What is inner peace and how can we be a source of calm in a world filled with chaos and fear?
As we all know (and maybe now more than ever) we live in a world filled with conflict. We see daily shifts between darkness and light and this polarisation can make us feel like we have no control or say over our own lives. And to an extent that is true. There are forces at play on this Planet that we have no control over and it can make us feel small, insignificant and fearful.
But maybe this can also show us how to take back our inner power. We can either deal with this conflict from a place of fear, creating fear within ourselves and our own lives or with love, by focusing on fostering love within and around us. And the last part takes conscious effort.
How To Use External Conflict As Your Spiritual Practice
Maybe your in the workplace and your having to deal with an angry collegue, they snap at you for something you didn’t do. Your first instinct is to go on the defensive. Maybe your thinking “why are they talking to me like that? who do they think they are!” This anger internalises within you. You feel a ball of hot energy in your solar plexus and tears come to your eyes as you want to shout back. This is all a natural instinct of a human in a situation that flags their fight or flight response. But we also have another response.
By dropping your awareness into your heart space even if your having to deal with a conflictive situation you change the energy of yourself. When faced with someone else’s anger or negative energy, when you breathe into your heart and ask yourself “How can I bring more love to this situation?” you start changing your perspective. An angry and ungrateful collegue maybe turns into someone you see is in pain and unable to hold that pain within their hearts so they lash out. You see them through the eyes of love and react from that space.
I’ve seen this practice played out in my own life. I used to have a very difficult relationship with my family. I blamed them for a lot of trauma that happened to me. This angry energy boiled over when I was getting married to the point that I wasn’t sure we could ever find a path to healing. But I learned from a close friend to see others through the eyes of an angel which meant to see with love. I saw their pain as well as my own and realised I was only adding to it so I visualised sending them the energy of love from my own heart to theirs. The next day the energy of our relationship changed and although there was certainly rocky moments, when I kept coming back to love how I dealt with another’s conflict changed.
Try it for yourself and see.
Steps To Love:
1. Take a moment to visualise either a person or the conflict in question
2. Drop into your heart and visualise your breathe moving into your heart space, activating your heart chakra and expanding the energy of love
3. Feel this energy of love moving through your whole body, clearing and cleansing your energy
4. Then see this loving energy moving from your heart out towards the person or situation in question. Feel this loving energy holding them. Moving into their hearts and smile as you see their soul light up
5. Do this exercise as often as you can when dealing with any conflicting situations.
Practical Exercise You Can Do Now
Inner peace takes time and conscious effort to cultivate. It’s about what you allow your mind to consume just as much as health is about how you look after your body.
So here are my top tips to building a practice of inner peace so that when life does through you a curve ball you will have built up better resilience to navigate it.
1. Notice what is out of balance in your body – We need to look after our bodies in order to find more peace within our minds and hearts. So notice how your body feels when you nourish it with good sleep, healthy eating and regular exercise.
2. Make a clear intention every morning – We sometimes need to make a conscious effort to reprogramme our minds and the best time to do that is first thing in the morning. So try and set your alarm 30 mins earlier and focus on at least one main goal for the day ahead and how you are going to achieve it. Then write down a personal affirmation centred that will bring you back to peace.
3. Build a meditation practice – I meditate usually now for up to 30 to 40 mins a day. I’ve found that is my sweet spot because any longer and I lose the benefit and my mind wanders and any less I find the benefit doesn’t last as long. Hopefully being in this group will help you meditate as I will be sharing my monthly meditation as well as resources to amazing meditation teachers so that you can start building a practice.
4. Be mindful of your thoughts – We have millions of thoughts in a day but we do have more control than we think of what comes into our mind. Notice any limiting thoughts or if something doesn’t quite go your way rather than focusing on the negative bring your mind back to peace and practice saying loving words to yourself.
5. Connect to your heart – Our hearts hold the key to inner peace because when we learn to live from our hearts we awaken to our true power and our souls voice. You can do this by bringing your awareness daily and in meditation to your heart. Simple take 10 deep breathes in and visualise your breathe moving into your heart. Feel the energy of love expand outwards as you do and allow this energy to fill your whole being.
