Transform inner oppression into positive strength.

by | February 20, 2023

Transform inner oppression into positive strength.

We all have an incredible amount of strength but many of us fail to identify with it.

The reason is that families and societies give us distressing experiences and images of power.

If you’ve ever encountered someone who used their power to oppress you, you can develop a negative association to your own strength.

You’ll identify with your gentle, easy-going side and fail to connect with your power to protect yourself from inner and outer mistreatment.
You might even normalize such treatment to the point of not noticing when it’s happening to you.

Alternately, you may become an oppressor—either to yourself or to others.

Even if you had the most wonderful parents, living in today’s world means being bombarded with ignorant media images of power that usually include controlling or even killing people.

For millennia, symbolic spiritual images have been used to counteract the brutality of the world with pictures of calm, peaceful, passive-looking icons.

This presents us with 2 false, polarized options—unconscious power or excessive passivity

How about a spiritual icon with muscles!? : )

This would be a more whole and realistic symbol of a human being.

To become a consciously powerful person you must process the positive and negative powers in your psyche.

Try this:

Choose a problem you experience as victimizing you. The problem has the strength and you feel weak in its presence.

Put aside the contents of the issue, and the obvious facts of its mean, hurtful, unfair, nasty, negative elements, and feel into the power of this oppressive force.

Don’t be the receiver / victim of it; be IT.

Again, ignore the contents; just feel its physical energy as your own energy.

Don’t analyze or judge it. FEEL it.

In fact, forget about the problem altogether for a moment, and just experience this feeling of strength.

How would you describe it?

Strong? Tough? Cold? Relentless? Forceful? Unrelated?

Amplify the feeling. Make it bigger and stronger.

Take it on as your own positive strength.

Then return to the problem’s negative power over you, and apply this positive strength to it.

Within your problem lies your own power trying to come forth!

Dr. Zwig

©2023 Dr. Adam Zwig

Meet Dr. Adam Zwig—psychologist-musician, educator, and author. He holds a PhD in clinical psychology, has had 9 Top Ten hit singles on the U.S Adult Contemporary charts, and is an internationally renowned workshop leader and lecturer. He has been featured on Billboard, SiriusXM Radio, CBS Radio, and many other stations, and in People Magazine, SPIN, Pollstar, and many other publications. Dr. Zwig has released 7 albums, and his music can be heard on National TV, including NBC, Fox, and Fuel TV. He has more than 160 million views on YouTube, over half a million social media followers, and has scored in the top 10% of rock artists streamed on Spotify in 2022. His forthcoming book, Your Problem Is Your Teacher, shows how life problems are not pathological but rather personal growth processes trying to happen. His podcast, The Dr. Zwig Show, posts new episodes every Wednesday.

DISCLAIMER: The content contained herein is for inspirational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Nowhere in this Blog does Dr. Zwig diagnose or treat a viewer with any kind of psychological, mental, emotional or physical disorder as might be diagnosed and treated by a personal psychologist or other professional advisor. The content is not intended to be a substitute for working with a therapist but is for the purpose of educating the viewer about new approaches to working on personal problems. Viewers should use this Blog at their own risk, with the understanding that Dr. Zwig is not liable for its impact or effect on its users. Viewing this Blog does not form a practitioner/client relationship between the viewer and Dr. Zwig. Dr. Zwig is not responsible for any action taken by a viewer based upon any information in this Blog. Never disregard professional medical advice or stop taking psychiatric medication based on something you have read on this Blog without a doctor’s supervision and ongoing therapeutic support. Dr. Zwig is an educator, author, and life coach in the U.S., and a psychotherapist in Switzerland. He holds a PhD in clinical psychology. He is also a rock n roll musician.