Find Your Centre – Your Centre of Gravity!

Last week we learned how to breathe. Now we’re going to try breathing and walking at the same time! It may sound very obvious and a little stupid, but bear with me. If you want to completely optimise your body and muscles and movement, whether for training or just for well-being, your centre of gravity is as important as proper breathing techniques.

Breathing properly is important because it influences your nervous system and optimises your hormones, as well as other health benefits explained here.

The next step then, is literally – stepping.

Science calls walking staggered controlled falling. What most people actually do while walking, is leaning with their chests forward – you’re essentially just falling forward, which is why falling is so easy. The only time you’re actually 100% balanced is when you’re lying flat on your back. But since we can’t always be lying down, let’s look at becoming more balanced.

Becoming Centred

By the time a person reaches adulthood, your centre of gravity has most likely moved up to be based somewhere in the upper chest.

Relearning how to become centred is easier at first while sitting down or standing in one place, and it all starts with breathing correctly.

Sit on the floor with your back straightened and your feet underneath your glutes (your butt). This position is known as “seiza”. Your hands should be placed loosely in your lap. Relax your body and mind by practising the relaxation breathing techniques:

1. Place one hand on your stomach, below your navel, and the other on the centre of your chest.
2. Inhale with the abdomen, not the chest.
3. Exhale by contracting the abdomen. Do this for a few minutes.
4. Rest, and repeat, inhaling deeply but not allowing your chest to rise. It may be difficult at first as there may be stress or tension in your diaphragm.

Once you have mastered this technique and you no longer need to place your hands on your chest and abdomen, practise this standing up. Then move on to doing it while walking or moving.

Optimum Stability

You will create optimum stability by keeping your centre of gravity low in your body. The approximate midpoint of the body is in the area between the navel and sexual centre, and this is where your centre of gravity should be. This area is known as the lower Tan Tien.

While sitting down it is relatively easy to keep your centre of gravity in the lower Tan Tien. When you stand up and begin to move, the centre of gravity adjusts itself to the movement being performed.

While this may sound perfectly normal, if your centre of gravity remains in the lower Tan Tien while moving about, your movements will be more focused and controlled, stronger and more balanced. That means, in a training situation or a fight, you won’t be as easily unbalanced.

As we grow older, the centre of gravity rises to a fluctuating point in the torso. When you experience negative emotions, the centre of gravity travels further upward into the torso. So when a person becomes angry, the centre of gravity can rise up into your chest, causing a heart attack or panic attack. During extreme fright or fear, your centre of gravity can rise all the way to your throat, rendering you speechless and making it difficult to breathe. This starts the process of hypervigilance, which we will discuss later – but safe to say, you don’t want to go there.

So creating optimum stability by keeping your centre of gravity lower is not only making you more physically balanced, but also creates health and mental health benefits.

Fall In Line

Aligning the hips and sacrum will create optimum stability, and centre yourself gravitationally.

Stand in a natural stance and breathe via the abdomen. Feel yourself getting heavier in the abdomen. By parting the knees, your hips are opened outwards, and the tendons in the groin area become firm. The sacral alignment determines whether your body alignment structure is weak or strong.

Relax your lower back and slightly drop your pelvis and sacrum, as if you are tucking in your tailbone. This aligns the sacrum. The sacrum is also one of the major pumps for cerebrospinal fluid, which cushions the nerves housed in the spinal column and enhances the activities of the central nervous system.

Obviously we can’t walk around with knees pointing outwards. The purpose of this exercise is to become accustomed to this alignment, because this makes your entire body function more effectively.

Toe the line

So when we begin walking, or performing actions with our newly found centre of gravity, your toes and your heels determines your direction.

When turning, point your foot first in the direction you want to turn. This is your lead foot. As you lift your other foot, your knees, hips and spinal cord automatically aligns itself with the direction of movement. This makes you more effective in training, and prevents you from walking into walls and doorways (for the klutzes of the world).

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Finding your centre of gravity is more than just a physical exercise. It enables you to move with more grace and fluidity, increased strength and stability, but it also creates a more centred and balanced mind. When the mind and the body becomes relaxed and becomes a unified one, you are centred – and you’re ready for the next step!