All in

• Name: All in
• Row: Gut (Body)
• Column: Centerline
• Side: Centerline

Purpose: Commitment. Steady body, ready to act, nothing wasted.

Commitment. Your body is steady and ready: not braced, not wired. Your nervous system is regulated, so you can act without panic and rest without guilt. This is the centerline of the gut, the opposite of fight-or-flight.

The voice on this square

I'm here. I'm ready. I'm not going anywhere.

Centerline: Balance. Not open, not locked. You respond instead of react. Every row has a centerline square, and the whole game is learning to find your way back here.

At the centerline your body is committed: steady, ready to act, able to rest. Regulated, not braced.

Sources: Clark, A; Beck, A

Autonomic nervous system: your threat alarm. Your body runs fight-or-flight (sympathetic) and rest-and-recover (parasympathetic) without asking permission. The insula reads those body signals and turns them into gut feelings. You can't think your way out of an alarm, but you can breathe your way down: long, slow exhales lower arousal.

Integration: centerline. The front of your brain and your alarm system are working together instead of fighting. Your heart rhythm is flexible and you can feel the emotion without being run by it. This is the state that training aims for.

Sources: Craig, A; Balban, M; Thayer, J; Ochsner, K

How it tends to show up:

• Sleeping through the night
• Calm under pressure
• Able to sit still without scanning

In your body

Feet planted, steady breath, relaxed strength.

No right answers. These are for noticing, not judging. Skip any that don't fit.

• What are you all in on right now? What would it take to stay committed when it gets hard?
• What does your body feel like on a day you're truly steady?
• What daily habit keeps your body on the centerline?

• Full picture · HeadSame column. When your gut is here, your head often lands here too.
• Got your six · HeartSame column. When your gut is here, your heart often lands here too.
• In the zone · GutOne step further from center in this row.
• Bracing · GutOne step further from center in this row.

Write it as a When/Then plan: "When I notice sleeping through the night, then I will lock in what got you here: sleep, breath, movement."

"When X happens, I will do Y" plans hand the decision to your environment, so you don't need willpower in the moment. Across many studies they make follow-through far more likely than good intentions alone.

Sources: Gollwitzer, P

• Commitment. Steady body, ready to act, nothing wasted.
• What it sounds like: "I'm here. I'm ready. I'm not going anywhere."
• Your move: Lock in what got you here: sleep, breath, movement.

Optional reflection

What daily habit keeps your body on the centerline?