You may know that in April we brought Dr. Stephen Gilligan to Sydney from the USA for Trance Camp. Steve teaches a form of Generative Trancework that is based on Milton Erickson’s hypnotic work. Steve was a student for many years of Erickson’s and is probably the best Ericksonian Hypnotherapist around.
Anyway – one of the main tools that is taught and mastered by many in Trance Camp is Centering. That is, finding and connecting with your Center.
We each have our own way to center, our own way of grounding ourselves and coming “home†to ourselves. When you are in your center – nothing can push you, move you, manipulate or hurt you. This perhaps is another way of saying “congruentâ€.
According to Steve, if you are anxious, scared, depressed, hurt, angry, annoyed, etc., these are just signs and communication from your unconscious mind that you have moved away from your center. There are four ‘mantras’ that you can use when you recognize that you are not in your center:
- That’s interesting
- I’m sure this makes sense
- Something is trying to heal or transform
- Welcome
When we are able to truly welcome that that has taken us out of our center we become in control again. For example, this past weekend I was away with some friends. A hotel we were booked into didn’t have our reservations and I could feel myself getting very angry and frustrated. I noticed these feelings and recognized that I was letting the outside situation dictate my emotions – I welcomed this feeling, realized that something was trying to heal, identified that it made sense to feel this way and noted “that’s interestingâ€, and then came back to my center. From there, I was able to handle the situation with ease, clarity and calmness.
The key of centering is not to be in your center 24 hours a day – that would be an impossible task. Rather, the key is to notice when you are not in your center and step back into it. Its not about how long you stay there, its about how quickly you can come back.
Here is a simple test about your center.
- Have a friend with you and stand up and think about something that makes you angry, or sad or frustrated.
- Have your friend push your shoulder and see if they can knock you off balance. (it will be pretty easy)
- Now, stand with your center engaged – and again think about something that makes you angry, or sad or frustrated.
- Have your friend push your shoulder and see if they can knock you off balance. (if you are in your center, you should be very hard to knock over)
- Try it again! And, share with friends
 Life has many twists and turns! We can’t always manage those, but we can manage our own state, our own emotions and our own choices.