Centered

I am a potter at heart and in the studio.  One of the first terms every potter learns is "centered".  This is a very critical step as it is the foundation of the pot. The pot is only as true and as strong as the centering.  This is the first part to getting the ball of clay perfectly in the center so that one doesn't have a lopsided pot!  If this step is not achieved, the rest is nearly a waste of energy. 

For years pottery has worked to "center" my mind.  The victim of an extremely active mind, having my hands dirty and in the clay means my mind has to focus on the one single task ~ centering the clay.  Feeling the clay, the wheel and the rhythmic pressure of centering makes the clutter in the mind fade into the far recess.  Throwing becomes therapeutic, calming and energizing all at the same time for me. 

Centering the body & mind is fairly common in our vocabulary today.  People are attempting to find ways to balance themselves.  To let everything else go so that the body & mind are harmonized ~ to find a balance between the emotional, physical and spiritual.  A balance from head to toe ~ both outside the body and inside the body.  Whatever your definition, when I say "I feel centered", you know what I am referencing. 

Most of the time my little sensory seeking son is not centered.  Generally he is so far from being connected to himself we don't know how to bring him together.  He crashes into things, spins wildly, moves, wiggles and shakes.  His mind moves as fast as his body.  Some days he stutters and stammers over his words because they just don't come out fast enough.  He rarely finds a calm and still place within himself.  All of his senses just work overtime.  For the most part I can only imagine because I have the ability to limit the things that are bothering me.  He is learning. 

I recently let him "play" on the wheel.  It was in that moment when he was sitting there with the wheel spinning and the clay just moving beneath his hands that I saw my baby "centered".  He was still and focused.  I know the look.  The look of calm.  The mind is finally clear of jittery thoughts and just that one moment is all that matters.  I saw it and he felt it.  And it was magic. 

But not only is clay and the process of centering good for my son but the whole activity is MESSY!  He loves a messy activity!  The pure feeling of putting his hands in something cold, wet & from the earth.  Smelling it.  Smearing it on his hands and if I am not watching his chest, legs, face, hair (believe me I am now an expert on how to get clay out of the tight curls).  The whirring sound of the wheel and little else.  The strength of his arms and hands to hold the clay on the moving wheel.  And for a short time when he asked for help, the warm sensation of my body behind him, my hands holding his, the exact pressure to make that lump centered on the wheel.  All of these sensations helped to put his mind and body in a calm place ~ he was centered.  If only for a little bit.  He pulled it all together and was one little united being with the machine and the earth below his little hands.  It was a magic that is hard to achieve.  

Where ever we find that magical place; when we know our body is centered and we can keep going for a minute or a week longer, we need to explore those options and opportunities for our little ones.  If it is yoga, running, baking, pottery, drawing, yard work, music, horse back riding, dance, wood work, auto repair.... as an adult you find the thing that clears your mind and puts your body at peace.  We need to find those places for our little ones.  For my little boy I have found two now... swimming and messy pottery (as he calls it). 

We certainly can not do them every day but we can find time for him to have those things.  Because the moment of clarity on his face.  The peace I can watch him find.  The still and calm movements. Even if they are short lived, are extremely important to feel. Just as they are important for me... they are for him.  Find what makes you centered, do it and then help your child....