Center Yourself In 2023

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Happy New Year! 

There is nothing more powerful than meeting oneself each day during a centering/grounding practice. A centering practice is the opportunity to be oneself, fully present to what is happening in our inner being for a few minutes of self-observation. From this foundational practice we become more skillful at returning to a state of presence throughout the day, in the middle of our busy life, intense emotions, and complex thought processes.

If you’re a morning person and enjoy the quiet energy of that time of the day, you could consider crafting a morning routine to center and ground yourself before everyone in the household gets up, and before starting your daily tasks.

On the other hand, if evenings are more suitable for you, how about creating a calming evening routine? Same concept, but even more gentle so that you don't activate your nervous system too much before sleep. 

Ideas of activities to consider adding in your daily practice time:

  • 5 to 20 min of mindfulness practice (centering, meditation, mindful walk, etc)

  • 10 to 20 min of yoga or gentle stretching

  • 5 to 10 min of journaling

  • Affirmation, prayer, and/or gratitude practice

  • Closing ritual

How to make time for this practice:

1. Go to bed early. In order to free up time in the morning it’s essential to be able to… get up! It’s hard to get up when we are chronically tired. And we’ll be exhausted if we don’t get 8-9 hours of sleep on average.

2. Get the rest of the family on board. If you have children, arrange to do your morning routine before they get up. Since they need much more sleep than adults, there is some free time available before they wake up. If you have a partner, ask for their support and suggest taking turns to take care of the kids. When they are past the baby stage, consider including your children into your routine, by helping them develop their own morning ritual alongside you as they grow up.

3. A daily practice can be as short or as long as you can afford. Even with 5 minutes, you can give yourself the chance to center yourself for a few breaths, do a few stretches, and a little closing ritual. If you have more time, you can extend your practice up to a whole hour with a longer mindfulness practice, more healing movements, and other activities to support your personal development. The amount of time that you devote to your practice can also be flexible depending on what’s possible and how you feel on a given day. No need to seek perfection, just doing it is all that matters.

A daily centering practice grounds you into who you truly are. Become more of who you are in 2023!