Inner peace
"peace is accepting today releasing yesterday, and giving up the need to control tomorrow"
Hi Friend!
I know when I lost my way, I completely lost any peace and serenity that I once had. Instead I turned into a pile of anxiety and I was not sure I would ever find peace again. But guess what, I have- with a lot of work, professional help, and lots of support. I promise you can find peace again too, if its lost. Before I dive in, I wanted to share a few things that worked for me that are not further listed below are:
Let go of what I could not control
Kept my faith larger than my fear
Avoided spaces that felt uncomfortable
Started speaking kindly to myself (and others)
Avoided people that drained my energy
Became aware of and avoided my triggers
What is Inner Peace?
Inner peace is that feeling of contentment. It is that experience you have when you are free from anxiety, worry, stress, and negative emotions in general.
Your mind hushes, and leaves you in a beautiful, still space – like the beauty of an absolutely still pond at sunrise.
You don’t need to be feeling ecstatic, or extremely happy.
No, to me inner peace is more subtle. It’s less about a passionate fire and more about a beautiful, subtle warm feeling that spreads in your body.
How can you get to this place of inner peace?
Well the first thing is to understand what is inner peace. It is being fully present in the moment, and non-judgmental. One of the key foundations of inner peace is mindfulness – the idea of being fully present, aware of all your senses, without any sort of judgement.
This also helps combat the monkey mind – the series of incessant thoughts that play in the background of your mind. These thoughts generate emotions, which you aren’t even aware of; they’re just under the surface, bothering you like an itch you can’t quite reach.
As you embark on this journey in search of inner peace, remember this: you aren’t creating inner peace. It is already inside you. You just have to uncover it.
There are a few ways to combat this monkey mind with its itchy emotions and blah feelings that detract from the beautiful inner peace you have in you.
So let’s get started!
Inner Peace – 10 Things to Start Doing Today
Meditate- It clears the mind and helps you focus on nothing. Which is really hard, and that’s why it is called a meditation ‘practice’. However, as you practice it daily, it will get easier to go into that fluffy space of nothingness, where you just see thoughts, say ‘hi’, and release them back into the space of fluffiness.
Find your inner happy place- What brings you joy? What thoughts instantly lift you up? This could be thinking about your partner, or your dog, or your favorite music. What instantly lifts your mood? Create your happy place. Dream about the future. Ponder the wonderful moments in the past. You can create your reality.
Me-Time - I found this one of the biggest pillars of my inner peace. When I know I have found time for myself, I automatically feel so much better.
In the rush of the day, it is so easy to obsess over to-do lists, freak out about deadlines, frantically finish up chores, and try to please everyone at the same time. You get done with today, then tomorrow, and then the week, and all of a sudden you realize – WAIT, where did my life go? That feeling DEFINITELY does not bring about inner peace.
But when I take out some time for ME every day, I have that inner knowledge that no matter what my day looks like, I know I have time for myself – where I don’t worry about to-do’s, tasks, chores, or people. I just do something for me. I live. Essentially that’s what life is about, isn’t it? I mean, I’m certain we were not put here on earth just to finish to-do’s and please everyone all the time. What’s the point of THAT?
Adopt an Attitude of GRADITUDE- If there is one ‘formula’ to happiness, it is this: be GRATEFUL. Unless you figure out how you can be GRATEFIL now, you will never feel GRATEFUL even when you have a private jet made of diamonds. And that is why so many ultra-rich people are unhappy.
By finding ways to be GRATEFUL each day, you are cultivating a sense of contentment and happiness. And THAT’s when you start also discovering that inner peace.
Release your emotions- Holding onto negative thoughts and emotions doesn’t help anyone – and it certainly does not help you. Find an outlet where you can vent all that is going on in your head. This can be through talking to a friend over coffee, having a daily journal practice or screaming into a pillow. A cry usually does the trick! Choose whatever works for you, but have some space where you can just release all your emotions.
Be Mindful of your thoughts- Your thoughts make u your reality.
Have you ever heard that saying? Well, it might sound cliche, but it is very true. So be mindful of your thoughts.
Are you complaining, grumpy, judging, hating, and pessimistic? Or are you GRATEFUL, loving, accepting, and hopeful? This also includes the thoughts you have towards yourself! Self-loathing helps no one, and definitely does not cultivate a sense of inner peace. Plus, hating yourself will never actually change anything for you.
Practice being present- When you are all go-go-go, it is nearly impossible to feel content in the moment. How can you find peace when you are worried about the future and overthinking the past?
That’s why – GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD!
Sorry, had to get your attention, because I know how much we are living in the past or future. But try being in the present. Notice everything you see around you. Engage your senses (remember, you have 5 – how many are you using right now)? What do you see? What do you hear? What can you smell? What are you touching right now? What is it’s texture? Are you eating or drinking something? What’s the taste? Observe all these things, and be present. Just living in the now is such an easy, “duh” thing to do, but boy, it can REALLY have a huge impact in cultivating that inner peace. And remember, if your stuck in yesterday and thinking about tomorrow, you are pissing all over today.
Go out in nature- Ah, the beauty of nature. Some of life’s biggest lessons are learnt in nature. Nature has immense benefits on our mood, mental health, and even our physical health! Nature helps reduce anxiety and stress, boosts creativity, and generates a feeling of overall happiness.
So, if you want to feel that warm fuzzy peaceful feeling, then just step outside your house for a bit. Go for a walk outside or go to a park. If you hate the outdoors, you can even bring home a plant!
Don’t Compare- So you know that thing called social media? Yeah, that’s not so great for your inner peace. As you constantly stare at others’ highlight reels and filtered faces, you start comparing. And then you start putting yourself down. But, may I just share a small suggestion?
STOP THAT!
Stop comparing. You are you. You are amazing, and unique and awesome. It isn’t fair to compare your behind-the-scenes to someone else’s perfectly-staged moment. And to be real, you can’t do much about it regardless. So you might as well accept you and your amazing cells, so that you can really start finding that peace!
Live According to Your Values- Your personal core values are your priorities and beliefs – essentially, they are a representation of what you find is most important in life. Hence, when you live according to your personal values, you live in alignment with yourself. But when you live in misalignment, you are living in conflict – your actions are conflicting with what you truly think is important. This conflict results in frustration, anger, discomfort, and overall feelings of unhappiness.
I hope you try to take up one habit each time or week at your own pace to find out the positive impact in your life. Just avoid rushing and enjoy forming these good habits that will surely improve your peace in life.
Always try to surround your mind with good and positive thoughts as peace is very much an internal matter for every individual.
It cannot be found outside of YOU, peace lies in your heart and mind.
Peace is a high vibrational state of mind that is always in us.
We just have to be in sync with that energy to finally feel it in our consciousness.
How do you find those peaceful moments in your life?
XO Jenna
