Feel off Center?

Have you ever been thrown off center by a small thing?  Maybe you tripped on a pebble in the road or you are just going along, and then WHAM, something disrupts your flow?

This is my story of connection lost and then found with help from the ancients and some coaching. I want to talk about paying attention to the “little” things that throw us off balance because if we practice with these, we will be better equipped to reconnect when life gets more difficult.

“How you do anything is how you do everything” as we walk the spiral of life.

Last week I lost my center.  My husband and I were in final negotiations for the sale of  our foundation, while traveling to Denver to meet staff for our biannual face2face retreat, planning to launch my new coaching website, and,  I had some meetings scheduled with clients.  So, I was just going along…

Then WHAM, my computer got thirsty and drank a whole bottle of Perrier.  Do you like how I blame it all on the computer?  Suddenly I couldn’t review contracts, send documents, or work on the website.  In the midst of doing all the things I loved and wanted to do, I felt my anxiety rise.  My precious timeline was going to be off dangnabbit.

When I lose center I get fearful, I begin to pace like a caged leopard and then I smile a lot, it makes people around me nervous.  I have discovered this is my warning system telling me to reconnect.

How do you act when you get fearful or disconnected?  Take note so you can remember to find your footing when this happens.

Providentially, I happened to be part of a kind of think-tank practice group to hone coaching skills.  Whew, there is nothing like being coached.  Yes, I am a coach, and because I am, I know the value of getting coached.  It is seriously good stuff if you like efficient tools to get yourself on-track or un-stuck.  My fellow coaches helped me realize I wanted a break, maybe badly enough to douse my own computer.

Is there something happening for you right now that may be telling you to rest or to play?

So, I let go of the website launch, devoted my time to staff, and took a break the very next week.  While hiking in Arizona one bright blue-sky day, I stumbled on some petroglyphs.  1200+ year old circles, spirals, animals, snakes, and hands carved in hundreds of rocks in a glorious desert canyon.

As an Archaeologist, I used to analyze the data from these rocks.  Animals may mean cycles, hunt, spirit.  Spirals can signify emergence, journey to find center, whirlwinds, and solstice.  

The spiral has many connected meanings across the world.  It is an ancient and elemental symbol, found in nearly every culture and time.  Here I am in the desert and there are literally hundreds of spirals circling on rocks around me.  Hmmmm. 

I have heard the spiral described as “The Journey in search of the Center”.  Cool.  I think I am on that journey.

I know a drowned computer is not really a big deal in the scheme of things, but I am always looking at what throws me off my center and wondering why?  And, how can I get back to center, no matter what size the pebble, rock, or boulder I stumble over?  I do not aspire to be centered in every single moment, I would be way too bored.  I do want to have strategies to return to my inner place of peace and to realize it is always within.

The spiral signifies we are always walking around our own center.  Being grounded is always within reach!

I like to look at the signs around me, I feel they point the way; I did not need my computer, I needed to talk with my new partners, connect with fantastic staff and let my website be until I could give it the time needed.

What do you do to regain balance?

Ways I get back to Center:

• Breathe.  Stop and take 7 breaths.  Just count your breaths.  Simply honor and give attention to the automatic phenomenon of breathing.  See how nice that feels?

• Touch Nature, Take a walk, See what you see

• Body Scan.  Link here to read how to use this fun tool.

• Use your Hands.  Hold your hands out at your sides and feel the air around them, feel the temperature, feel what your hands feel.  Can you feel your unique energy signature?  It’s there. Your hands can be your simplest touchstone to reconnect. 

In the end, I focused on the amazing people I get to work with, the negotiations went well….and here is my website, YAY.  The thing is, center moves, you may get to center and find it moves farther inward, deeper and deeper in so you may feel at times you are walking the same circle, when in fact you are in a deeper layer, walking to re-find your center.