Centering for Improved Concentration

Centering is a one-minute, twelve-breath exercise that transitions your mind from fretting about the past and future to being focused in the present — where your body must be.

As you withdraw your thoughts from these imagined times and problems, you release yourself from guilt about the past and worry about the future. You experience a stress-free vacation in the present.

Whenever you experience moments of the joyful abandon in play, the easy flow of creativity, or a state of concentration that leads to effortless optimal performance, you are enjoying a form of "centering."

Use this exercise each time you start a project. Within just a week or two your body and mind will learn to naturally let go of tension and focus on working efficiently and optimally.

Read the following to yourself or record it and play it each time you start a project.
1. Begin by taking three slow breaths, in three parts:
#1 Inhale,
#2 Hold your breath and muscle tension, and,
#3 Exhale slowly, floating down into the chair.
With each exhalation — let go of the last telephone call or commute and float down into the chair. With your next exhalation, let the chair hold you and let go of any unnecessary muscle tension. Let go of all thoughts and images about work from the past. Clear your mind and your body of all concerns about what "should have" or "shouldn't have" happened in the past. Let go of old burdens. Let go of trying to fix your old problems.  Let each exhalation become a signal to just let go.

Say to yourself as you exhale: "I release my mind and body from the past."

2. With your next three breaths, let go of all images and thoughts about what you think may happen in the future — all the "what ifs." With each exhalation, clear your muscles, your heart, and your mind of the work of trying to control the so-called future.

Say to yourself as you exhale: "I release my mind and body from the future."

3. With your next three breaths, say: "I'm choosing to be in this present moment." You let go of trying to control any other time or striving to be any particular way - and simply notice how little effort it takes to simply breathe comfortably and accept the just right level of energy to focus on this moment and this task — in the only moment there is, now.

Say to yourself as you exhale: "I bring my mind into the present."

4. "For the next few minutes, there is nothing much for my conscious mind to worry about within this sanctuary. I am safe from the past and the future. I just allow the natural processes of my mind and body to provide me with focused concentration while I access my inner genius and its creative resources."

Say to yourself as you exhale: "I am centered within my larger, wiser, stronger Self."

5. With your next three breaths count up from 1 to 3:
One, becoming more adequately alert with each breath;
Two, curious and interested about going rapidly from not-knowing to knowing; and,
Three, eager to begin, curious and interested about how much you can accomplish in such a short period of time.

For those who like to hear a guided version (start at minute 4.25):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05TwQ6OYXW0


Swaying

The object of this exercise is to sort of calibrate the position of the center in your body, and then to settle right in this position.

1. Sit on the floor, preferably in the way described in several of the above exercises, with your legs underneath you. Otherwise it is difficult to keep your back straight. Sit on something soft enough for you to remain there comfortably for a while, but not so thick that you sink down in it and lose stability. (You can also do this exercise standing) Wear loose clothing, particularly around your belly and the whole area of your hips.
2. Breathe calmly and deeply, and make sure to keep a good posture. Let your hands rest on your thighs (or hang down) and relax. Also relax your arms. They should be passive. Close your eyes.
3. Start swaying to and fro, sideways. Try to sway in such a way that the base of the movement is in your center, three finger widths below your navel. Neither above nor below it. Make the swaying small at first, then larger, moving far to the left and right – not so that you lose your balance, but not far from it.
4. Get into the swaying, sort of like you get lost in a song. You should feel like a growing pillar, so that your swaying encompasses an increasing distance from side to side.
5. Without you having to think about it, the swaying of your body will slowly decrease, the bigger and more extended it feels to you. The angle of your swaying gets smaller and smaller. Do not control it consciously. Just let it happen. 
6. Finally, when you feel almost infinitely tall, as if your swaying reaches deep into the cosmos – then your body movement will stop completely. The feeling of swaying continues, but your body is still, in an absolutely vertical position.
7. Then let go of that swaying feeling, and allow your central pillar to sort of sink down in this vertical middle, like a spear shoved into the ground. Your central pillar, your straight posture, falls into place in the middle of your body. This is one’s center.