Meditation For Accessing Inner Strength, Power, And Energy

Welcome to this 30 minute meditation focused on accessing inner strength, power, and energy through the body and breath. This practice begins by bringing awareness into the legs, cultivating a sense of solidity, stillness, and stability. You will then be guided to place your attention on the abdomen, visualizing a growing warmth and energy center with each breath as feelings of strength and power gradually expand throughout the body. The meditation concludes by radiating this energy outward in all directions, resting in a felt sense of inner strength and presence.

This practice begins with an overview followed by a bell to start and end the guided meditation.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this meditation for accessing inner strength, Power, And energy. Oftentimes when we think of power, Our attention goes outward. However, As the wise Taoist master Lao Tzu once said, Mastering others is strength, But mastering yourself is true power, And we can practically learn to cultivate this inner power and inner strength. This is something that both meditative traditions, Especially in Zen Buddhism, And traditional martial arts emphasize. And specifically they emphasize cultivating the energy center, Which is the source of strength within us. This source of strength is located in the abdomen. It is sometimes referred to as the hara center, Or dantian, And from a chakra perspective, It encompasses the lower three chakras. So by bringing our attention and focus to the lower parts of our body, Especially the abdomen area, As opposed to the nostril area when we watch our breath, For example, We can learn to tap into the stable source of strength. Now in this practice, We will be feeling the strength in our legs and the solidity there. Then we'll be focusing on bringing our attention to the abdomen and breathing here, Suffusing the abdomen with strength and vitality in this inner fire. And then lastly, We'll take this fire that we've built up in this practice and practice pushing it out in all directions, Suffusing this room with our strength. Let's get started. Please find a comfortable upright posture. In this seated position, Place your feet about hip distance apart. Make sure your feet are firmly rooted into the ground. Rest your hands on top of your thighs. Then make fists with your hands. Make sure not to grip too hard with your hands. Make sure your ears are in line with the shoulders. And for this practice, Keep your eyes slightly open, Just a soft downcast gaze. Take a deep breath in. And on your exhale, Let go. Any tension stored in the body. Begin to feel the solidity of your hips, Your sit bones against the seat beneath you, Your feet touching the ground beneath you. Begin to notice the qualities of solidity, Stillness, Heaviness, And strength found in your legs. Starting from the thighs and going down to the feet. While still feeling the solidity and strength in your legs. Begin to practice breathing into your legs. So imagine that your breath extends now to the legs. And as you breathe in, You fully feel the sensations of the legs even more. And as you exhale, You feel the strength, Stillness, And solidity even further. As you continue to breathe into the legs, Notice an increase of energy and warmth starts to fill up your legs. Notice it rise up from your feet, Traveling up to the thighs and hips. Now begin to bring your attention to the lower abdomen. And focus on breathing into the lower abdomen. And as you do, Observe this energy that is stored up from the legs. Begin to travel up to the feet. And pull around your lower abdomen, Suffusing it with strength and vitality. As you continue to breathe into your lower abdomen, Feeling the inner strength building up, Begin to pay attention to the sensations of heat. Now spreading from your lower abdomen in all directions. Slowly traveling up into the sternum area and below down to the hips. Feel it also radiate to the sides of your body, To the obliques. As you continue to inhale and exhale, Notice this inner heat turn into an inner fire that warms up your core with strength, Power, And energy. As this heat begins to well up from within, Notice it start to spread, Not only across your body, But on all sides of your body, Out into space. While still keeping the body still, Feeling its still power, Imagine that the inner fire generating from your abdomen is now spreading a few feet out in front of you, A few feet out to the sides of you, And a few feet out behind you. It can be helpful to visualize this inner power radiating from you by imagining flames that generate from your abdomen that not only goes outwards, But warms your body in the process, Filling you with this vital energy. Take a moment now to find stillness back into your body, And just observe now how you feel compared to the beginning of this meditation. What has changed and shifted for you? As we end today's meditation, Know that you can always come back to this feeling of inner strength power and energy by directing your attention inwards, Focusing on breathing into the abdomen, Feeling the strength of the legs. Focus on expanding this inner heat from within, Out in all sides of your body. Bring your hands to heart center, And thank yourself for taking the time to practice today. Thank you.