Center

The point of practice is to find your center. This concept seemed vague to me for many years of seeking balance in my life. The cloud that obscured my understanding was composed of old habits, useless identities and unhealthy choices. My seeking nature saw me through to a comprehension of what my center is. It is my being balanced and at peace within in the moment, despite the circumstances of my life.

In recent conversations with a new friend, he dismissed several supportive remarks I had made in response to his litany of difficult circumstances. "You just say I could do this or do that to improve things. My life just isn't that simple!" After agreeing that his life wasn't at all simple, I suggested that his resistance to simplifying it might be his way of avoiding adult responsibility for his own situation. It appeared to me that he was quite content to blame his circumstances and others for his seemingly helpless misery. His responded, "I would like to live like you, with simplicity and clear boundaries, but I'm not there yet."

I'm not really "there yet" either, I assured my friend. Being centered is a dynamic process. I see myself more like a gyroscope than a static sphere. Daily practice is my method of staying in touch with my own balance point. As I say frequently, daily practice is multifaceted. It includes exercise, healthy diet, abstinence from mood altering intoxicants, meditation, healthy sexuality, loving relationships, creative outlets, study, reflection and adequate sleep. I believe that it is very difficult to maintain a center without this holistic approach to maintaining physical and psychological health.

Severe illness and aging are great teachers. Recovery from any illness is an opportunity to find your center, from which to rebuild your life. When you are incapacitated by illness, you are forced to spend time with your body under a heightened awareness of your physical and psychological core. The symptoms of illness are often the signposts for the needed direction of daily practice. Listening to those who have overcome disability and disease to reach a balanced life can be extremely informative. Rather than being in awe of these survivors, you should put their wisdom into action in your own life.

Being centered in the fullest sense is doing it, not just talking about being centered. The doing is what I refer to as practice. Mindfulness and compassion develop naturally in the centered consciousness. Mindfulness and compassion for yourself are useful tools in developing a balanced life.