Are you hungry for power?

Power.

How does that word land with you?

Does it take you to Trumpian leaders? Oppressive dynamics? Dominating corporations? Individuals who bully?

Or does it take you to an internal experience? An alignment to yourself, to your body and to an inner resource to guide and support you?

Not surprisingly, it's the latter I am going to talk about (I am going to write about more global things in my book but let's keep a focus on you today!) so read on for more.

Power.

Can you say the word out loud.

Breathe it in. See what settles.

When do you feel in touch with your power?

Can you get recall a moment, can you feel into that experience?

When have you felt that in your life?

And where in your body does that feeling show up? How do you know when you are there? What sensations tell you when you are stood in your power? Even if it is for a moment...

I work with a lot of people who feel disconnected from themselves.

Far from feeling powerful in their own lives.

They are unsure how they feel, what is making them unhappy, what decisions are ok to make, if boundaries they want or need are valid. It's common for people to describe an internal dialogue that is undermining - sowing doubt, picking holes and basically feeling like an internal gaslighting experience. This creates confusion, anxiety and low mood; it's not nice having that negative naysayer in your ear/brain. It adds to low self-esteem and can make healthy choices (and relationships) challenging.

After a while, that internal voice can get so loud, so dominating, so controlling that we lose touch with ourselves and with our internal experience.

And often the voices of the external world can get in on the act too; colleagues, friends, family members, social media, our own beliefs and rules. They can all come together as a cacophony of "shoulds".

I should be....

.....delete as applicable to you:

More successful, more able to cope, leaner, stronger, calmer, more patient, more qualified, less sensitive, less difficult, more sociable, less irritable, better dressed, more popular, kinder, more decisive...

We can all get caught up in this. It would seem impossible not to. Our world is LOUD.

The more we listen to these voices. The more we strive to fulfil these expectations, the further we can get from ourselves. And from our own power.

Let's explore the experience of power.

If I conjure up that feeling it shows up in my body. It feels like standing proud and tall, taking up space - strong back, open heart. It feels like knowing who I am in this moment - what I am about, what matters to me, my values. It feels like energy in the base of my stomach and in my pelvis (the seat of creativity for yogic traditions). It feels like being open to the world but not without boundaries or self-protection.

Safe in myself, with ease, sure of my voice.

Claiming all of me - not just the easy or pretty but also knowing and seeing the struggles and vulnerabilities.

Like all feelings it fades. It's not a constant. There's ebb and flow.

But knowing it exists helps.

In fact, it's transformational to know it's there. It can act like an internal compass.

When I get swept off in worries or self-doubt; I can return to my body and reset. Breathe deep and tune into that experience - it's grounding. Even if a situation is challenging or uncertain, I can bring this embodied power to whatever I face.

If you feel you could do with turning up the volume on your personal power then consider these:

Safety first

Knowing how to move your body and nervous system to calm and safe is the foundation of power. How might you do this more? Maybe look at grounding exercises, how to access stillness, breathe deep, speak kindly.

Notice your body

Your sensations are clues to how you feel. If you don't feel tuned into your body then perhaps you can consciously bring more awareness to it and learn. How do I know when I feel comfortable? How do I know when I feel on edge or uneasy? Can you do this daily? Consider it like learning a new language - the language of you.

Stand in your power

Practise the experience of power. Think of a time when you felt good; maybe it was a moment of pleasure, perhaps a sureness in yourself, a sense of being aligned or in flow, just happy to be where you were and who you were. It can be fleeting. It could be imaginary - the mind is a powerful ally. Pay attention to that memory and let yourself "inhabit" it in a bodily way - remember how you stood and moved, how did you feel? What parts of your inner world are you aware of? Can you expand this and increase the feeling? How would you move or breathe or think to turn the volume up on this experience?

Use your words

Put some words to this moment; "I hold my own power. I am learning who I am. I choose to be the fullest version of me. I am power. I feel power" All the good stuff.

Breathe it in.

Breathe it out.

Practice.

I have been tuning to my own experience of power this week. As I start to ready myself to share my book, as I start to feel vulnerable about the personal rawness in its pages. That I am sharing my own dark times of last year (and in my longer past) - mental health struggles, internal critic...I use the embodied feeling of power to anchor myself, to help me feel strong, to keep moving forward with what I believe is needed in the world.

How will you use your power?

It's right there in you.

Waiting.

For you to reconnect.

Sending love (and max power poses!),

Emily x