The Inside Out Way: Remembering Where Our Power Lives

The other night, I sat in a tender conversation with someone I love. They were concerned about a situation that hadn’t yet unfolded, but already they were bracing for impact. Bracing for how it might disturb their peace, their clarity, their experience of life. You could feel the tightening in their voice, the invisible armor being put on.

And as I listened, I realized how often we do this—how we live at the mercy of circumstance.We spend our lives trying to manage the outside world so that we can finally feel okay inside.

We try to preempt disappointment, avoid pain, control outcomes.

We fix, chase, analyze, calculate, and protect.

We don’t call it fear. We call it “being realistic.”

But it’s fear—fear that the peace we long for can be taken from us, that our joy is conditional, that safety is situational.

This is how most of us live. And it is exhausting.

How Did We Get Here?

This way of living is not a personal failing—it’s a cultural inheritance. It’s woven into the fabric of modern life.

From a young age, we are taught that happiness lives in good grades, the right job, a tidy house, or a partner who loves us “just so.” We're raised to believe that how we feel is the result of what happens. That if something hurts us, it must be wrong. That if someone loves us, we are worthy. That if life falls apart, we are somehow broken.

Culturally, we exist in systems that feed this dependency. Capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy all thrive on one core lie: You are not enough without something else. Buy more. Be more. Prove more. Fix more. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll be okay.

Spiritually, many of us have inherited teachings that reinforce separation. The Divine is out there. Salvation comes from obedience. Your body is sinful. Your desires must be restrained. In this view, our power is not just diminished—it is denied altogether.

So it’s no wonder we struggle.

No wonder we grip so tightly to what we cannot control.

No wonder we live from the outside in.

We’ve forgotten something essential.

But forgotten does not mean lost.

What Is There to Remember?

We are not broken.

We are not at the mercy of circumstance.

We are not powerless over our minds.

There was a time—before the noise, before the programming—when we knew this.

We knew that our inner world shapes our outer one, not the other way around.

We knew that the mind was a sacred tool, not a master.

We knew that no person or event could strip away our peace unless we gave them the keys.

Indigenous cultures, ancient spiritual systems, and mystical traditions across the world all carry echoes of this truth.

The yogis called it svatantrya—inner freedom.

The mystics spoke of the kingdom within.

Our African, Māori, and First Nations ancestors communed with the natural world, not to control it, but to remember their place within it.

Before we were conditioned to outsource our power, we knew:

We are not just experiencing life. We are creating it.

Living from the Inside Out

Living from the inside out means reversing the cultural current.

It means shifting from reaction to creation.

From survival to sovereignty.

From fear to choice.

It doesn’t mean life will always be easy. But it does mean that you get to decide who you are in the midst of it.

You become the author—not the audience—of your experience.

You take your seat at the center of your own life.

Four Practices to Reclaim Your Power—Anytime, Anywhere

1. Come Back to the Body

   
   

   Power lives in the present. And the body is always here.

   When you feel anxious or overwhelmed, pause. Place your hand on your heart. Breathe in slowly. Exhale completely.

   Ask yourself, What is real right now? What is imagined?

   
   

2. Name the Story You’re Telling

   
   

   Our thoughts aren’t truth—they’re interpretations.When you’re spinning in fear or frustration, gently ask, What am I making this mean?

   Get curious. Is this story rooted in love, or in fear? What else could be true?

   
   

3. Choose Your Inner State First

   
   

   Most of us wait for the world to feel safe before we allow ourselves to relax. But you don’t have to wait.

   Ask, How do I want to feel right now? Calm, clear, grounded, free?

   Claim that feeling—and then act. You’ll be surprised how much more powerfully and compassionately you move.

   
   

4. Anchor to Something Greater

   
   

   Whether it’s God, Source, nature, ancestors, or your own sacred knowing—anchor there.Let your power be rooted not in outcomes, but in your relationship to something deeper.

   Say it out loud: I remember. I am not the storm. I am the stillness within it.

   
   

Let this be your remembering:

Peace is not earned. It’s reclaimed.

Joy is not delivered. It’s chosen.

You don’t need life to change in order to be okay.

You get to be okay first.

And from that place, everything changes.

So today, in this moment, take your seat.

Breathe.

Return.

You are already home.