Page 47 - Taming Your Gremlin A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting Out of Your Own Way (Rick Carson)_Neat

your breathing, to
the surface of your skin.

Play with gently directing your awareness among these three
areas, and when you are ready, with an awareness of your breathing
and your skin, inhale slowly, once again, imagining your breath

passing behind your heart and brushing gently against it. As you do
so, say in your mind the words, “I’m taming.”

Then, exhale fully, again feeling your breath pass lightly over the
back of your heart. In your mind say the words, “My gremlin.”

Notice the surface of your skin once again.

Gently lift your eyelids. It will be as if you are peering out from
within your body into a multidimensional movie—the world around
you. You may at this same instant be aware of your skin tingling and

feeling very alive. I call this state of separateness being centered.

BEING CENTERED

Being centered is simply one way of being. For goodness’ sake, do not give
yourself some kind of rule in the form of should or ought to when it comes
to being centered. To tell yourself you should be centered or ought to be
here now is to set up a duality between your natural self and your gremlin.

Think of being centered as your home base in the here and now, and go
home often. Each time you return home, you are giving yourself a fresh
start.

I strongly recommend that you center yourself every day, preferably in

the morning. Having established a feeling of centeredness as your home
base, you will be able to return to it more easily when you get knocked off
center during the day—and you will. With practice, you’ll be able to re-
center yourself in a few breaths’ worth of time by simply focusing briefly
on your breathing, and then on the surface of your skin. Use your “I’m