Home » Misc » How do i find peace

How do i find peace


How to Find Your Inner Peace

How do you find your inner peace? Is it by meditating in the Himalayas mountains, going on a vacation in the Caribbean, or promoting world peace?

Inner peace does not have a one-size-fits-all definition. There is no standard process or mandatory steps to follow to find your peace of mind. Finding inner peace is more challenging with our busy schedule, hectic lifestyle, and everyday stressors, but it’s completely possible. This article will discuss what inner peace truly means, how important it is, and some ways how to attain it. 

What Does Inner Peace Mean?

Inner peace is defined as the state of physical and spiritual calm despite many stressors. Finding your peace of mind means attaining happiness, contentment, and bliss no matter how difficult things get in your life. Finding happiness and inner peace does not depend on a problem-free life or the absence of conflict because we all go through challenges in our lives. 

Why Is It Important to Find Inner Peace in Our Life?

Finding your peace of mind results in fewer worries, anxieties, stressors, and fears. Inner peace is linked to achieving self-actualization. Below are the benefits of finding that state of balance in your life:

  • Better everyday function in handling your day-to-day affairs
  • Increased energy levels and improved emotional management
  • Less drama, fewer worries, less stress, and positive thoughts
  • A kind and compassionate treatment of other people
  • Not being easily affected by society’s negative comments
  • The ability to learn how to deal with difficult emotions
  • The ability to have a clear judgment when dealing with stressful challenges
  • Better sleep quality

 

How to Find Inner Peace and Happiness

There are many ways to achieve inner peace and happiness. One way might work for you but not for others. Finding serenity and happiness cannot be achieved overnight; it is an ongoing process. You might want to check out and try the following strategies on the list below to help you find your spirituality, peace, and happiness.

1. Spend Time in Nature

When you spend time in nature, like taking short walks or appreciating nature, you may find serenity. Spending time with nature and taking a deep breath can prevent your mind from thinking about stressful thoughts. This is not a one-time thing, but long-term exposure to nature is an opportunity for you to deal with life’s everyday stress. 

2. Meditate

Meditation has many proven benefits for our physical, emotional, and mental health. In particular, practicing mindfulness meditation has been seen to decrease anxiety and prevent depression. You can try yoga, read a book on meditation, listen to a guided meditation on a podcast, or practice 40–45 minutes of mindfulness meditation every day at home. These can all help you find your path to peace and happiness. 

3. Be Grateful

Finding your peace and taking care of your well-being means being grateful for what you have, not complaining about what you lack in life. When you appreciate what you have, you’ll find more peace. It has been found that individuals with a grateful heart and the ones contented with their life’s blessings find peace and happiness within. 

4. Take Responsibility for Your Actions

Taking responsibility and accountability for all your actions takes a whole level of maturity. Even when it’s hard, you’ll find peace and happiness by admitting your mistakes. Accept criticisms and use them to improve yourself, as accepting that you made mistakes will make you a more resilient person. 

5. Don’t Let Your Past Mistakes Define You

We all have mistakes in the past we’re not proud of, but dwelling on your past mistakes will take the best of you. Don’t let your past mistakes define you, and don’t let those memories stop you from growing into a better individual.

To find your peace and happiness, let go of your regrets. Remember that these mistakes made you a better person. You’re going to commit mistakes in the future anyway, so learn to pick yourself up and move on. 

6. Love Yourself

Self-care is important to finding peace and happiness. How can you be truly happy in life if you cannot love yourself? Loving yourself means looking after your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. These include eating healthy, exercising regularly, and looking after your overall well-being.

When you have a healthy relationship with yourself and practice self-care, you also project this positive energy toward others. Imagine how happy and peaceful your life can be when you feel good about yourself. Healthy self-love also results in good relationships with the people around you. 

7. Practice Acceptance and Contentment

In finding peace and happiness, acceptance and contentment are key. Accept that you will have problems in life and learn how to deal with them.

Being contented means having emotional, physical, or even financial contentment. The desire for material things and financial wealth does not excite an individual with inner peace.  

8. Declutter

Decluttering can help with having a peaceful mind. This does not only mean decluttering your things and cleaning your home but putting order in your life.

Have you noticed how stressed you become when you see a messy closet? That’s why decluttering can help you. Why expose yourself to what will cause stress if you can avoid it? Start taking control of your life by organizing your house, tasks, and thoughts.

Final Thoughts

The strategies above may work for you but may not work for others in finding inner peace. If you’re trying to take control of your life and find your inner peace, go out of your way and give your best efforts.

Talk to a therapist to have a professional guide you through the way. Kentucky Counseling Center can help you in this journey. The best thing about seeking help with Kentucky Counseling Center is you don’t even have to leave the house. Reach out to one of our mental health professionals now through our telehealth counseling services.

11 Ways to Find Your Inner Peace and Happiness Now

Inner peace is possible, and you don’t need to meditate on a mountaintop or break the bank for a wellness retreat in order to find it. Carving out time to relax is wonderful, but it’s amid the frantic pace of everyday life when we need serenity the most: That moment when you’re stuck in the pharmacy line and the contents of your bag spill on the floor just as your phone starts ringing? That’s when you need to find inner peace within yourself, right as you’re suppressing the urge to unleash a stream of four-letter words.

“I think often people look for circumstances to help achieve a sense of inner peace,” says Ashley Davis Bush, psychotherapist and author of The Little Book of Inner Peace: Simple Practices for Less Angst, More Calm. “In fact, this calm, compassionate, deep awareness is actually within each person. It’s as if we have a deep reservoir of peacefulness and serenity inside us. What we have to learn to do is tap into it.”

With the help of what Bush calls “micro-practices,” you can get better at accessing your inner calm—even if it's been in hiding for awhile.

Peace of mind doesn’t require peace and quiet.

Have you ever been scuba diving, or even just watched a good deep-sea documentary? The ocean’s tide brings the drama when it crashes against the shore, but venture a few meters down and you’ll find a tranquil world of creatures moving at their own pace, wholly unfazed by the action up above.

“The problem is most of us live sort of on the surface of the waves, where there's a lot of turbulence and wildness,” says Davis. “But again, this deep, calm, awareness is actually within each person.”

Davis maintains that you don't need to shut out all the noise to find inner peace. “There's this assumption that if you're in a quiet place, it will be more conducive to accessing this spot within. But, in fact, there are people who have panic attacks while they’re on a massage table. You could be on a New York city subway, surrounded by people and noise, and close your eyes to go into this space where your calmness resides.”

Breathe in, breathe out.

Your breath is always with you, and both yoga and meditation practices harness the power of breath control to help shift your state of mind. Davis likes to recommend practicing the 4-7-8 breath, which is based on a time-tested yoga technique, because you can do it anywhere at any time.

Close your mouth and inhale through your nose as you count to four. Hold onto that breath as you count to seven, and then exhale through your mouth for the count of eight.

“The long exhale helps stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is basically initiating a relaxation response in your body,” Davis says. “Make sure to breathe really low, to fill your belly with air.”

Feel the truth that you’re safe and loved.

“Remind yourself that you’re breathing. And hopefully, you’re physically protected,” says Julie Potiker, mindful self-compassion teacher and author of Life Falls Apart, But You Don't Have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos.

“Think about the people you care about, and the people who care about you,” Potiker suggests, saying that focusing on that can lower your panic response. “Let the truth of that warm your heart.”

Visualize your happy place.

This is another micro-practice that becomes easier the more you do it, and the stronger your visualization, the more effective it is. It's okay if it takes you a while to conjure up what that go-to happy place is.

“You might want to picture the ocean, or your bedroom under your covers, a lake view, playing with your pet, being with someone you love, or maybe a favorite vacation,” Davis suggests. “Then, try to really get all the details in your mind’s eye—the smells, the sounds, the textures, the touch.” Accessing these vivid memories will cue your body to start feeling like you’re actually there, which will relax you, she says.

Read the story you’re telling yourself.

If you find yourself spiraling over a perceived disappointment, frustration, or panic-inducing thought, try stepping back to assess whether what your brain is telling you is true. Examining the source of your turmoil can make it feel smaller in size.

“I tell my students that what you resist persists and they need to feel it to heal it,” Potiker says. She often recommends the RAIN technique, an acronym first coined by meditation teacher Michele McDonald.

Recognize what’s happening. “Label the emotion, because simply naming it calms down your over-arousal,” says Potiker.

Allow your situation to be there. “You’re not resisting it, or trying to numb it and run away from it,” she says. “You're allowing it to be there long enough to work with it.”

Investigate. Potiker says to ask yourself, What most wants my attention? What am I believing? Where am I experiencing these feelings in my body—can I put my hands on where I’m feeling it, and soften the area? All of this inquiry is done with love, not judgment.

Nourish. This is alternately defined as natural loving awareness. You’ve observed yourself, and it’s time to treat yourself with loving kindness. “Ask yourself, What do I need to hear right now?” Potiker says. “Just talking to yourself like you would a dear friend is extremely helpful and healing. It staves off the feeling of isolation.”

Or ACT your way to deeper self-compassion.

There’s no one road to self-compassion, so here’s another way to think of it. Davis suggests trying a three-step method she calls ACT, based on the work of Kristen Neff, a prominent researcher in the field of self-compassion.

“'A' is for acknowledge, as in you acknowledge your suffering or your struggle: This really sucks,” Davis says. “'C' is for connect, connecting to all common humanity to remember that you're not alone in this. Other people get frustrated, feel angry or impatient. The 'T' is to talk kindly to yourself.”

Related Stories
  • The Best Meditation Apps to Help With Anxiety
  • 9 Best Yoga Apps For At Home Workouts
  • How to Finally Relax

When it comes to positive self-talk, Davis echoes Potiker’s recommendation to address yourself as you would a friend, because using “I” sentences may make you feel more isolated. “Research shows that when you talk to yourself in the third person, you actually activate the care circuit in your brain so that you feel more cared for,” she continues. “You’re accessing your higher self so that you can talk yourself off the ledge, and you feel more supported. So I would say, Ashley, you're going to be okay. This is a really hard moment, but don’t forget, Ashley, you’re not alone in this.”

Make a “joy list” for when you need it later.

While a compassionate inventory of how you’re feeling is a powerful mindfulness exercise, Potiker says asking yourself, What do I need to do right now? can remind you to lean on actions that tend to give you peace. Since many people find it challenging to remember which activities bring them joy when they’re feeling mired in chaos, Potiker recommends looking to a “joy list” that you’ve compiled ahead of time.

Related Stories
  • How to Manifest Anything You Desire
  • Ways to Finally Show Yourself Some Love
  • Exactly How to Find Joy Today—and Every Day

“Free associate what brings you joy, and then pick something on the list to do when you’re feeling lousy,” she says. While you’re doing that thing, such as flower arranging or baking, savor it. “Take it in for a few moments, because taking in the good rewires your brain for happiness and resilience,” Potiker says, citing the work of psychologist Rick Hanson, PhD.

If you look at a beautiful sunset and say, “That’s a beautiful sunset—what’s for dinner?,” Potiker says you haven’t given your brain a chance to truly form a positive connection. Instead, try to fully give yourself over to the moment, noticing the rich colors of the sky, because that's productive work in its own way.

“Just letting you fill you up for that moment of awe is enough to rewire your brain for happiness and resilience,” she says. You can do this multiple times a day, Potiker adds, building up a joy reserve by just savoring those first sips of morning coffee, or the sound of a child giggling.

Cultivate gratitude for what’s happening (and

not happening).

The psychological benefits of gratitude have been championed repeatedly in the field of happiness research, and according to Davis, practicing gratitude is another way to quickly access that state of inner peace. She suggests two simple ways to get into the habit: keeping a gratitude journal, and smiling as soon as you sit up in bed in the morning. “When you smile, it signals to your brain that things are good and that you’re happy.”

View full post on Youtube

If you find yourself struggling to think of what you're grateful for in the heat of a chaotic or frustrating moment, Davis suggests you start by naming what you're glad isn't happening—and boom, now you've got something to be thankful for. To go back to her earlier subway example, in a crowded commute you might think, I’m glad I’m not being mugged right now, or I’m glad it’s actually moving and we’re not stuck in the dark; I'm glad it's air-conditioned; I'm glad I have a seat; I'm glad I have a physically healthy body. One small positive thought often sparks another.

Ask yourself two questions daily.

Your gratitude journal entries don’t need to be lengthy reflections, like some burdensome daily homework assignment. Instead, Potiker says use these two simple prompts to list an item or two for each: “What did enjoy today?” and “What am I grateful for today?” Maybe you did something that's on your joy list, for example.

Serve others to help yourself, too.

“Everybody knows that when you help other people, you feel better,” Potiker says. Those in the field of positive psychology believe that the good feelings that come from truly meaningful acts cultivate something they've deemed eudemonic well-being.

Over decades, research has suggested that in the long term, the eudemonic happiness that people feel from doing something like volunteering or making someone else feel good is more rewarding, and longer-lasting, than the more commonly pursued hedonic well-being, which prioritizes seeking pleasure and minimizing pain. Thus, building up a reserve of eudemonic happiness through acts of service could potentially up your general inner-peace baseline.

Maintain good self-care hygiene.

Eating right, getting plenty of sleep, exercising, meditating, and practicing what Potiker calls “mindfulness daily life activities” can all shore up your mental-peace defenses for when all hell breaks loose (in your world, or in your head). “Even while you’re just brushing your teeth, you can focus on feeling the toothbrush, tasting the toothpaste, and hearing the sounds, so you’re not worrying about your to-do list or what just happened in the news,” she says. “That’s a mindfulness in daily life activity.”

It’s all about developing “the pause,” so that when you feel yourself reacting to a situation, you’re better prepared to respond in a calmer way.

Practice acceptance.

In the larger pursuit of learning to access your inner peace, Davis says that accepting the existence of things that are out of your control is the long-term goal, difficult as it may be. “Acceptance is an overall way of engaging with life,” she explains. “So it’s less about a quick practice, and more about a life orientation.

“When we resist our circumstances, we create a lot of suffering, which of course is the opposite of inner peace,” she continues. “And the second you start going with the flow and putting yourself in alignment with what is, you immediately start to have a sense of flowing with rather than flowing against.”

It’s a challenging process, and one your brain may resist on impulse at first. That’s why it’s called “practice”—you may not nail it the first, 15th, or 50th time, and that’s normal.

“In terms of a practice, I might say to someone, ‘Right when you're in a situation like you're in a long grocery line, you can't believe it, you're late for something, you're feeling really stressed? Just stop, drop into your heart space, and say, This is what I've got. This is where I am. I'm just going to flow with this. And I'm going to look for an opportunity now to just practice patience, and practice self-compassion. This is really hard. I wish I could be faster. I wish I wasn't in this line, but I am. It's okay, and I'm okay.’”

For more ways to live your best life plus all things Oprah, Sign up for our newsletter!

Samantha Vincenty

Senior Staff Writer

Samantha Vincenty is the former senior staff writer at Oprah Daily. 

This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Where can I find peace and tranquility?

At the end of another hectic day, we often just want to fall on the sofa and sob. It can be very disappointing and painful to realize that despite all our efforts, we are unable to put things in order in many areas of our lives: problems in marriage, lack of career growth, illness of a loved one, quarrels in the family, inexplicable inner turmoil, etc. - everything this, unfortunately, occurs regularly in our lives.

Christian hymnwriter Emma Lou Tyne described these questions of the soul in her essay Where Can I Find My Rest?:

Where can I find peace and comfort,

the thirst of my soul than to quench?

In the heart of a wounded anger, bitterness.

How can I overcome loneliness?

Naively, many of us think that faith in Christ automatically allows us to solve any problems. And they are very upset when after some time they realize that everything is not so simple. The Savior warned everyone who came to earthly life: “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). nine0003

Is it possible to find peace in this life?

However, during His earthly ministry Jesus gave the following message to all His followers: “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, I give to you” (John 14:27).

Looking around, we can notice that some followers of Christ feel peace and tranquility, despite their continuous difficulties, severe personal losses and tragedies. What is their secret?

These people at a deep level were imbued with a desire to accept His invitation: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest; Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).

Only by truly following Jesus Christ, each of us can find peace even in times of difficulties that come into the life of each person. Peace of mind requires peace of mind and heart, which comes from understanding and following the teachings of Christ. What can we do? nine0003

Pray to Him

Very often we forget that prayer is a conversation. Our prayers become a collection of meaningless phrases and repetitions. The Mormon prophet Gordon B. Hinckley describes such prayers this way: “The problem with most of our prayers is that we say them as if we were picking up the phone and ordering groceries—ordering and hanging up. We need to meditate, reason, think about what and why we are praying, and then talk to the Lord as one person talks to another. “Come, then, and let us reason together, says the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18). Our prayers must become different: a real conversation with God. Sometimes it is important to simply pour out your soul without asking for anything. He will come into your life and fill it with warmth. nine0003

Keep His commandments

This seemingly simple truth has the power to make profound spiritual changes in everyone's life. The Lord did not send us into this world to suffer. He wants us to be happy not only in the life to come, but also now. He has given us a number of commandments and commands so that we can better resist sin, which can have a negative impact on our lives in general.

We have a perfect example of living the gospel before our eyes. Christ has given us everything we need to be happy. Yes, trials are an integral part of our life. But keeping the commandments can help us see them as a source of eternal perspective. nine0003

Serve His children

Service allows us not only to help others, but also to become much closer to the image of a true follower of Jesus Christ. As Mosiah 2:17 says, “when you serve your neighbor, you are only serving your God.” Have you noticed that when you help someone, your soul becomes brighter? Truly, service to others can transform our lives, give that confidence, calmness and peace that we lack so much. nine0003

The words of the third verse of the hymn "Where shall I find my rest" confirm these important truths:

to my Garden of Gethsemane He will hasten,

He will quietly answer my prayers.

Forever His love reigns in the world.

Our Lord can indeed do everything that is necessary for us to find peace and rest. But for this we also need to take certain steps. First, we need to decide that we are ready to allow ourselves to find peace in our hearts, that we are ready to give the Lord the opportunity to change our hearts and our way of thinking over the years. nine0003

We can be happy in the circumstances that life offers us. It often takes a lot of faith and humility, but it's worth it. Being faithful to the Lord, we can always count on His support, and this is exactly what can give us the peace that each of us so badly needs.

The following two tabs change content below.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

PR specialist, bachelor's degree in conflict management, lover of fast food, sun and heat. Lives and works in Moscow. nine0003

Tags: Bible, Jesus Christ, Service

Inner peace: How to find and not lose it

32 992

To know yourself to listen to your body

houses

Smile

Wake up, direct attention to the body - pass it to the mental gaze from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers and toes. Give yourself a couple of minutes to feel how you are at the moment: whether you woke up energetic or tired, whether you are happy about the new day or not, how your body feels - tense or relaxed, rested or tired. nine0003

The task is not to evaluate and analyze the state, but simply to notice it, to realize it. If you feel fatigue, tension in some place, hold your attention on it and, as you exhale, relax this part of the body, release the tension. For example, you can imagine that you are exhaling all your tension into the ground - even if you are lying on the bed.

Now try to smile with different parts of your body: feel how your eyes, face, heart, liver and internal organs, back are smiling. Our body doesn't just reflect emotions, it creates them. And, smiling with the whole body, we fill it with the energy of joy and cheerfulness for a new day. nine0003

Be grateful

This exercise is good for ending the day. Gratitude has a huge healing effect. The feeling of gratitude is a signal to the nervous system that everything is in order. In our life there is completeness, harmony, we do not need to run anywhere, achieve anything, nobody likes it.

Of course, we have hard days and problems, but there are many good things in everyone's life. Think about what you can sincerely thank the world for tonight - what was good during the day? And let gratitude fill your heart. nine0003

Relax your eyes

Many people work all day in front of monitor screens, and by the evening our eyes are very tired, and our head is buzzing with thoughts and work problems.

Close your eyes. Most likely, you will notice that your eyeballs continue to move, tremble. This activity is directly related to the activity of the mind. Now bring your attention to your eyes and relax them as you exhale, just as you relaxed the muscles in your body. And relax more and more.

You will notice that the movement of the eyeballs will slow down, the mind will begin to calm down. Your breath will sink into your lower abdomen, and there will be a general feeling of relaxation and peace in which it is easy to fall asleep. Ideally, in complete darkness and with a dark mask over your eyes, removing all gadgets. nine0003

At work

Ground yourself

Sitting or standing, direct your attention to two feet at the same time. You do not think about the feet and do not look at them, but you direct your attention to them and feel their contact with the floor. It is important that this is a feeling of two feet at the same time. Usually people notice that the moment when all their attention is directed to the feet, the mind calms down, and the breath sinks into the lower abdomen.

Look around. Pay attention to what has changed in the perception of the world around and employees in the office. Perhaps you see something that you did not notice behind the flow of thoughts and interpretations before. You may notice that your perception becomes clearer and more neutral, nonjudgmental. nine0003

This practice allows us to quickly bring our attention back to the present moment while remaining open to everything around us. It is good to use during a conversation or meeting when you need to ground yourself and bring attention back to yourself.

Learn wisdom from plants

Busyness is not an objective fact, but a state of mind. Often, in order to do everything in time, it is enough for us to stop switching in a panic from one thing to another (because of this, we lose about 30% of time and efficiency) and start acting very slowly and carefully. And here we have a lot to learn from the plants that are available in almost every office. nine0003

Trees and flowers are in no hurry. They are the embodiment of the peace of the present moment. They grow and bloom at their own pace. Give yourself 5-10 minutes to do nothing and try to experience what it's like to be a plant. Allow yourself to feel what rhythm is good for you now. How does it feel to choose the rhythm of work from within, and not under the influence of external circumstances?

On the road

Watch your breath

Staying calm during rush hour can be difficult. Especially in the evening after work. But you can use your time on the road to practice watching your breath - it activates the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system and prepares the body and mind for rest. nine0003

The advantage of this practice is that it can be done in any position - both standing and sitting. Pay attention to your breath. To inhale and exhale. Pause between them. Follow the exhalation and then the inhalation. To do this, you can direct your attention to the tip of the nose and focus on the feeling of air moving through the nostrils, or on the lower abdomen and watch the abdominal wall move slightly back and forth in time with the exhalation and inhalation.

At some point you will notice that you are distracted, you forget about breathing and you are thinking about other things. Or consider neighbors. Or read ads. Don't scold yourself, but gently bring your attention back to your breath. nine0003

Practice Loving-Kindness

From the point of view of many meditation traditions, people's true nature is love and joy. But as long as our mind is restless, and our attention does not belong to us and is controlled by external events, we cannot feel this joy and love. Here is a short version of the practice of loving kindness.

Feel with all your heart the joy and gratitude that you are. That you are alive and well. And wish yourself love, joy, abundance, health.

Learn more