Centering Instructions

Start by finding a comfortable sitting or standing position, with your back

straight. Place your hands over your Center (3 inches below your navel and 3
inches towards your spine. Make sure that you are in balance.

Step 1 - Direct your eyes to your focus point 1 - 7 feet in front of you, lower than
eye level.

Step 2 - Say “Now I am going to Center” to yourself.

Step 3 - Close your eyes or soften your focus. Breathe in slowly through your
nose, pause, and then breathe slowly out through your mouth. Pull each breath
in as deep and as low as possible, hold it, and then exhale slowly. Focus only on
your breathing for 5-7 breaths.

Step 4 - Now start to scan your upper body for muscle tension. Breathe in slowly
through your nose, then pause to and see if your jaw feels tight. Breathe out
whatever tension you may find there. Then breathe in and pause to check if your
neck feels tight. Release the tension as you breathe out. Then check your
shoulders, pause and let go of any tightness you find as you breathe out. Then
check your arms and hand and breath out the tension.

Step 5 - Now breathe deeply into your Center, pause, and then breathe out.
Breathe in, feel your hands over your Center, then breath out. Breathe in, be at
your Center, then breathe out.

Step 6 - Hear the first two bars just as you’d like it to sound, or feel it the way
you want to start out, or see the image of how you’d like to begin.

Step 7 - Then open your eyes and focus all your energy and attention back on
your focus point. You’re now Centered and ready to begin.

Centering Practice
When you start practicing Centering, it should take you one to 2 minutes. Your
ability to Center will improve with correct practice and repetition. Start out by practicing
Centering five to seven three times a day. If you use it as part of your normal routine,
before you warm up, rehearse, or perform, you will soon notice positive effects.

The goal for now is not to see how fast you can do it, but to accomplish the task of
each step in the Centering process. Find a balanced position. Make sure that you pick
your focus point and say “Now I’m going to Center”. Then focus on your breathing before
scanning your key muscles for tension. Take as many breaths as you need to find or feel
your center. Hear the sound or feeling or image you’d like to create, and then focus all
your energy and attention on your focus point before you begin performing.

© 2009, Don Greene, Ph.D.

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