It is ironic that yoga practices today speak so often of finding your center. “Become centered” or “center yourself inside,” say many teachers. What if there is no one center but that the center is everywhere? You could imagine this in your body as you orient from the center of the top of your head, the center of your hand or foot, the center of your heart or your big toe! In fact any cell in your body could be the center.
Embracing Balance and Presence in Yoga Practice
While it is important to be physically grounded and stable, the whole project of yoga at some point involves leaving your private, protected self behind. Often I find that the most enlivened moments in my day are when I am not “in my center.” Whenever you are decentered, the whole world opens up and embraces you. If you realize that the center is everywhere, then you take your place amidst the rivers, mountains, trees, sidewalks, and stars. In this way, wherever you are, you are centered.
Awakening to the Universality of Being
We typically invest so much time deliberately focusing ourselves that we unwittingly obstruct the flow of the world. Know that spiritual transmission need not come from a single person or place but is multi-directional and happening all around. When the center is everywhere you realize that you need not be anywhere other than where you are now.
