully present in the here and now, seemingly at one with their activity. In this condition time passes rapidly and it is so profoundly pleasurable that people will take up extreme sports or fight in wars just to experience it again as adults. I first came across it in the martial art of aikido which relies on relaxed awareness and centred movement and now use it in the corporate world. Many of my clients have found centering to be profoundly practical as it is not only enjoyable (relieves boredom and stress) but enhances any workplace activity. I\u2019ll say that again \u2013 centering enhances ANY workplace activity, and often by a factor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve found that people answer the opening questions about centering at work in one of two ways. One group says \u201cUh?\u201d and doesn\u2019t know what I\u2019m talking about, seeing their best as something like the weather that happens to them, and that they can\u2019t do anything about. The other group, who are not coincidentally more common as one moves in more successful circles in any arena, will already have something they do to \u201cget themselves together.\u201d What I do is help them fine-tune this centering, so that they can be on top-form more often. The process of centering is not about monk-like calm in the face of all eventualities (I\u2019m knocked off centre myself 20 times a day at least) but about how you notice and recover from life\u2019s \u201cgrabs and shoves.\u201d<\/div>\n
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So how does one regain one\u2019s centre? Surely it requires long years of practice in Zen dojos in the Far East? Happily not. The following is a short (1-10 min) centering practices that I teach clients to use both as a regular \u201cstress inoculator\u201d and as a way to return to form when they have been thrown off. It\u2019s known by the acronym CABC: Connected, Aware, Balanced, Centred. Here\u2019s how to do it (instructions in italics):<\/p>\n

Connected<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Start by centring around what you care about \u2013 to give yourself the wider picture. Bring to mind that which is important to you. What do you love? What would you like to do before you die? Everyone is passionate about something – it\u2019s where you spend your time and money not your framed mission statement. For some people this will be a general concept (peace for example), for others it will be a specific goal or a person. For many people it may be their family. A picture of one\u2019s family on one\u2019s desk is a traditional and effective centring aid. For other people holding a particular object or listening to a piece of music may work better depending on which sense dominates.<\/div>\n
Getting connected to this bigger \u201cfor the sake of what?\u201d as one of my teachers<\/a> would say, is a powerful tool for getting perspective and motivating yourself. Because this part of centring is about value and meaning, those of a spiritual or religious persuasion may find in appropriate to engage with this part of themselves, and more importantly their traditions and community at this point. A small gesture appropriate to a corporate environment or a phrase is all that\u2019s needed.<\/div>\n
The \u201cConnected\u201d part of this process involves bringing to mind not just what is important to you but other people in which you are in relationship and community with. In the office, bringing to mind the other members of the work team is an obvious choice.<\/div>\n
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Aware<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Once you\u2019ve reconnected to what\u2019s important to you the next thing to do is become aware of how you are right now. Use your five senses to become fully present, really look around, listen deeply and pay particular attention to your body and breathing. Activities like stressful presentations and job interviews force you to pay attention. Mindfulness however can be cultivated and attention trained so you can feel fully alive in each moment \u2013 even when filing dull reports or making coffee for colleagues.<\/div>\n
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Scan your body up and down, front and back, left and right, accepting what is totally without doing anything about it, or \u201cfixing\u201d yourself. If you\u2019re mind drifts, as minds do, be aware of your thoughts and bring your attention gently and firmly back to the sensations of your body and breathing.<\/div>\n
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Balanced<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Now you\u2019ve woken up, got present and accepted whatever you found, you can do something with it and bring yourself to balance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Start by shifting your weight from left to right and front to back \u2013 whether sat at a desk or standing up. Place your feet flat on the floor if you are in a chair, with your knees above your ankles and the chair height adjusted so your hips are level to or a fraction higher than your knees. \u201cGround\u201d by feeling your weight on the floor and chair and relax into it. Roll your pelvis so it is neither pointing forwards or backwards (so your navel points straight ahead). Let your spine raise up as if pulled gently from a string attached to the back of your head (so your chin stays level). Neither strain like the old postural and mistaken ideal of a soldier on parade, or slump. Take up as much space as you can to the left and right, making sure your knees are slightly apart and your shoulders are relaxed and expanded not rolled in or thrust back. Become aware of the front and back and make sure you are not leaning forwards or back. If you are in a chair feel the muscles around your lower back, if you are leaning forwards as is common to type they will be tight, in order to stop you falling forwards.<\/div>\n
Find your balance in the physical sense and also attentionally. Your awareness of all six directions should be balanced to, not just on your computer screen or your body will follow. This is a little tricky to teach in an article, so or now I\u2019ll just say be aware of all four walls and the floor and the ceiling of the office you\u2019re in, and direct people to the work of Dr Paul Linden<\/a> if they are curious to find out more.<\/div>\n
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This process balances up and down, left and right and front and back, six directions or three dimensions. Some people like to view it as one big \u201cbubble\u201d that they blow up.<\/div>\n
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Centred (centre-line relaxation)<\/strong><\/div>\n
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The last part of the centring process is to relax the core areas of your body- which will help the rest of your body and mind relax.<\/div>\n
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