Discover Your Inner Power
Power is defined as the ability to act or have influence over others. This ability enables a feeling of control over circumstances. True power is when we have the ability to act and influence our behaviour by choice. When we live from our best potential and accept our capacity to be who we want to be, we become powerful.
Too often, we look for means to modify our circumstances by looking for solutions in the outer world – we expect others to be there for us, for external resources to rescue us and for events in the outside world to change to provide solutions.
If we are in touch with our inner power, we act from our highest power.
So, what is this inner power? It is the quiet inner force that knows when, why and how to act and take action to do what needs to be done. It is always there, always has been and always will be there. It is up to us to tap into it and gain from its innate wisdom – “gut feeling”.
Most of our actions are influenced by our minds, emotions, and bodies. It is sometimes necessary to shut down this external chatter of doing and becoming something, and sit quietly in a state of being to really listen to our inner voice to get to know who we are.
Inner power is a state of mind that helps you live a healthier, happier, and more successful life. When you align with your inner power, you give yourself permission to live a limitless life and dream big.
Simple ways to tap into your inner power:
Spend time in reflection and really get to know who you are – your strengths, weaknesses, the good, the bad and the ugly about you. Accept and love yourself as a whole without judgement. Appreciate yourself for doing the best you can on a daily basis.
Identify your purpose and your passion and try to live them. You will then be doing what you love and loving what you do.
Sitting in silence for 15 minutes twice a day is an extremely effective way to listen to your inner voice.
Remove, eliminate or minimize toxic people or circumstances in your environment. If someone or something is constantly pulling down your energy, time and joy, you need to set boundaries and if possible, eliminate them from your life or at least have minimum interaction with them.
Be your greatest ally and get out of your own way. Self-sabotage is more often the reason we don’t succeed. When we lack self-esteem and self-confidence and beat ourselves up when we fail, we are putting the brakes on our progress.
It is equally important to surround yourself with people who are positive and who lift you and support you in pursuing your life goals. You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with, so make sure you spend time in good company.
Self-care – mental, emotional and physical self-care is vital to maintain high energy levels which are necessary for you to have inner power. So, love, nurture, cherish and take care of yourself. You need to maintain high vibrational energy to be able to hear your inner voice.
Always be connected – regardless of religion, always be connected to the Source (the Divine, God, Higher Power, etc.), to others and your deeper authentic self. Practices such as prayer, meditation, helping others, and being kind, loving and compassionate to ourselves and others build this connectivity.
Remember that we always have a choice in any decision we need to take. So, take 100% responsibility for your life and know that it is in your power to live the life you desire. Circumstances are external, and choice is internal.
A powerful way to be in constant touch with our inner power is to create empowering rituals. How we start the day influences the way our day turns out – where the mind goes, energy flows!
A 15-30-minute morning ritual of a little exercise, a little meditation, a little inspiration and being grateful, thankful and appreciative of what we have can kick start the day with positive energy.
Let go of the past and don’t worry about the future. Dream big, visualize massive success and be focussed on the present moment. What is possible right here, right now. Being mindful of our breathing is an easy way to quickly shift our attention to the present moment.
Fear and doubt are two barriers to inner peace and inner strength. Both meditation and visualization of the future help overcome these. Courage is not about not having fear, it is about having fear and doing it anyway.
Do not let your life be governed by “shoulds”. The culturescape of parents, teachers and others who “love and care about us” is shaped by the time we are 7 years old. So, we develop “until” thinking where we wait for things to be perfect to get started and allow the “shoulds” to prevent us from disrupting the status quo – we want to conform so we come across as being “good”. We need to learn to create our own world within this culturescape while maintaining harmony, collaboration and cooperation.
These are some very simple ways by which we can stand tall and bend if we must when the weather is stormy, but if the core is strong, nothing and no one can break you.
MORE POWER TO YOU!
Dr.Prithika Chary
Senior Consultant, Neurologist, Neurosurgeon, & Epileptologist
Kauvery Hospital, Chennai