Centering Your Mind
Day 13: Observing and not reacting is the key to becoming a centered soul
Quietly moving my feet, one foot in front of the other, I am becoming. I am becoming more centered and growing my spirit each and every day of this journey of learning from the book The Infinite Self by Stuart Wilde. It has been a trip of many wonderful lessons that lessons that are a joy to share each day. Join me on the path of discovery. Today we explore centering the mind.
Centering the mind is a discipline you perform in the waking state as well as the meditative state. In the waking state, it’s mostly a matter of training yourself to observe life rather than react to it. The mind, perceiving through the five senses, is programmed to react. So, somebody says something and the untamed mind responds, sometimes obviously, sometimes more subtly — anger, happiness, joy, frustration, whatever. What you’re looking to do as part of centering yourself is to complete the process of detachment by training yourself not to react. You need distance, not involvement, action not reaction. You have to buy the solution in life, not the emotion. Learn to become of observer of life and an observer of self. -Stuart Wilde
I have started to see this process of centering the mind to observe rather than react as a saving grace in my life. The more I am able to center myself in any situation and simply quiet my mind and quiet my speech, I am able to observe and notice. I am able to find solutions and take actions. I am able to handle things that come up in life in a calm way.
So many times the mind likes to bring up the past or worry about the future. When I am in a conversation with someone, this can happen easily. The unruly mind will bring up situations, dialogues or phrases that the person said in the past that perhaps you reacted to poorly or took the wrong way. This can take a lovely conversation and turn it into a battle inside your mind. I have learned that if I shift my mind to the present moment, to the beauty, abundance and serenity that is that moment, I can be in a different space in that same conversation. By choosing to be centered, I can create a meaningful connection in that moment which in turn makes each moment after that more beautiful.
Centering the mind and truly experiencing each moment in life as it comes to you is a practice and a gift. It is a discipline that takes a lot of awareness. It is a daily habit that you create. It is not something that you can do perfectly every time. There will be plenty of times that I will react to something instead of just observing it. However, the more that I practice, the more that we all practice becoming more centered, the more we can just observe and experience the beauty of life just as it is. If we let go, we can know that we are all in training here. We are all growing our spirits.
When we practice just experiencing all of the parts of life, the positive and the negative, we can grow and center ourselves even more. Exposing ourselves to all of life can broaden our horizons and create an awareness of the inner beauty of all types of situations.
Next time it’s absolutely pelting down, get your best clothes and coat on, and maybe invest in a fancy hairdo and, just as it starts to really come down, get out there. Have no resistance to the cold. Experience the wet, “do” cold, experience the slush, just say “Hey, I’m doing rain here.” Rain is normal; it’s a gift. -Stuart Wilde
Life is a precious gift. We are all here at this exact time because we are ready to experience it. We are ready to grow. We are ready to share our gifts. We are ready to make a difference. We are ready to become who we are meant to become. We are ready to leave a lasting legacy on this planet, to spread joy, to spread hope.
Each 24 hours is another opportunity to practice. Each new day is here for us to learn how to center our mind, create solutions and bring forth powerful gifts for ourselves and for all of humanity. By learning to center our minds, we are creating a new world inside of ourselves, and by doing that we become more peaceful and are able to go forth and build a new world full of promise for the Earth and beyond.
Become a silent observer of life and a compassionate observer of yourself. You are not your emotions or your body or your personality and its ego. These are only a part of what you are. In fact, you’re a divine energy that is evolving, operating through the complexities of body, mind and emotions to comprehend itself as a spiritual angel, an eternal spirit that is growing and learning, poised in infinity and currently doing “human being.” -Stuart Wilde
It’s so beautiful to know that we are all eternal spirits, growing and learning each day. We are all here in training to learn something very special. Now in this time more than ever I believe we are here to do some profound work together as a planet. When we can do the daily work of centering ourselves, we are more ready to do the tasks that will bring us forward into new realms of being. We will be prepared to take on whatever comes our way with grace, calm and beautiful action.
My prayer and intention for you today is that you begin to practice centering your mind. Perhaps it is through starting a meditation practice. Perhaps it is a daily walking meditation in nature. Perhaps it is just sitting in silence for five minutes a day. Perhaps it is taking a few deep breaths before a difficult phone call. No matter what practice you choose, know that it is the perfect choice for you. Know that this discipline done daily will begin to compound your ability to stay calm and serene in any situation. You will be able to observe rather than react. That is a true gift.
What centering practice will you start today?
I am tagging my fellow writers here who are following along on this journey so that I may share this path with them: Aurora Eliam, CMP, Michele Thill, Gurpreet Dhariwal, Sumera Rizwan, Chowa Sekai, Rasheed Hooda, Henery X (long), Terry Mansfield, Amy Marley, Taha Abbas, Typewriter, Dr John Rose, Charlotte Zobeir Ali and many more! Thank you Illumination Family!
Trista Signe Ainsworth is a professional organizer with Joyful Minimalism. She helps working women clear the clutter, overwhelm, and shame from their homes and lives so that they can truly live in joy.
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