Try This Durga-Inspired Guided Meditation for Strength

Here's how to call on this powerful deity when you need your strength most.
meditation, Durga

Meditating on the legendary goddess Durga can help empower you when you need to find strength.

Become aware of the Durga shakti as a shimmering presence around you. 

You can visualize her seated on her lion (sometimes she rides a tiger—see which feels right to you!). Her dark hair streams over her shoulders. She wears a golden crown, necklaces, rings, bracelets, and a scarlet silk sari. See her magnificent arms, strong and bristling with weapons: bow, sword, trident, mace, discus. See also the lotus she carries. Offer your salutations to her. 

Ask her: “What is the major inner obstacle I have to face now? What do I need to let go of? What should I be paying more attention to?” 

Or, ask her for guidance in a decision or for the strength to stand up for something you know is right. Close your eyes and ask the question in your heart

Begin to write. Let the writing come naturally, without thought. Keep writing until you feel there is no more to say. Look over what you have written. Offer the obstacles to Durga, saying, “I offer all this to the Durga shakti, asking that your grace dissolve all obstacles, inner and outer.” 

Now, with an inhalation, feel that you breathe in the goddess’s energy. 

Exhaling, feel that you breathe it through your body and into the world. 

When you come out of meditation, see if you can move with the feeling that you are walking or moving with the power of the Durga energy. Walk with the sense that Durga is walking. Speak with the sense that Durga’s power comes through your words. Notice how you feel when you let yourself be filled by the energy of Durga.


Meditation Improves Leadership Skills

Meditation Improves Leadership Skills

Mindfulness research suggests that meditation increases emotional intelligence, attention, memory, creativity, and resilience. Wildly successful business leaders such as Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, and Arianna Huffington credit meditation for their ability to lead with compassion and a competitive advantage.

About the Author

Sally Kempton is an internationally recognized teacher of meditation and yoga philosophy and the author of Meditation for the Love of It. Find her at