Written By Susana Andrez McKie, Shamanic Healing Practitioner  

Everyone has inner power - a quiet (intuitive) force that knows when to do things whilst giving you strength. Your inner power is the strength of your soul, not the mind. However, understanding the mind will inevitably help you connect with and tap into your inner power if you are working towards becoming a better version of yourself.

So how does complaining affect your inner power?

It’s a given that people tend to complain a lot: 

“It’s too cold”

“Didn’t sleep well”

“Don’t have time”, 

“This coffee is too hot”,

“It’s raining again and I want sun”…

It’s almost an impossible task not to complain as it is part of human nature to focus on the negative things and what is going wrong. Our brains are wired to pay greater attention to negative experiences for survival purposes. 

There are all kinds of "complaining". You could be complaining about the workplace, people in your personal life or others - because somehow you might feel that they are the ones at fault (not you). There are also different degrees to which we complain: you could be complaining just a bit or sometimes, or you could be a "chronic complainer" (although it may be difficult to accept and embrace this negative habit). 

Some people think that if they complain they’ll get their way. Sometimes they do but "their way" might not be what is best for them or their soul energetically speaking. Getting what they wanted through moaning might diminish their inner power and hinder their spiritual development. The habit of complaining pushes you farther away from becoming the best version of yourself and removes assuming responsibility for your actions, which disempowers you; it prevents you from objectively being able to identify what you can and cannot control and what to accept because you cannot change it or what to resolve because it is your very own responsibility. All these things are directly linked to your inner power. 

Breaking the habit of complaining

For an entire month or at least 21-28 days, set yourself the intention to not complain. In a nutshell - from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep, be consciously aware of every time you complain about something. When you catch yourself complaining, you can ask yourself the following questions:

What am I learning from those not so great things I am complaining about (if there was something useful to be learnt)?

What can I do to shift my focus to something positive?

You’ll be surprised by how often you complain. If you stick to this exercise for an entire month, you will become aware of what you tend to complain about the most and start breaking the habit. In my free book “The Stepping Stones for Self-Development”, I describe the small changes you can implement to release negative habits and heal yourself through the power of spiritual development. You can get it here.

Reminder

When you consciously notice that you are complaining, you will also catch yourself having the negative thoughts that trigger your “complain response”. Then, you can detach from them and assess how you can proceed – what you can do to change the thoughts and stop verbalising them. This practice is similar to meditating - thoughts come and go as you try to focus and be present. When you notice the thoughts that are arising, you can choose to pay attention to them or let them pass as hard as this might be. Like anything, such practices should be a lifestyle choice – only then you can eliminate the negative habits and build positive ones. 

Your inner power is innate, and it is never too late to start to intentionally tap into it or, at least, to not disperse it. You are a unique being and so is everything and everyone else around you. And, when you begin to go inward and strengthen your connection to your inner power, you can achieve your goals and dreams with more ease. 

Susana Andrez McKie is a certified Shamanic Practitioner, Reiki and Healing Touch Master, Aura Reading Facilitator, Kundalini Yoga Teacher and NLP Coach. Through her extensive experience in shamanic healing and multidimensional therapy (a form of deep healing through the heart), she assists her clients in uncovering and removing energetic blocks so that they can feel connected to their true selves and have a clear sense of purpose. She helps them release pain, heal emotional traumas and regain their personal power and confidence.