I am no yoga master or spiritual guru, so when I talk about “centering,” I’ll admit I’m still finding my way. But lately, it has become clear that the world, our country, and each of us as individuals are in desperate need of it. We have spent so much time out on the fringes—clinging to extreme philosophies and reactive ideas—that we’ve forgotten the strength found at the core. It’s time we return to the center. I know I need to.
When we live exclusively on the fringes—whether fueled by political polarization, the frantic pace of modern work, or the high-wire act of constant anxiety—we lose the stability required to act with purpose. Returning to the center isn’t about being “middle of the road” or mediocre; it is about finding that steady point from which all effective movement begins. In sports, my coaches used to scream at us to find our “comfortable base” and strengthen our core. They knew that you cannot make a play if you are off-balance. The same is true for the soul.
The center is the place where the soul meets the physical world. While the fringes are defined by noise and fragmentation, the center is characterized by stillness and integration. Our souls are far less troubled when they are grounded. The soul doesn’t actually “travel” to the fringes with us; rather, we simply drift away from it. Centering, then, is the act of coming home to that “internal pilot” who remains calm even when the external world is a tempest.
How do we make this return? If the world pulls us toward the noise, our first move must be a strategic retreat into silence. As a country and as individuals, we return to the center when we move toward the soul of the person across from us, rather than the philosophy they happen to be wearing. It is a shift in posture. Instead of shouting from the branches of our respective trees, we meet on the dry land of shared human experience: family, grief, hope, and the simple desire for peace. We heal the whole when we remember that the “core” of our neighbor is remarkably similar to our own.
Perhaps we return to the center only when we “move first.” We often wait for the “other side” to become more reasonable before we let go of our defensive positions on the edge. But moving first is an act of leadership. It is the realization that you cannot steady a tilting boat by leaning further over the railing; you steady it by standing firmly, and calmly, right in the middle.
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