Explore Your Inner Power

This is a very important question for women. Our ability to create our lives, achieve our dreams, and support others is all related to how much power we have and how powerful we feel on the inside. Take a little time to explore your own power while reading this article.

1. When you hear the word "power", do you think of major political figures, big business, religion, or the rich and famous? Do you think of money, control, manipulation, or abuse? Write down some adjectives that you use to describe power or to describe people with power (there is no need to be nice!).

2. What emotion comes up when you think of power? Is it anger, frustration, hopelessness, peace, or rage? Write down your three primary emotions related to power.

3. How powerful do you feel on a scale from 0 to 10 (with 0 being no feeling of power at all to 10 being powerful beyond measure)? How powerful have you felt in the past?

4. How powerful do you want to be? Use a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 meaning not powerful and 10 meaning powerful beyond measure.

5. What do you think is the point of being powerful? What is the reason to feel powerful and have power? Write down your specific reasons for being powerful.

In physics, power is the rate at which you get work done and it is a function of how much force you apply for a specific distance and length of time. In the dictionary, power (as a noun) has multiple meanings including the following in order as they appear at http://www.m-w.com: power is 1) "ability to act or produce an effect", 2) "possession of control, authority, or influence over others", and 3) "physical might". The first and third definitions are about your ability to act or produce something (physically or mentally). The second definition is about what you have (a possession or authority) that allows you to control or influence others. The power to influence or control others is often the definition that people think of first. When you made your notes above, did you start with this? Did you also consider power as a measure of your ability to act or create?

To me, power is your potential for what and how much you can do in the world within a specific amount of time. Action is implied here, but your power is also measured by your ability and potential to take action.

Think back on your previous experiences with power and of power. Think of a time when you felt extremely powerful. Where were you? What were you doing? What were you thinking? What did you feel in your body? Often in our peak life experiences, we feel powerful, even if we do not recognize and call it powerful. What else can you notice about your powerful experiences? Where does your sense of power come from in your body? Can you access it now?

As women, we may be afraid to access, feel, and embrace our power. There are many cultural and religious messages that make feminine power scary to us. Feminine power is about desire and, like curiosity, it provides the energy to initiate action. Any time that we have gotten ourselves into trouble by pursuing a desire, we may have learned a hard lesson and decided to hide or deactivate our power.

Unfortunately, being cut off from our power does not serve us or the world. My personal experience of feminine power is that it is something deep, quiet, peaceful, and steady. I feel it in my gut and visualize it as a steadily burning flame. When I practice yoga, it gives me the power to sit in stillness, feel every muscle in my body, and feel my heart beat. When I am out in the world, it provides me the energy to try something new or explore a new way of being. Take a moment to connect with your sense of feminine power in your body. Where does it reside and what do you feel?

Many small actions can add up to growing our power every day. One way is to act with integrity, in other words: do what we say we are going to do. When we do what we say we will do, our words become extremely powerful. When we consistently act with integrity over and over, we show ourselves and the world that we can create everything we say we will.

Another way to grow our power is to let go of blame and take responsibility for everything in our lives (and I mean EVERYTHING). When you take responsibility for the good and the bad in your life, you are able to move out of a victim consciousness (where you feel like everything happens to you and you have no control over anything - this is not a powerful place to be!).

Another idea is to focus on what you can control in your life. Often I have my clients draw a large circle and place everything that they can control on the inside of the circle (things like their thoughts, feelings, and actions) and place everything outside of their control outside the circle (things like other people's actions, Mother Nature, and the economy). Then they can focus on what is inside the circle and let the rest of it go. When we focus our attention on what is inside our control (our thoughts, feelings, and actions), then we can produce great results in those areas (be powerful!), because we have all our energy and attention focused there.

I heard Deepak Chopra speak recently about his latest book, The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life, and one of the quotes I captured was "The universe we construct is based on the questions we ask ourselves." I leave you with these questions so that you ask yourself about your power and your ability to create things in your life and the world. I encourage you to ask and listen to the answers, and construct your universe along the way.

How much power do you want? How much do you really want to create in your life and in the world? Now ask yourself, what will happen when I have that much power? What will happen when I have the ability to create my life in the way that I want? How will I feel? And finally ask, how will I feel if I do not have this inner sense of power? How will I feel if I do not have the ability to create the life and world that I want?