On center

center rope bottoming skills


I’ve heard from several people that the chapter on Center from my book was the most difficult to understand. It makes total sense. Actually I think it is not possible to “understand” center unless you have had physical experience of it.  

Here is a story about finding my center. 

For a few years now, I’ve been practicing Hanna Somatics. It is a practice of gentle movements that helps you to attend to your body using the motor cortex of your brain. I would describe the process as inhabiting your body. It doesn’t really improve anything (well, there is a promise of muscular tension release, effortless “good” posture, and ease of movement), and it doesn’t make you more flexible or beautiful 🙂 The main benefit is to notice yourself as you are, as a living being.

Many of us have different kinds of misalignments, or twists, in our posture… We “think” we are straight, but we are really often twisted in one or more ways. 

During one class (we worked on the psoas release if anyone is interested) I got a strong feeling of my (the real one, my own!) center, which I discovered about 10 cm forward from where I thought it was. It felt unusual and confusing. I also felt a great deal of ease and joy. 

After the class, I had a strong desire to take my center out for a walk, to move, to “test run” my new “feature”. So I went outside. My feeling of being straight, centered – revitalized – persisted. 

It started to rain, so I jumped inside the closest drugstore. As I walked through the shop, I saw something interesting on the lower shelf and I went down to take it… and from the squatting position suddenly I fell down. I fell on the floor, for real. Very softly, like toddlers do, when they just learn to walk. I was a toddler, who didn’t yet know how to coordinate myself from that new center. People jumped to help me but I didn’t mind. It was just awesome. It happened then once again on the cashier that I almost lost the coordination, so I decided I better go home…

I was walking down the street, I didn’t mind the rain, I was seeing my old neighborhood as if for the first time, and thinking to myself: how can I ever live my life, if I try to live it 10 cm away from my center?… 

Because here is the thing: 

All virtues are physiological conditions;

Our most sacred convictions 

Are judgments of our muscles…

Nietzsche

As far as I remember this feeling persisted till the end of that day. It rolled back eventually. I’m still learning, and the progress is slow. But I recall this experience often. I know my real center exists and I can find my way home again…