Welcome Dear Friend and thanks for visiting! Feel read to browse around my site. I’d love to hear your thoughts and inspirations on the various posts on offer. Simply leave your comments in the comment box below each blog post. Thank you. Take care and have a peaceful day.
What Does Inner Peace Mean To You?
Finding inner peace, especially in troubled times, is a gift you give to yourself. As a mother, like you, I want the best for my children and sometimes no matter what you want, life has a way of giving you what you need and not what you want. In fact, the journey between what you want and what manifests can be stressful and often heartbreaking. So, in today’s post, we look at five steps you can take to help you stay peaceful and hopefully calm when stress levels are high and you feel under pressure.
Have you ever been in a situation, where you are locked in a situation and feel the other person is being totally unreasonable and inflexible? How did you feel and what steps did you take to resolve the conflict? Did you feel peaceful or did you find yourself feeling stressed and anxious?
Can You Peacefully Resolve Conflict?
My friend and fellow blogger Harleena Singh wrote a beautiful blog about resolving family conflict. Reading the comments in Harleena’s post, it confirmed to me how stressful family life can be!
Can You Find Inner Peace In Troubled Times?
Do you ever wonder if is it possible to find “inner peace”, to experience calm and tranquil moments during stressful times. From personal experience, I know it is possible to feel calm inside, even when your whole world is falling apart. It takes time and practice, yet it is possible.
Firstly, what is “inner peace”?
From a yogic perspective, inner peace is the path you seek as you journey towards enlightenment. According to Swami Sivananda, the “real spiritual progress of the aspirant is measured by the extent to which he achieves inner tranquillity.” The key word, in this for me, is the extent to which you achieve inner tranquillity.
In theory, this sounds wonderful, yet, how feasible is it for you to feel calm and tranquil when faced with infuriating partners, concerns over your child’s safety, or faced with work colleagues who fail to pull their weight?
I don’t claim to be an expert at “finding inner peace” – far from it. Yet, through my journey of life, through grief, miscarriage, financial debt, divorce and being a parent, I have come to appreciate and value the importance of feeling calm and tranquil especially during troubled times. In fact, I’m sure if I didn’t know how to find inner peace I would probably be addicted to tranquillisers or suffering from stress related illness.
How Can You Find Inner Peace In Troubled Times?
Here are five habits I’ve cultivated over the years which I feel enables me to keep going and see the sunny side of life, despite grief and sorrow. If you are going through hard times, I hope these habits are something you could adopt to make life more comfortable and peaceful.
Five Steps To Inner Peace
Step One – Exercise
Inner peace is a state of being, a place inside your heart where you feel grounded, connected and at ease with your body and the world around you. When you exercise, particular a mind-body physical activity like yoga, tai chi or have a restorative bodywork therapy session, you allow your body to breathe and let go of emotional and physical tension.
Once you are comfortable in your body and your body stress-free it becomes easier for you feel a sense of connection and alignment between your body and mind. This connection, sense of awareness gives you a glimpse of being “at peace.”
Tip:If you are a busy mum and find life stressful, try this simple yoga at home routine which will help you to unwind and let-go of worries.
Step 2 – Nourish And Nurture Yourself
You have heard of the famous Latin quote mens sana in corpora sano (a sound mind in a healthy body). From a yogic perspective, your body and mind are inextricable linked. The more you care and look after your body the easier it is for you to stay bright and positive. And when you are bright and positive, your mind is a step closer to being in that state of calm and tranquillity. Eating wholesome, energy rich foods, regular sleep habits, massages, reflexology treatments, seasonal detox are all habits you can develop to keep your body health and mind sound.
Tip: Here are seven extra ways to reduce stress and regain your sense of inner calm and tranquillity.
Step 3 – Be Passionate
Have you noticed how time flies when you are in the moment of being creative or doing something which really turns you on? Maybe you are a singer, an artist, gardener, a baker or enjoy reading and gathering materials for your scrap book, whatever turns you on, regularly practice it as it helps you to feel good inside. As long as your actions do not cause harm to others, you being passionate and creative, puts you in the flow and allows your expansive energy to flow. Tapping into this energy connects you to your source, which keeps you feeling at peace, calm and connected.
Tip: If you feel you are stuck in a rut and have no idea how to rekindle your dreams and passions, here are seven ways to shift your energy and rediscover your passion and creativity.
Step 4 – Love Yourself
This is a cliché but “learning to love yourself” is part of your journey towards inner peace. The more you love yourself, really love yourself on a deep spiritual level, the easier it becomes for you to stay in the flow, to be connected and make choices which enhance and elevate your spirit. When you are in the self-love flow, it becomes easier for you to be compassionate and strive to see the situation from a higher perspective. Not easy, I know. I love myself and know the power of love yet still struggle with being compassionate and living life from a higher perspective.
Tip: The song, The Greatest Love Of All is one of my favourite self-love songs. Take five minutes out of your schedule to listen to the power of love sung by the late great Whitney Houston.
Step 5 – Develop Your Intuition
Your intuition is your birthright. It is your inbuilt GPS. The more time you take to be still, to listen to your inner muse and wisdom, the more you will feel aligned and fulfilling your dharma (divine purpose). Have you ever had a light bulb moment, or woke up inspired with a new idea or project or answer to a question, that’s your intuition. That’s what keeps you alive, in the flow and moving gracefully on your spiritual path toward inner tranquillity.
Tip: If being intuitive isn’t your thing, and you want to find out more about what it means to tap into intuitive, then books like The Artist Way by Julia Cameron or my favourite book by my spiritual teacher, Caroline Shola Arewa Opening To Spirit offer you exercises and suggestions to deepen your understanding of the value of listening to and working with your intuition.
Final Thoughts
As you can see finding inner peace is a journey. Being peaceful is your birthright, yet everyday pressures and anxieties make it difficult for you to be peaceful and calm.
From a yogic perspective the path to inner peace forms the core of your spiritual practice and evolution and as earlier quoted by Swami Sivananda, “the real spiritual progress of the aspirant is measured by the extent to which he achieves inner tranquillity”.
In this post I offered five steps you can take to help you find inner peace, these are habits I practice – exercise, nourish and nurture yourself, be passionate, love yourself and develop your intuition. Finding inner peace is a journey and like all spiritual understandings requires patience and understanding.
Your Thought On Inner Peace?
What do you think about these habits? Do you feel they can help you find inner peace? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Feel free to jot your views in the comment box below and if you think your friends and family would enjoy this post, kindly share this post with them.
As mentioned in my last post I am writing a series of posts about Inner Peace. Feel free to pop back in a few days to read the next post in this series.
Stay blessed and thank you
Ntathu
image-with thanks seeveear
This post was truly worthwhile to read. I wanted to say thank you for the key points you have pointed out as they are enlightening.
Loved the post Ntathu!
Thanks so much for the mention, and yes, family life does have its ups and down, where stress and conflicts also do play their parts- isn't it?
I have read your journey and all that you have undergone in your previous posts, and to reach the level you are today is truly remarkable. I guess it has taken a lot of self-evolvement on your part to attain inner peace and contenment.
Speaking of myself, I know with my kids, husband, and extended family around, things are not easy. Yet we carry on and live each day, though are we really peaceful and content within? We seek inner peace and contentment through various mediums like yoga, meditation, or by exercising, walking, listening to music, and just about anything that can calm and relate you to your inner-self.
I loved your 5 simple steps for finding peace within. And to be very honest, I really need to take out time for my ownself and do things I want to do and be passionate about those. Hmm…and love myself…never really thought of that as the kids always come first for me. And no matter what, as parents its them we do things for all the time- don't we? But yes, I do need to give things more of a thought now. 🙂
Thanks for sharing these wonderful ways to find your inner peace 🙂
Bless you my dear. Harleena, thanks for popping by. Your post inspired me to think about how we can look after ourselves, which gives us the strength to ride the waves. You are blessed to be part of a strong and loving family, all of which helps to feed and nurture our spirits. Our children learn from the example we set, and my mother worked hard all her life and sacrificed a lot of her self for me and my brother. I am thankful for the start she gave me and my desire is to encourage mum to enjoy the fruits and sweetness of her life. Its all about balance and to give the best, our very highest best, we must give to self first. We are all works in progress. Enjoy your day. Take a few minutes just for you, even if its to sit quietly and ponder what else is it I would like to do. Hugs