Bring your awareness to the center of your body, to the space just behind your navel. To what some call the solar plexus, the city of jewels, the energetic core where your personal power resides.
Don't search for it. Just rest your attention there.
And in that space, imagine a single, sleeping ember. Small, maybe even cool to the touch. It might seem insignificant, almost gone. That’s alright. There is still warmth in it. There is still potential.
This ember is your focus. Your drive. Your vitality. It hasn’t vanished; it’s just waiting.
Now, with your next breath, imagine your inhale is a gentle current of air, moving down into your center, directed at that single point of warmth. It’s a soft encouragement, not a forceful wind.
Breathe in, and offer the air to the ember.
Breathe out, and let go of any ash, any doubt, any exhaustion that is smothering it.
Inhale… a gentle breath of oxygen. Exhale… a release of what is damp and heavy.
As you do this, you might begin to notice a change. A faint, soft orange glow begins to awaken in the heart of the ember. Just a pinprick of light at first. See it in your mind’s eye. Feel its nascent warmth.
This is your work. Not to force a bonfire, but to simply and patiently offer your breath to what is already there.
Keep breathing. A slow, steady rhythm. With each inhale, the orange glow brightens, pulsing gently. It expands, just a fraction. With each exhale, it holds its new ground, steady and warm. The fog in your mind begins to thin, lit from within.
The Rising Flame
The spark has caught. A small flame now flickers where the ember once slept. It is no longer fragile. It has its own life, its own quiet determination.
Feel its warmth spreading from your core. A gentle heat that moves into your stomach, up into your chest. It’s a warmth that soothes, that melts tension.
This is not a raging, destructive fire. This is a generative flame. The kind you’d find in a hearth, a beacon in a storm. It is your power, your will, your clarity. It consumes only what you are ready to let go of—the fatigue, the overwhelm, the static of a busy mind.
Let the flame grow at its own pace. With every breath, it draws in more strength. The light intensifies, from a soft orange to a bright, steady gold. It stands taller, burning cleanly, burning brightly.
This light, this warmth, is you. It is your essential energy, reclaimed.
Feel it now, filling your entire torso. A column of light and warmth that supports your spine, that lifts you from the inside out. Your posture might shift. Your shoulders may relax. You are being fueled from your own inexhaustible source.
Let this revitalizing energy flow outward from your core. Down your legs, filling them with a quiet strength. Pouring down your arms, into the palms of your hands. Rising up through your throat, clearing the path for your own voice. Filling your head with a clean, focused light, burning away the mental clutter.
You are not just observing a flame. You are the flame. You are this energy. Bright. Warm. Alive.
Carry the Fire
Do not extinguish this flame as we close. It does not need to be put out. It is self-sustaining. It is your natural state.
Gently, bring your awareness back to the feeling of your body. The ground beneath you. The air on your skin.
The world outside is still there, but you are meeting it from a different place. Not from a place of depletion, but from a place of fullness. You are not running on empty. You are carrying a fire.
Let this inner flame be your anchor for the rest of the day. When you feel your focus drift, when a wave of fatigue washes over you, simply bring your hand to your center. Remember the warmth. Remember the light. Offer it a single conscious breath.
That is all it takes to tend the fire.
Carry this flame into your next conversation, your next task, your next moment of stillness. Let it warm your words. Let it illuminate your path. Let it be the quiet, powerful answer to the noise of the world.
What will you fuel with this fire today?