So, we’re going to talk about how to find your center, that inner place within yourself, where everything is constant, fixed, silent, peaceful. A place that, sort of, grounds you into the present moment, and allows you to be highly responsive as opposed to reactive in daily life. A space that can boost your creativity, ingenuity, and problem-solving skills. And I think learning how to find your center and grounding yourself there is such an important lesson as the world continues to accelerate, become more complex, and as more people attempt to capture our attention with competing goals and intentions.

So what do I mean by finding your center? Imagine, for a moment, a giant tornado, storms of 150 miles per hour. Giant, dark, thunderous clouds raging in chaos with the sole ability to destroy anything that comes near. And let’s imagine, if we could, that we fly into the center of that tornado and we discovered the eye of the storm. As we entered the eye, the darkness of the storm would reside, the inside…we can look up and see a peaceful, blue sky. The horizons leading into the cosmos. We could feel the sun. We could hear our deepest thoughts.

In this place, we, sort of, observe the storm, but we’re not of the storm. Get it? Finding our center is about becoming grounded within our own silent center. More present, more aware of what’s happening around us. Being centered, in a sense, is about full embodiment, wholeness with ourselves and how we relate to others. For most of us, our minds are, sort of, like a noisy radio station, constantly tuning in and out of positive and negative thoughts. In one moment, we’re imagining how we could be happy, experiencing our vacations, or imagining the next awesome day with our family. And the very next, we could be fearful of an upcoming presentation, or doubting whether we’re good enough for that promotion, or start our own company.

This sort of noisy mind with its changing radio stations of thought, sort of, just lives in the background of our life experience, right? The emotional trauma, anxiety, fear, self-doubt, it creates, sort of, just an accepted by-product of modern life. I believe the acceptance and lack of control over this mental noise is why finding our center can feel so elusive.

I think about my experience and it would seem that my mind, kind of, has a will of its own. Sort of, thinks automatically what it wants to think. It visualizes spontaneously what it, kind of, wants to visualize. It’s kind of automatic, right?

But I think the idea of the mind having a will of its own also contains the solution to the problem of the mind, that it’s not really us. I mean, our thoughts are ours, but we also have the ability to observe our thoughts. And in an active observation, there’s also an absence of thought, the absence of storms, silence, peace, where we can sort of escape reality, if only for a moment, from the suffering that comes from identifying with this breezy radio station that we call the mind.

According to author Michael Daniels in his book, “Shadow, Self, Spirit,” centeredness is about a deeper connection to the authentic self. That being centered is associated with an experience of clarity, wholeness, righteousness and harmony. Living from the space of the observer, where you’re aware of what the radio station of your mind is broadcasting, and you’re directing it, you’re controlling it. You’re selecting the preferred mental images, and you’re holding on to those images, regardless of the storms and chaos of life. That’s what being centered is all about.

In short, when you’re inner identity is fixed, unchanged by the sensations of the world, you become a point of attraction for whatever you actually are focusing on. You step into the driver’s seat of your life, unmoved by the impermanent challenges of the moment. You’re calm. You’re assured. And you’re, sort of, guided by this infinite intelligence that comes from this silent space.

For me, one of the best practices that I can suggest to help you achieve this centeredness is to focus on deep, consistent breathing. Live from your base. Allow the starting point of your breath to come from your lower belly, and keep yourself identified with your whole body, not just the mind. What would your life be like if you were truly connected to your inner power? If what you did on a daily basis was something that filled your heart and soul with passion, and that executing on your ideas took advantage of your natural talents and instincts. Finding your center is about living in the eye of the storm, unmoved, unchanged, completely silent, even in the face of the most monstrous challenges.

Thanks for listening to this segment of Innovators, where your future is now. I am your host, as always, Philip Lew. To enjoy more episodes of Innovators, visit us online at c9digital.com.