The Art of Centering

Center. Breathe. Let it be easy.

Center. Breathe. Let it be easier.

Re-center. Breathe. Notice the Quality of Ease that comes with every breath.

To live a centered life is to bring consciousness and ease to everything you do.

Living a centered life should be our ultimate goal.

TTW was founded on the idea of maximizing our potential through conscious training. Over the last few weeks I have been chronicling my interactions with a client of many years who has been struggling with her golf game. After finally convincing her, a couple of weeks ago, of the need to practice, she has diligently practiced 2-3 times per week for 20-30 minutes. I have given her some practice ideas and she has created some of her own. I am happy to report that she has been shooting in the mid 90’s since she began practicing and is feeling much better about her game.

During our last training session, she commented that she needed to work on her endurance, because after 14 holes or so she finds it harder to stay focused and centered. Keep in mind that although I have worked with her for many years on centering and energy flow, she has been actively applying it to her golf game for only several weeks. Through the heat, the ups and downs of several rounds of golf, under lots of pressure (she was playing in a tournament), being able to maintain center and focus for 14 holes is truly amazing.

In his piece on Friday, Ben pointed out how centering could help many, if not all, of the best players at the French Open. He catalogued how each wears down, losses focus, and struggles in the heat of competition, and highlights how they could improve and be helped by the centering techniques that we share here at TTW. These players are at the top 1% of their sport and each and every one would benefit from this practice.

Now, keep in mind, from visualization techniques to working with sports psychologists, all of them already do some kind of mental training. Many of them do yoga and other forms of breathing and meditation exercises. They all have personal trainers and staffs dedicated to keeping them fit, strong, and prepared to compete at the highest levels of their professions. And yet, In the thick of the competition, when it’s all on the line, why does their training often fall short? Why can’t these elite professional athletes integrate their training seamlessly into competition? I would assume that it’s how they train and practice. That they are building a set of tools that they hope will keep them at the top of their game, instead of building a set of tools that keeps them centered and living a balanced life.

Remember, living a centered life should be our ultimate goal.

To live a centered life is to bring consciousness and ease to everything you do.

Center. Breathe. Let it be easy.

Center. Breathe. Let it be easier.

Re-center. Breathe. Notice the Quality of Ease that comes with every breath.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *