Hara: Coming Out of Your Inner Power Center

While being nice is the best policy, and you can usually get what you want by being solicitous and persuasive, there comes a time when the only word that will work is a flat “NO!”.

It might be a Jehovah’s Witness canvassing your neighborhood or someone at your door selling a life insurance policy, or even friend or relative asking you to listen to their latest network marketing scheme.

They can go on and on all night, completely ignoring your body language. There comes a moment when you must simply interrupt them and tell them that you have other priorities. You don’t necessarily have to be aggressive; you just need to be assertive.​

What Is Your Hara Energy?

The Japanese martial artists see your abdomen, or gut, as a power center, with your ki, or psychic energy, emanating from it.

The Hara is located two fingers down from your navel, underneath your skin. It is close to being the exact center of your body, where you were originally connected with your mother before your birth.​

It is your pipeline to the external world, and works in tandem with the heart (which the Japanese call kokoro, or heart / mind up towards the throat) and your third eye between the eyebrows.​

Why Your Gut Is Almost Always Right

You may be one of these people whose gut tells you, “Yes” or “No.” You may have a gut feeling that you should go with a certain action, or you may have a negative feeling about certain people coming from your gut.

In recent decades, neurophysiologists have discovered a nerve center in your abdomen that is like a second brain. Your gut is smart.

When it come to making a decision, and you have a conflict between your head and your gut, you should go with your gut, just as you would put your heart over your head.

In ancient times, the head or brain was not considered the fount of wisdom. It was always the heart, which was considered the center of one’s being.

In Hebrew culture, one reads of “the bowels of his compassion.” The Gospel of John quotes Christ promising his disciples that out of their belly would flow rivers of living water, which typifies the Spirit. Jesus was locating the innermost part of our being within our gut.

How to Awaken Your Inner Power Center

It’s time to awaken your inner samurai! Each of us carries an inner warrior with him, which most often is asleep, and perhaps needs to be sent back to bootcamp where he can sharpen his sword.

The martial arts came out of the deep-felt recognition of the power of our center, where we breathe deeply from our belly and move consciously in circles, much like a Tai Chi master.

The samurai was more intent to prevent killing than to kill. Every thought, word and action was congruent. Each lined up perfectly. Not one wasted move, not one wasted breath.

The samurai overcame his fear of death through Zen practice, including kendo, the art of swordsmanship. Having courage doesn’t necessarily mean having no fear.​

It does mean the ability to consciously act despite one’s fear. Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich suggested that courage is developed through forced repetition of acts of demanding action without regard to fear. This becomes a habit, as in wartime.​

This reminds me of my original enlightenment motto with the est training: “Keep your sole in the room, follow the instructions and take what you get.” It requires action of the simplest kind.​

When you come from your center… you have the power within you to get in touch with who you are and what you really want. You have values, convictions and priorities that you really cherish. It is time for you to get in touch with them!​

Related post:  Why Are You So Damn Unconscious?​

How to Go Out of Your Mind and Come to Your Senses

To experience Satori or enlightenment, you literally have to go out of your mind. Put a stop to the ceaseless monkey chatter in your head and just be.

Furthermore, in just being, you can actually come to your senses, developing sensory awareness all over again. You look and see you feel in terms of physical sensations in very part of your body, as well as your emotions.​

See what you see, and feel what you feel.

We have all met people with an exceptional aura or presence about them, and we have also listened to speakers where, before they come to the podium, we have no idea who they are or where they came from.

When I saw Tony Robbins close up for the first time, not only was he a giant at 6 feet 7 inches, but he came in and moved like a prowling lion. Only his roar was totally poised, and it was one of love for the participants. He wouldn’t let them lie to themselves or others. Tony will work with people for hours who are in great emotional pain. He revealed that he has no choice: he can’t stand to see people suffer.

When you go out of your mind and come to your senses, you can become more of a human, not less.

You are not needlessly aggressive (nor reactive), but you are present and aware. You avoid compromising those things that you really care about. You stand up for yourself and what you believe in without being obnoxious.

How to Get Started with Hara

Here are a variety of basic practices that will set you on the path of coming out of your power center into life:

• Simply breathe a full, yogic breath, starting with your lungs and moving deeply into your belly.
• Begin doing yoga asanas, focusing on the third chakra. Start being increasingly aware of it with each movement.
• Try reiki, where you move your hands above another person in a healing way. Notice the heat coming from their power center.
• Try Tai Chi Chuan, with its hypnotic slow movements, exquisitely graceful. In some cities, you can see dozens, even hundreds, of Chinese out in the park in the early morning practicing the motions.
• Enroll in an Aikido class, and learn self-defense in the process. Notice how maintaining your balance and keeping low gives you a huge advantage over your opponent.
• Enroll in a Kendo class, and practice a safe form of Japanese swordsmanship. Your instructor will teach you to have a no-nonsense attitude. To waste no motion. To be totally present and aware, not knowing when your opponent will come after you.

You, too, can develop an awesome presence and lead from the core, even if you think you are a Caspar Milquetoast. You just need to place a higher priority on being grounded and centered and take decisive action.

Try it. Test it… and you’ll be surprised at its effectiveness.

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