It is Sunday, a day of rest and rejuvenation from a week of stresses and unrest. I woke up with good intentions this morning. Finding peace is my goal for today, more precisely, inner peace that is.
“It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” Unknown
And this is exactly the problem. Chaos and noise shatters my idea of peace. My mind is like rush hour 24/7 and when I find the time to gather inner peace, it has taken flight and I am left with unrest, anxiety and an inability to calm down no matter how hard I try. Sleepless nights follow and I wake up to another day of more of the same.
Now I am arming myself with what is needed to stop the constant chatter within my mind. I liken it to a monkey jumping around with no real goal in sight. Recently, I started the age-old practice of meditation. Five minutes was too much at first. I felt my whole body rebelling against this new concept that was trying to break into what it was accustomed to and that is total and utter chaos! After a while of consistently practicing this method of inner peace, I could feel my body say, “Come on in. I like you!” Slowly I progressed to 10 minutes and now I am doing 40 minutes a day. Unbelievable but the benefits are seen and felt and I am sleeping better.
7 Benefits of Meditation
Calms the nervous system
Decreases brain fog
Enhances memory
Boosts attention and focus
Slows down aging (this one I like a lot!)
Improves sleep
Regulates mood.
Sukhasana
What’s not to like right? Furthermore, it doesn’t cost a thing. Just a quiet space, focus and take off and in time, the “inner monkey” is tamed and he or she takes a step back and lets the calm and peace take hold, and you my friend will be headed to nirvana. Well, it is not that easy, mind you. It takes time and YOU wanting peace above all else.
Deep breathing is another easy tried and true method of shutting out the world, of going inside yourself and within minutes or to a count of ten breaths and there it is, instant peace and relaxation. The benefits are plenty.
It helps to:
lower blood pressure and heart rate, reduces stress hormones in the blood, balances levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, improves your immune system functions, increases physical energy and it increases calm and well-being.
There you go. Another fast and easy way to get to that goal of inner peace. However, the human mind tends to retaliate because we don’t want easy do we? We moan, cry, throw tantrums and refuse to take the bull by the horn and say, “Look you, I am no longer putting up with you (stress, anxiety) ravaging my body. It’s time for you to get going!”
Simplify your life. We complicate with so many unwanted things that cause tremendous stress. Relationships that tear us down instead of build us up. Quite often we hide behind a curtain of insecurities that it is hard to see the path ahead. Bravery and courage is needed to tear down that invisible curtain. Get rid of the things that are weighing you down and you know what they are if you are honest with yourself. Finally, free your mind so that peace and tranquility can reign supreme and that folks is my goal for today. If I make it that is to be seen. Fingers crossed but I am going to do more than that to achieve my zen-like state of mind.
“Peace is a day-to-day problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an ‘is,’ it is a ‘becoming.” Haile Selassie
“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” John F. Kennedy
“But achieving a sense of inner peace is real. It’s out there. You just have to be willing to walk past the darkness, and even past the light, to find it.” Hannah Hart
“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” Dalai Lama
This one is important because we do allow people to influence our moods and how it affects our inner being. If they lie, treat you badly or take you for granted, DO NOT let the after-effects seep in and gnaw at your insides. Let it go…..easier said than done I know.
I wish you PEACE.
Have an amazing Sunday!
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