The Meditation of Centering - Part 1

The Meditation of Centering - Part 1

Meditation of Centering is a fairly well-known and widespread exercise, in various forms. This meditation is as simple as it is important, but it is also often poorly understood by those who practice it. To become more effective, we need to understand what we are doing. Therefore, I will now discuss some of the concepts necessary to understand this practice, and then move on to an explanation of the exercise itself. The Meditation of Centering is a first fundamental exercise that anyone can do in their daily practice, and it is the first exercise proposed in the PsyClub initiation path.

Introduction

As taught in yoga, the subtle body is composed of various "nadis". The nadis are commonly defined as channels of energy. When we speak of energy, however, we must not take the words literally. In fact, these nadis are not tubes through which specific fluids flow, but are more like currents, intersecting with each other, rhythmically moving the sea of the subtle body. The three best known nadis are Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna. Other traditions of course also speak of them, using different symbols to express the same subtle reality, but it is not the case here to go into them all.

More specifically, these three forces, or currents, or energies, which interest us in Meditation of Centering, are: (1) the solar force that nourishes us when we develop a harmonious relationship with our Self, whose carrier energy is linked to the golden ratio; (2) the telluric force (from tellus, the earth) that originates in our interioty and allows us to manifest who we are, the womb in which the seed is placed that our solar force will make grow, whose carrier energy is linked to the arc of catenary; and (3) the vital and martial force that originates from the union of the first two.

The first two nadis are those that, using a certain more modern language, we use during "channeling" and "grounding", also called channelling and grounding. Words that are often spoken of out of turn. Here, however, having said what we needed to say, I will stop in my explanation of these channels.

The "Central Channel", the one that runs vertically through our body and our main chakras, is the main channel of our energy body, connecting us directly with our Self, through the three nadis mentioned.

Developing, activating, purifying the central channel is, therefore, among the main objectives of the initiatory path. Let us pass to the exercise.

Theory

Meditation of Centering is a simple exercise that anyone can practise at any time: whether at home, sitting comfortably on the sofa, on the bus, in the office, in the shower, on the bike. Its effects are manifold, and you can discover them for yourself by practising.

There are many versions of this meditation, and many of them are based on more or less complex visualisations. These visualisations, however, often divert attention from the goal of the meditation. In this version, the visualisation part is very limited, precisely to allow attention to go where it is needed.

The visualisation associated with this exercise should in fact only be taken as a guide, an image/symbol that directs the exercise. This guiding image may be useful the first few times you do the exercise. Once, however, we have become familiar with the more subtle sensations it arouses in us, we can safely let go of any image - if - we feel it is superfluous, and concentrate only on those "sensations".

The "centre", the state we arrive at in step 5, should become our natural state of being. Step 6, on the other hand, is the fundamental part for the daily purification and recharging of the subtle body. When you do this exercise during the day, for example while waiting for the bus, you can of course go directly to points 5 and 6, without doing the others.

The central channel connects the Earth to the Heavens: when we can fuse these two forces in the Heart, the solar and the telluric, with Fire, we enter the state of Centring, or Presence. The more the channel is trained, the more the energy flows, the greater will be our ability to manifest the Divine Self.

As a final piece of advice, I suggest you re-read this article (theory and practice), a few weeks or even months later (of practice).

Practice

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1. Start by closing your eyes and listening to your breath. Slowly, slow down and even out your breathing rhythm, and with it your thoughts, until you enter a state of stillness.

2. Imagine then that you detach yourself from your body, with your imagination. Once outside, now begin a journey to the centre of the earth. Imagine, quietly taking a few minutes to do so, that you go through all the various layers of the underground one by one, until you reach the centre of the Earth. There, we embrace this centre, and create a blue channel between it and our body above, on the surface. Through this blue channel, which connects the centre of the Earth and our body, send and receive energy to and from this centre. Remain in this state for a few minutes.

3. Now, from the centre of the Earth, making the journey in reverse, go back up to the surface, going through the various layers of the underground again, and then, in a similar way, continue the journey continuing upwards, to the centre of the Sun, straight up, vertically, above your head. Once there, in a similar way as before, create a golden channel connecting the centre of the Sun to your body and set in motion an exchange of energy, as before. Remain in this state for a few minutes.

4. Now go back, retracing your path, from the centre of the Sun to your body. Back here, imagine again the two channels that you have created between you, the Earth and the Sun, and continue to flow energy through them, both of them, in a continuous cycle: from the body, to the centre of the Earth, and back to the body, and up again to the centre of the Sun, and back to the body, and back again, to the Earth, and so on.

5. Now that some energy is flowing in the two channels, slowly move your attention from the head centre to the heart centre. Once immersed in the heart (it may not be so immediate at first), here in the centre of the column, merge the energy coming from the Sun and the Earth, nourish it, and return the excess to the flow. Take only what you need, let the rest go: avoid unnecessary, and often harmful, accumulations. Seek balance.

6. Always remaining centred on the heart, imagine the energy channel nourishing the body in the inhalation phase, while, in the exhalation phase, imagine the energy leaving the body and taking away the stress, negative emotions and various "burdens" that you carry - and feel - within you.