Barbara Alfors Coaching and Consulting

Be in choice, be aligned, know your path, know your genius.

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Centering Techniques

There are many ways to think of centering; the way I like to think of it is coming to a place of listening to your own wise self. When you are centered, you are able to think more clearly, make better decisions, and avoid creating unnecessary conflicts.  

Here are a few ways to practice centering. This is called a practice because it works best if you keep repeating it to build new neural pathways (see my centering resources post). 

  1. Noticing your Breath
    The easiest way for me to center myself in most situations is to focus on my breath. This can be done in many ways;
         a. put your hand on your heart or stomach and notice the rise and fall of your chest or stomach as you breathe
         b. focus on the difference of temperature of the air as it goes in and out of your nostrils
         c. imagine the breath filling every part of your body as you inhale
         d. imagine you are breathing in from the bottom of your feet, and exhaling out the top of your head (or the reverse)
  2. Imagery or Visualization
    Focusing on a favorite image is another way to get centered. This can be an actual picture or artwork, or an imagined image or place. One way to select this image is to imagine yourself beautifully calm and peaceful, and pick an image that you connect with this feeling.
  3. Touch
    A simple method of centering using touch is to rub your thumb and forefinger together with such delicate attention that you can feel the fingerprints on both thumb and forefinger. This method has the advantage of being accessible in almost any situation. (From Shirzad Chamine)
  4. Keywords or Mantra
    Words are a good way to connect to center for some people, and a powerful mantra, key word, or inspirational phrase may help us to counteract the voice of the inner critic, and instead build neural pathways that focus on more positive feelings. One method of finding a powerful mantra for yourself is to think of the voice of your inner critic in a stressful situation, and find a phrase to neutralize that critical voice. For example, if your inner critic often tells you that you are weak, a good phrase might be “I am strong.” Writing the phrase down and putting it someplace you will see it often, like a sticky note on a bathroom mirror, can help you to remember to come back to this phrase. Repeat it often so it will be available in your brain when needed. 
  5. Noticing and Naming Thoughts and Emotions
    A mindfulness practice involves noticing and naming your thoughts and emotions, and this can be very useful in bringing ourselves to center. We have thoughts running through our minds constantly, and most of these are either a distraction or from one of the critical inner voices. We cannot stop these voices and thoughts, but we can take their power by simply naming them as they arise. This can be as simple as “I had a thought” and visualizing it floating by in the breeze, or in a river. Not being attached to our thoughts can help us stay focused on what is important. 
  6. Somatic Practice – Using Posture 
    Amy Cuddy has a famous Ted talk about the power of posture, and she specifically uses the Wonder Woman posture as an example of how to feel more powerful. We can also use posture to feel more grounded; you can experiment with this yourself and find the posture that works best for you. Typically this will be an upright, standing posture where you feel your weight upon the earth and your head being pulled gently upwards. 
  7. Relating to Others
    If you notice you are reacting poorly to the words or energy of another person, you can imagine that person as a child and imagine feeling love and empathy for that child. (From Shirzad Chamine)
  8. LovingKindness Meditation
    The LovingKindness meditation is a wonderful practice, especially if you are having trouble relating to a specific person. See explanation here. 

Using our Conscious Minds

white clematis flowers

I’m working on a presentation on centering for a women’s professional group here in Denver, and as I was gathering my research I came across a version of this statement:


An estimated 95% of our choices, behaviors, feelings, reactions, and decisions are made non-consciously.

Being somewhat fact-driven, I attempted to look this up and only found references to Gerald Zaltman, a Harvard professor, and his work on purchasing. And I found a discussion about how there’s no way to really measure cognition, but the 95% figure sounds reasonable based on all the things our brains are doing. This quote was particularly interesting:

“Consciousness appears to be a way to monitor and share the choices we make unconsciously. All the work to make most decisions is made before conscious awareness. The 95% is the actual cognitive effort of making decisions. The 5% is making up a story of why the decision was made.”

– John Light on Quora

So what does this mean in a practical sense? We operate mostly from the shortcuts that our brains have developed over the years, and we may not be making the best decisions or having the best reactions as a result. We have ingrained stories and beliefs that often are mostly untrue, and we base our actions on these stories.

And how do we change this? By developing awareness, and noticing when we are basing our reactions or decisions on reasons we haven’t fully processed.

I will be posting a resource list from my centering presentation and more info on how to use centering to develop awareness, so keep an eye out!


If you would like to explore how to brighten your path, or are just curious about coaching, contact me to schedule a complimentary discovery session.

Chasing Rabbits

Peter Rabbit

I often think about the power that stories have over us. I was reminded of a simple example the other day as I was planting baby corn seedlings in the backyard.

I was concerned that the rabbits in the yard might eat the tender leaves of the seedlings, but my mind immediately brought up the image of the farmer, Mr. McGregor, chasing Peter Rabbit out of the garden. And I thought, “I don’t want to be bad like Mr. McGregor! I won’t chase away the rabbits.”

If a simple children’s story has so much power to shape our thinking, decades later, imagine how powerful the stories of your own family are.

All families have their own stories; some more common, some more unique, that influence us throughout our lives. Being able to identify these stories leads you to being able to question them. Once you start questioning, you can start making your own conscious choices.

It’s been two days and only two leaves have been eaten. I’m hoping the bunnies don’t like corn.


If you would like to explore how to brighten your path, or are just curious about coaching, contact me to schedule a complimentary discovery session.

I don’t know where to start!

explore

The Value of Exploration

“I’m interested in coaching, but I don’t know where to start!”  This is a common concern for people considering starting a coaching engagement.

Coaching is something that is hard to understand until you’ve experienced it, and I completely understand this concern that you have to have things figured out before starting. But don’t worry, that’s what the coaching process can support you with! 

The beauty of coaching is that the coaching process helps clarify your thoughts, so that you know where to start. It’s not always an easy or direct process, depending on what’s getting in your way and what blind spots you are ready to explore.  

If you give yourself enough space and openness (in a safe environment), you will know what’s in your heart, and where your blind spots might be. A good coach will give you that space to safely explore. Spending time to figure out what’s most important is a crucial first step to a new coaching engagement. And along the way there will probably be new discoveries about beliefs or thought patterns that are holding you back.

The beauty of coaching is that you don’t need to know where to start. Your coach will help you identify your goals, and any issues you want to tackle.  


If you would like to explore how to brighten your path, or are just curious about coaching,  contact me to schedule a complimentary discovery session.


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