Sitting in the Power: The Stillness That Teaches Spirit How to Speak
How a quiet, disciplined practice shaped modern mediumship and why learning to stay present is the first true act of ethical development
How a quiet disciplined practice shaped modern mediumship and why learning to stay present is the first true act of ethical development
Sitting in the Power is one of those phrases that floats through development circles with an air of reverence, often spoken but rarely inhabited. It is treated as a technique when it is in truth a discipline of presence. A practice of consent. A quiet but radical act of learning how to stay with yourself long enough for Spirit to recognise you as a steady place to land.
A seance scene from the 1922 film Dr. Mabuse the Gambler. Michael Faraday and Harry Houdini were among the prominent sceptics of spiritualism. Photograph: Bettmann/CORBIS
This is not about performance. It never was. It is about power in its oldest sense: not force, not display but capacity.
Where it began: the roots beneath the ritual
Sitting in the Power did not arrive as a named exercise neatly packaged for modern classes. It emerged organically in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, during the formative years of organised Spiritualism in Britain. Long before the phrase was standardised, mediums were already doing the work: sitting quietly, regularly and with intention allowing their awareness to soften while maintaining an inner steadiness that made spirit contact possible.
The practice became more clearly articulated through the British Spiritualist movement, particularly within development circles associated with the Spiritualists National Union. As mediumship shifted from parlour demonstrations to disciplined development, teachers recognised a simple but confronting truth: no amount of technique could compensate for a nervous system that was ungrounded, fragmented or desperate to perform.
One of the earliest and most influential voices to bring clarity and structure to this inner work was Gordon Higginson. Higginson did not invent Sitting in the Power, but he gave language to what serious mediums were already discovering through lived experience. He spoke openly about power as something that must be grown, not borrowed and about the necessity of learning to sit with one’s own energy before attempting to blend with another intelligence.
Later, the practice became foundational within teaching environments such as Arthur Findlay College, where Sitting in the Power was no longer optional or mystical window dressing but the bedrock upon which all responsible mediumship rested.
What “power” actually means
The word power has been badly misunderstood. In this context, it does not mean dominance, authority or psychic fireworks. Power refers to the medium’s energetic coherence their ability to be present, stable and receptive without collapsing, dissociating or grasping.
To sit in the power is to sit in your own awareness until it becomes still enough and strong enough to be shared.
This is why the practice feels deceptively simple. You sit. You breathe. You remain and yet for many, it is excruciating because it removes every distraction and exposes exactly how uncomfortable we are with our own internal world.
What is actually happening when you sit
At its core, Sitting in the Power is a form of conscious attunement. You are not “sending” anything out and you are not chasing sensation. You are allowing your awareness to settle into the body while gently expanding beyond it anchored and open at the same time.
For someone new to the practice, this can be understood very plainly. Imagine tuning a radio. You do not force the signal to appear. You adjust the dial until clarity emerges. Sitting in the Power is the slow, patient adjustment of that dial.
As the practice deepens, several things tend to unfold though not always in the same order and never on command.
First, there is grounding. The mind begins to slow. The breath deepens without effort. The body feels heavier as though it is finally being occupied rather than managed from a distance. This is not trance; it is arrival.
Then, awareness expands. Some people feel this as warmth, pressure or a gentle pulsing around the head, chest or hands. Others experience a sense of spaciousness as though the edges of the self have softened. These sensations are not the goal. They are side effects of coherence.
With regular practice, a subtle internal stability develops. Thoughts still arise but they no longer hijack the process. Emotions may surface sometimes unexpectedly because Sitting in the Power does not bypass the human. It includes it. This is why unresolved grief, fear or trauma often make themselves known here. The practice reveals what must be integrated before reliable mediumship can occur.
Only after this stability is established does spirit blending become possible in a meaningful way. When the medium’s awareness is steady, spirit does not need to shout. Communication becomes quieter, clearer and more precise.
What should not be happening
It is important to say this plainly: Sitting in the Power is not about chasing visions, hearing voices on demand or leaving the body. If you are straining, forcing imagery or judging yourself by how “strong” the experience feels you have already stepped out of the power and into performance.
Nothing needs to happen for the sitting to be successful. The success lies in staying. In returning. In building a relationship with your own inner stillness that does not depend on reward.
Some sittings will feel profound. Others will feel like nothing at all. Both are necessary. Power is built through consistency, not intensity.
Why this practice matters more than ever
In a time when mediumship is increasingly filtered through social media, speed and spectacle Sitting in the Power stands as a quiet refusal. It insists that development cannot be rushed. That ethics begin in the nervous system. That you cannot hold space for the dead if you cannot remain present with the living self inside your own body.
This is why experienced teachers return to it again and again. Not because it is basic, but because it is foundational. It teaches patience. Discernment. Humility. It reveals whether someone is drawn to the work itself or to the identity that comes with being seen as gifted.
Sitting in the Power does not make you a medium. It makes you available. Availability steady, grounded and honest is the true doorway through which spirit chooses to speak.
In the end, this practice is less about learning how to connect and more about learning how to stay. Stay with yourself. Stay with the silence. Stay long enough for something wiser than noise to recognise you as a safe place to meet.
We are finally on social media.. Come say hi…
Subscribe and follow our official social handles on Instagram | X | Facebook.
Feel free to mention / tag us on these social platforms whenever you want to promote or collaborate on your content. We love watching you grow with this community.
This story published on “Pen With Paper” — a fresh space where writers bring their thoughts, stories, and ideas to life. Want to share your voice? Join our community, and together, “We Elevate Your Stories”
