Feb 27, 202110 min read

To grow inner power with Yoga

Updated: Mar 21, 2021

Yoga is an extremely vast philosophy and has many interesting aspects to discover. Yoga is a way of life and a way of seeing the world. It is the unity between I and I, between a person and the Universe. Practicing yoga helps us to rediscover ourselves in this crazy chaotic world, to find peace and stability in our minds, to be in harmony with our body, our soul and our heart. This leads to a happy and joyful existence on the earth, free from physical and mental blockages, that everyone in this world desires.

In this post I am going to talk about one of the multiple important aspects that yoga helps us to attain: inner power, which includes:

A stable mind state, without mood swings, extreme emotions and over reactive responses
No fears and intimidation in relationships with other people
No fear of failure
Balanced self esteem and self confidence
Motivation to act and strong will to move on, not to give up

One of the several reasons why I started practicing Yoga, is the need to awaken my inner power: to overcome difficult situations without killing myself in thoughts, tears and fears, to be able to accept and respond to things without emotional burst outs, fears of being judged, or to fail, fears of losing somebody very important because of my actions, and so on. And that is why I’ve chosen this exact topic today.

Why our inner power can be low and the ways to increase it ?

First of all we should understand why many people can have low inner power, low energy of life and then see what kind of solutions are given by Yoga from the point of view of Philosophy, Energetic Anatomy, Breathing methods (Pranayama) and Physical postures (Asanas).

From the point of view of yoga philosophy

From the point of view of Yoga philosophy, all human beings have similar problems in their lives, usually connected to personal relationships and material things, and all these problems arise from mind - born ego. Everyone thinks to be better than the others and deserves much more than actually has. This is our Ego enriched with the filling of importance. Because of this ego, we are having a lot of problems, disappointments and pain, we are having a lot of doubts and regrets, we are afraid to do something wrong so that our perfect image does not break down. Often we are afraid not to be loved by certain someone or just by everyone, so we do not dare to stand-out for our rights. We are afraid to fail, because everyone may laugh at us or judge us. So we prefer not even to start. Another option, is when we start something new and get bored very fast, it does not interest us much, or we get scared from the first difficulty and just give up (leave the new idea). So it means that from inside the person thinks to be very special, very important and is afraid to find out that he or she is like everyone else, of being weak or bad.

This is very hard to confess to ourselves that we are just one of the billion in this kind, with similar anatomy, physiology and mind processes, consequently we can be both good and bad, we all are with similar problems in life and similar feelings. We can be sure that everything we ever do or think or however we react in any situation, another half billion people would think, do or react the same way in a given situation.

The aim of Yoga first of all is to decrease the ego of an individual and to connect with the universal ego, universal consciousness, to be one with the universe. This must not be through group consciousness, but from inside. If the person is pure inside, focused on one's own heart, will only then reach the universe.

High ego leads to high expectations from the world. It refers to relationships with other people, love mates, friends, family, work colleagues, boss, etc. Consequently, since usually those expectations are not satisfied, one is always having such emotions us dissatisfaction, unhappiness of what one has, not being rewarded and accepted enough by the side of others. This leads to anger, mood swings, over reactive responses to certain situations, fear of failure (not reaching the expected result) and in some cases to low motivation to do anything: to work, to go ahead in life, giving up.

I have experienced a similar situation. I used to make handmade jewelry, but never actually tried to sell them, since was afraid of failure or felt some kind of discomfort posting my items on my page to promote. Subconsciously, I was afraid of other people’s opinion and of not succeeding. This is an example of attachment to result in any action.

Karma Yoga says, do not get attached to your actions and their consequences. It is the attachment and not the action itself that leads to unhappiness. So we should do, but not be identified with the object done. Karma yoga is a way to clean our mind from phobias, problems, fears. We should accept the good part and the bad part of the work, we can succeed and fail, it is normal. The work that we do is a means to clean the mind and to create the path to higher awareness. So we should not be afraid of acting and we should not act for a result, we should do for the process itself. When we act consciously, not robotized way, when we enjoy each moment, get pleasure, are thankful, this is Karma. Any duty is Karma yoga, if done with awareness.

Societies being different in their aims, they are actually the same, it is just a system and works as any other system (country, religion, business company, family or other). The systems are made to gain control over a group of people, to manipulate them to reach some objective. So we, as parts of different societies, live mechanically, according to fixed rules and standardized actions like robots who are programmed from childhood and continue being programmed during the whole life. Finally one dies without even understanding what was actually life. In each situation we give an automatic response, a reaction that any “normal” person would give without actually feeling from heart (ex. Judging someone right away without understanding the reason of their actions).

Considering the above mentioned, we can say that the lack of inner power is also a very common issue in our world. Any not spiritual person can suffer from that more or less, without even acknowledging it, without understanding that this is actually an issue coming from the standardized and robotized mind and body, from the dis-balance with the outside world and the inner self. When something in life does not seem normal or good from the point of view of society we suffer.

Our everyday life, including our emotions and reactions highly depend on the cultural aspects of the society where we were born and live, on our family and close friends, the living conditions, past relationships. This all create Samskaras and Vasanas deep in the subconscious level.

Vasanas are desires and knowledge derived from memory or residual imprints.

Samskaras: Past or residual impressions create excitement and emotional impressions. If these are favorable, they create good imprints (ex. Every New Year's Eve we become very happy and excited), if unfavorable - they cause repugnance (ex. Relationship problems in adult life because of childhood sexual harassment traumas). These imprints generate the fluctuations of consciousness. If the mind is not purified, it involves with experienced objects which bring pain. So Samskaras and Vasanas are connected to Pramana Vritti and Smrtayah Vritti.

In order to find peace in mind and stabilize our knowledge, all the Samskaras and Vasanas should be cleansed one after another.

2. From the point of view of Energetic Anatomy

The lack of inner power also has its anatomical reasons (traditional and energetic anatomy).

The human body functions through the help of its nervous system (Vayu Tattva). In energetic anatomy we state that nervous system is responsible for regulating the muscular, secretary activities of voluntary and involuntary systems, as well as the hormonal system of the body. While in energetic anatomy the nervous system is called Vayu Tattva, which is concerned to subtler ways but not the material nerves. Vayu Tattva consists of Nadis, which are the energetic flow channels, they distribute Mana Shakti (mental force or energy) and prana Shakti (vital force or energy) to every atom.

In Hatha Yoga it is stated that when the nadis are full of impurities, vayu (energy) does not enter them. These impurities are being accumulated because of the “garbage” from sensuous leaving and desires (Samskaras and Vasanas according to Jnana Yoga). Those impurities create blockages and do not let the energies arise and circulate fluently, the chakras and higher brain functions are prevented. The body becomes lethargic and heavy, energy level decreases, resulting in low motivation and willpower, fears, low self esteem, mood swings.

The energetic system of the body has three channels: Ida Nadi (Parasympathetic nervous system in traditional Anatomy), Pingala nadi (Sympathetic nervous system) and Sushumna nadi.

Ida Nadi (or Chandra nadi) , which is called the parasympathetic nervous system in traditional anatomy, running in the left side of the spine starting from the lower part of the spine (Muladhara Chakra) to the point in between the eyes (Ajnana chakra), through which the manas chitta Shakti flows. It is associated with the internalized awareness and governs the mental process - Mana Shakti (mental force).
Pingala Nadi is connected to action, it is the Surya nadi (sun) or the sympathetic nervous system, which starts from the right side of Muladhara chakra and reaches Ajnana, passing by all the chakras in between. It is associated with the externalized awareness - Prana Shakti (vital force).
Sushumna Nadi (central channel) runs in the middle of the body, starting from the bottom of the spinal cord and getting to sahasrara. It conducts the Kundalini Shakti (spiritual force).

Ida and Pingala create extremities of introversion and extroversion. They usually function alternately and not simultaneously in normal person’s body. However, these two energies, life and consciousness, can actually be connected to work together simultaneously and participate together in the living, thinking, intuitive and regulating process, if Kundalini Shakti ( the source of all energy) flows freely and nicely through the third, Sushumna Nadi.

Thus, the inner power, being concerned to the extrovert world (relationships, action, motivation, willpower) needs more masculine energy and is consequently connected to Pingala Nadi. In case we feel to have difficulties in the world of relationships and work, we suppose that there is an imbalance in our energetic system and most probably Pingala Nadi is more active in our pranic body than Ida nadi. When there is an imbalance in Nadis, it means that the channels are not clean, so Kundalini Shakti can not arise, or if does, can lead to illness. We should be careful with that and work towards Kundalini step by step.

In such case the Pingala nadi (or Sympathetic nervous system from the point of view of traditional Anatomy) should be activated first.

In the meantime, it is important to mention about Chakras, the connection points of different Nadis, where the energy is actually created. When the Chakras are activated and the Nadis are clean, the Shakti starts to flow in Nadis. Each Chakra responds for certain functions in the body, mind and soul of a person.

So thinking about activation of Pingala nadi in general, we should also focus on certain Chakras which respond for stability of mind, stamina, risk, self esteem, confidence, motivation and willpower, which are Swadhistana Chakra and Manipura Chakra. We should understand whether the Chakras give excessive or deficient energy, to be able to work correctly with them.

Swadhisthana Chakra: the anatomical location of Swadhistana Chakra is under pubic bone, while the physiological location is pelvic plexus. The type of prana which flows through Swadhistana Chakra is Vyana, the vital force which moves in all directions of the body distributing energy received from food and breath.

Swadhistana Chakra responds for emotions, for ability to experience pleasure, for tolerance and healthy boundaries. If we are having mood swings, extreme emotions and are ruled by them, we are oversensitive and give over reactive responses to different situations, it means that our Swadhistana Chakra is excessive.

To release the emotional instability it is good to yell out loud, or to cry. Since the activation organ of Swadhisthana are hands, different hand movements will also help to balance the energy here. There are Asanas which help to balance this Chakra, which will be shown in the last paragraph.

Manipura Chakra: The anatomical location is behind the navel, while physiologically it is in Solar Plexus. Here most of our fears are concentrated. This chakra is the main responsible for all fears, fear of death. It is in charge of our sense of responsibility, willpower, confidence, ability to meet challenges, and for having a balanced ego. Thus, if we are afraid of relationships, afraid of failure in our actions or not succeeding, if we have low self confidence and low willpower, it means Manipura Chakra is deficient.

To balance Manipura Chakra we need to do more active Asanas, such as Vinyasa flow, we should do active sports.

3. Breathing exercises for inner power

Both of the above mentioned Chakras function in Pranamaya Kosha (the second layer of human existence out of five: Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Vijnanamaya Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha).

Pranamaya Kosha is the vital layer, the energy, the vital air that flows with the nadis. It is energized by water, sunlight, air and food.

To solve the above stated problem we need to energize our pranamaya Kosha of the body. It is done by slowing and balancing the breath, through different pranayama techniques, such as:

- Bhastrika - which gives freshness and agility. It both shutters the stagnation and reduces overtone and hypersensitivities. So with this technique we can solve the problem of lack of motivation, mood swings, extreme emotions and over reactive responses.

- Pranamaya (full yogic breathing) - this technique gives power and vitality, calmness in daily activities, clarity of thoughts. Thus, we will again overcome the mind fluctuations, will gain willpower, motivation and willingness to act.

4. Asanas for inner power

Asanas are the Yoga Positions and Postures. It means to place the body in the right position after gaining mastery over the body and then staying in that position with comfort and ease. According to Hatha Yoga, specific body positions open the energy channels and psychic centers by developing control over the body, mind and energy. Asanas not only have physical objective, but they also remove impurities, toxins from the body, improving circulation, respiration, digestion and elimination systems. Asanas improve memory, concentration and will power, teaching us to be calm and grateful.

As mentioned previously, yoga is about unity between body, mind and consciousness. So, in order to solve any issue, we should work on all levels. There are multiple asanas (postures) in yoga which help to cure various dis-balances in our body and mind, by strengthening different groups of muscles, by activating our Suria or Chandra Nadis, by balancing this or that Chakra. If the asana is done correctly with a clear state of mind, the prana will flow properly and do miracles to our consciousness.

As mentioned above, to attain inner power we need to activate Pingala Nadi in our bodies and balance Swadhisthana chakra and Manipura chakra mostly. There are actually many asanas which can be suitable to strengthen one’s inner power, among which I have mentioned the following postures:

To activate Pingala Nadi