Techniques for centering yourself physically?

BeachHouseGuy

?

Tikal2012

Try mindfulness of the breath. It helps to tranquilize your bodily formation and can be of immense benefit towards your physical well-being.

aura

Mindfulness of breath...
(and beware of shoes that throw you off balance, the imbalance can go all the way up the back from foot to head. Women's shoes in particular are often designed (by men) to destabilize (and dis-empower) both body and mind just to give onlookers a better view of derriere muscles!
Taking off shoes and reconnecting with the earth through the feet directly on the earth is very helpful...)
and then back to mindfulness of breath.

DaltheJigsaw

Try mindfulness of the breath. It helps to tranquilize your bodily formation and can be of immense benefit towards your physical well-being.

Yea, I would also agree.

Temporary_arising

There are a few problems with using the breath.
It's not very practical while moving around.
Focussing on one particular function reduces overall insight.
And alot of people find focussing on the breath and just letting it be natural difficult. The tendency to control the flow takes over.
There's also a tendency to visualise the abdomen rising and falling which is mind formation and not experience.
Good practical mindfullness techniques are constant clarity of experiencing seeing and hearing without thought

santhisouk

Endure. You will be proud of yourself and motivated once you have done it, to the point where you can sit four hours with ease.

santhisouk

If this is regarding posture, you can sit on a chair, or set your cushion next to a wall using the wall to keep your back straight.

genkaku

One cheap-date technique: Stand still, set aside the oh-so-enjoyable worries for a moment, and breathe in and out three times. At the end of the third exhalation, smile.

Repeat as necessary.

jll

This one I learned a long time ago. Psychologist use this technique to help patients to relax. Starting from your eye brows, make a frown, hold it for a few seconds then relax. Focus on the sensation. Then make a face like you smell something foul. Hold, relax. Work your way down all the muscles in your body. Tighten then relax the muscles, one by one.

lamaramadingdong

Zazen. Even for just a minute.

Takuan

I just came across this small video that may help.

Still_Waters

There are a few problems with using the breath.
It's not very practical while moving around.
Focussing on one particular function reduces overall insight.

That's really only true if the focus is exclusively on the breath. To aid mindfulness, light attention on the breath can be used as an anchor, while an open awareness is maintained of whatever is being experienced. The Anapanasati Sutta describes this well. While it starts with an investigation the qualities of the breath itself, it soon moves on to an investigation of other objects, e.g. the Seven Factors of Awakening, while awareness of breathing is maintained. The following quote from Thich Nhat Hanh suggests how this can be used for centering:

"When you look at the full moon, and if you are mindful, 'Breathing in I see the full moon, breathing out I smile at the full moon,' suddenly the full moon reveals itself to you maybe one hundred times more clearly. It’s more beautiful, it’s clearer, it’s more enjoyable. Why? Because the moon has been touched by mindfulness."

Alan

Sumaruff

"Who am I?"