Staying zen in chaotic times
(one breath at a time)
Do the you world ever is feel throwing overwhelmedat you? with what You’re not alone. These days many of us are inundated with negative news. We have personal issues both large and small. We face lists of tasks that boggle our minds. Unfortunately, we can’t easily eliminate these elements from our lives. But we can get rid of the stress and unhappiness they cause us on a daily basis by getting and keeping ourselves centered. So what exactly does getting centered mean, and how do we do it?
Lee Ann Dzelzkalns, owner of LA Consulting, 4650 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale, said that to center oneself is to “bring the self back into a state of balance or equilibrium,” and that this can be done easily in a variety of ways, including simple breathing techniques.
To center through breathing, she suggests focusing on a “special serene image such as relaxing on a white sand beach, or sailing on the blue green waters of the ocean while you imagine feeling the ebb and flow of the waves as you breathe in and out, up and down, back and forth.”
Other ways to get centered include meditation, yoga and tai chi, as well as going out for a walk or run.
“You can go outside for a walk on a sunny day and feel the warmth of the sun on your face and you can connect with nature,” which will balance you, she said. “And people who go out running for their morning ritual will get centered when they get into their running zone.”
Dzelzkalns has worked in fitness and wellness since 1982 and has a master’s degree in exercise and sport science. She specializes in emotional healing through the vibration of sound and guided meditation.
Traci Schwartz, owner of MyOm Wellbeing, 7963 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale, said that being centered is important for her both personally and professionally. She described her firm as a well being center for children and adults.
“The mind, body and spirit are all connected,” she said. “You can’t expect them to work well if one is out of sync. Centering is just taking inventory of where we’re at and addressing it through different modalities to bring inner peace.”
She said she uses mainly breathing techniques to center herself and that it’s a daily practice that takes 5 to 10 minutes.
“It’s definitely something I do before I rise and before I go to sleep,” she said. “I also take time to center between activities, when I need to increase my energy level and before I’ll be working with a client.”
Schwartz said being centered is important as a way to shield yourself from negative elements.
“If there is chaos around you, being calm inside is like a veil between what’s going on around you,” and it can help create a distance between you and those negative things, she said. It also helps you make better choices in life. “By being centered you will have clarity to make the right decisions, because you will be confident in your awareness,” she said.
Dzelzkalns said those who are centered have a sense of inner calm and peace about them and do tend to function better. But even they can be pulled out of center.
“What happens is that when we encounter conflict or something traumatic happens, it’s shocking to us. It pulls us out of our center and we can get angry and upset.”
When this happens, she suggests taking a few minutes to relax and become centered again.
Schwartz said it’s also helpful to ignore negative information we see on TV or the internet.
“We can’t just let anything come into our field of
Those who center themselves are able to ward off anxiety and therefore can even out their heart rates, which creates a “healthier environment for your physical body” and can also help promote healthier eating habits. “If you start to practice centering techniques you start to become more mindful or conscientious about your food choices, as well as caring about your body, caring about the people around you, how you’re spending your time” — Claire Stillman “If there is chaos around you, being calm inside is like a veil between what’s going on around you,” and it can help create a distance between you and those negative things. — Traci Schwartz Those who are centered have a sense of inner calm and peace about them and do tend to function better. But even they can be pulled out of center. “What happens is that when we encounter conflict or something traumatic happens, it’s shocking to us. It pulls us out of our center and we can get angry and upset.” — Lee Ann Dzelzkalns
awareness. Our nervous system is greatly affected by our circumstances and can become frazzled when there is too much stimulus.”
Claire Stillman, executive director of omTown Yogis, 1841 N. Prospect Ave., a nonprofit yoga and wellness firm that holds community events throughout the city in partnership with the Milwaukee Art Museum, calls centering her survival technique.
“I’m a mother of three young kids, I run the nonprofit, and I also have a business called Thai body work, a Thai massage, which is a form of yoga.
“If I didn’t have centering practices, I would probably not be able to do all the things I do very well, as they keep me healthy mentally, emotionally and physically.”
She said she centers herself the first thing each morning and throughout the day as needed.
“It’s a maintenance thing, but it’s also an in-the-moment thing. When things start to go haywire, you’re running behind, have anxiety, feeling overworked, take a moment” to bring yourself back to a place of stillness, balance and calm.
She said she started centering practices after her mother passed away in 2003 and that it’s common for people to lean toward these techniques after they experience trauma.
“When people hit bottom … for example, they discover they have some physical disease, lose a loved one, go through a traumatic event or lose a job, they feel really off balance” and they’re drawn to centering techniques.
In addition to helping us emotionally, centering can also help us physically, she said.
Those who center themselves are able to ward off anxiety and therefore can even out their heart rates, which creates a “healthier environment for your physical body” and can also help promote healthier eating habits, said Stillman.
“If you start to practice centering techniques, you start to become more mindful or conscientious about your food choices, as well as caring about your body, caring about the people around you, how you’re spending your time,” she said.