Hello, this is Blythe Stephens of A Blythe Coach: dance education & coaching to move through life with balance, grace, & power. My podcast includes bite-sized insights on ballet, dance, yoga, well-being, creativity, and joy. Today I’ll briefly discuss how to find a centered state of being, recruiting our inner resources to act powerfully.
When we are centered, we sense our internal strength and the support of our respiration. We can become aware of our own thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. We are clear of mind, able to be in our personal power, courageous, at cause, and responsible.
Centering is finding the connection to and strength of the core of who we are, including our physical core strength and all of our internal resources, courage, and power. In the yogic system, the center is associated with the third chakra, a place of action, creativity, gut feeling, and self-definition. In ballet and other dance forms, core engagement is crucial to our poise, balance, and power, and yoga also involves pranayama or breath control practices.
In the book Teaching People, Not Poses, Jay Fields states that “Centering is having a sense of personal power and control over your life. To center, consciously put your attention on connecting to the center of your body, to your core strength. I like to imagine being able to gather all the parts of myself and all of my energy back to my center and take a moment to feel my strength.”
I invite you to feel centered in your body as you practice core and conditioning work, as you practice yoga or dance, as you perform onstage, and in your daily life.
“Draw your attention to your center and see if you can feel strength there.”
For my favorite exercises to tap into your core strength, subscribe to the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel and sample videos including “Planking Pleasures,” “Oh Wow, Cat/Cow!” and “Plush Paralleleves.”
I also find Dandapani’s energy-gathering meditation to be a supportive practice in the pursuit of a centered state, and I will continue to share tools that help connect to core strength and courage. To find many more free resources, visit my website, www.ablythecoach.com
