In this lesson, you'll learn Step 1 of the Emotional Wisdom System, which is to Center. How will this help you? Centering will help you get calm, balanced, and focused inwardly so that you’re able to understand how feelings affect your body. This is important because being unaware of, and holding in negative emotions can seriously affect your health. Also, once you’re aware of your body sensations and emotions, you can learn how to calm them down immediately by Centering, which will lessen the intensity of your emotions. Centering will also help you create personal boundaries, which gives you a safe space for developing your emotional intelligence, and a healthy balance between yourself and others when interacting with the outer world.

It will only take 2–4 minutes to do the three parts to Centering:

1. Belly Breathing
2. Boundary Making
3. Body Scanning

To summarize, Centering is a powerful, proven technique to lower your stress and resolve your distressful feelings. It allows your mind, body, and emotions to get clear, yet focused. Centering is essential for preparing your mind, body, and emotions to be able to process your thoughts and feelings, a required function of emotional intelligence. Consistent practice will increase your ability to focus, which is an important skill for self-transformation and emotional wisdom.

To learn how to Center, complete the following action plan:

1. Watch step 1 - Center video.
2. Read step 1 - Center guide.
3. Practice centering with step 1 - Center guided recording, or make your own audio recording using the Centering script provided in Step 1 - Center Guide.
4. Track your progress with step 1 - Center practice log