For the witch, being centered is essential to the success of their magic. Centering offers a place to start from, and gives you the opportunity to check in with your body, mind and magic before you cast a spell. Other benefits of practicing centering often include a reduction in stress and an increase in the ability to problem solve. Adding a centering practice to your metaphysical techniques toolbox will make you a better witch.
What is Centering?
Centering is the process by which you become aware of and get comfortable in your body. It is a technique that is easy to master and that you can do in seconds once you have practice at it. Simply put, centering is bringing your focus to your body so that you know what is going on in it. All you need to center is your body and attention. Then, if you find that you are out of sorts, you can ground yourself to get back to a calmer state of mind.
How to Center
To center yourself, you need to have 20 to 30 seconds of uninterrupted time. You can do this standing, sitting or lying down. It is easier to do with your eyes closed as that helps to focus your attention inward.
Sit, stand or lie down comfortably. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel the air flowing into your lungs and even lower into your belly. Belly breathing helps to reduce stress and strengthens the body-mind connection, so you want to engage in it rather than breathing shallowly.
As you breathe out, bring your awareness to your body. Feel your fingers and toes, arms and legs. Recognize that this is your body that you occupy. Wriggle your fingers and toes, roll your shoulders, tighten and release the muscles of your legs to anchor yourself into your physicality. What you are doing is really focusing on your body and the space that you occupy in it.
Continue to breathe and bring your attention to your center, whether you perceive that as your chest, belly, forehead or wherever, as long as it is a physical part of you. Breathe into your center. You might feel a warmth or tingling as you do so. Keep breathing and focus on that part of you for several seconds. Make sure that you are exhaling and inhaling fully, continuing to fill your belly as you do so. You can keep count of the breaths if that helps you to focus.
As part of your centering practice, you can do a body scan. To do so, bring your attention to different parts of your body and observe them for things like tension, pain, or feelings of discomfort. Start at your feet and work your way up to your head. Don’t do anything other than note where the tension, etc. is. Don’t spend more than a second on each part of your body so you don’t get caught up in analyzing it. If, after you have done the scan, you find that your body or emotional state is in turmoil or pain, you can move on to grounding to help alleviate some of those issues.
After about twenty to thirty seconds of breathing and fitting back into your body, open your eyes and move a little. Give your hands a shake or rock back and forth on your feet a couple of times. This will help bring your attention back to your surroundings. You can now continue with what you were doing, whether that be work, casting a spell or just going about your day.
At this point you should feel more settled, in a slightly calmer state of mind, and you might even be in less pain. You should feel more focused and ready to tackle whatever it is that is in front of you.
When to Center
I often recommend that witches center themselves before they cast any magic or engage in divination. The practice helps you to focus on the task at hand and also increases your connection to your inner magic. It is also helpful to routinely practice centering as a part of your magical self-care.
The good news is that the more you practice centering, the more likely you are to remember to use it whenever you feel the need to be more present, whenever you feel unsettled in your body, or when you just need a quick break from whatever is going on around you. Start by scheduling centering at a regular time each day, maybe when you first wake up in the morning or right before you go to sleep at night. You can set a reminder on your phone if you need to at the start to get into the habit.
Work centering into your magical practice, performing it before you work a spell or otherwise engage in magic. You can align your centering with various times of the day or phases of the moon for added oomph. I like to check in with myself around noon as that is the height of the sun’s power and I’m usually deep into whatever my task for the day is by then.
As you get more comfortable with checking in with your body, you’ll find that you start to do it automatically whenever you need to. Listen to your body and your emotions and if you feel like you need to center, do so. It will get easier to do the more you practice and soon you’ll find you can center in ten seconds.
Centering is an important tool in the witch’s toolbox. By knowing yourself in all states–from calm to frazzled–you can better work your magic. And centering yourself can help you to better tap into your magic. Take time to practice centering yourself and see how much it improves your witchcraft.