Do you live in your head? Do you sometimes feel spacey and disconnected from reality?

Getting centered can help you feel more present and alive in your own body with a sharper focus and clearer mind.

I hate to admit it, but I had a car accident once because I wasn’t present in my body. My 7 month old granddaughter was in the hospital, and I felt anxious and worried. I left the hospital after dark, trying to find my daughter’s apartment, driving a rental car in a strange city, and got turned around. My mind was churning with anxiety about the baby. I realized I needed to go in the opposite direction and made a left turn from the wrong lane… while someone was passing me on that side… When I heard the metal crunching, I felt a sick, horrible feeling. No one was hurt, thank goodness.

That accident taught me a valuable lesson about making sure I’m centered and fully in my body every single day, especially while driving or doing other things that require my full attention and presence.

Here are my top 6 tips for getting centered in your body.

• Sit in meditation for several minutes.  Pay full attention to your breath or other sensations in your body.  Let your thoughts drift in and out like clouds across the sky.
• Do a simple yoga routine such as sun salutations. I also like the poses legs up the wall and rotated stomach pose, for relaxing and getting centered. Try yogajournal.com for more information and instruction or check out local yoga studios for classes. Also find instructional DVDs at your local library.
• Imagine you’re a tree and send your roots down to the center of the earth. See your roots coming from your root chakra at the base of your spine and from your legs and feet. Feel the magnetic pull of the earth. Breathe in the earth energy through your roots into your lower body.
• Make the lowest pitched sound possible without straining your voice. Use a vowel sound and see if you can feel the vibrations of the tone in your lower body.
• Go for a nature walk without any electronics. Enjoy the beauty around you. Pay attention to the sensations that move through your body. Let your busy mind rest.
• Live in your feet. This means to drop your awareness from your head and all the busy thinking and worry, and pay attention to the physical sensations in your feet. Try it for several minutes as you go about your day, and see how you feel afterward.