One of the main things I’ve realised over the last few years is that you don’t need to meditate on a mountain top or in the middle of nowhere at a secluded spot to find inner peace. Making time to relax is important but we need calm and composure in the midst of our fast-paced, frantic, crazy life…right at the moment you’re suppressing the urge to unleash a stream of four letter words!
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. But again, this deep, calm, awareness is actually within each person.
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. You could be on a crowded Mumbai local, surrounded by people and noise, and close your eyes to go into this space where your calmness resides.
The pursuit of inner peace is more important than the search for happiness or success.
Chris Shea
Here are 9 ways to experience inner peace and enjoy life on a deeper, more satisfying level:
1. Focus your attention on those things you can control
2. Spend time in nature
3. Mind What you Eat
4. Exercise on a regular basis
5. Be assertive
6. Avoid trying to change others
The last one is pretty key! You’ll have as much success trying to change the weather as you do trying to change other people. It’s hard enough to change yourself. How will you ever manage to change someone else?
It’s important to take care of yourself mentally and physically.
Eat properly, exercise, and be true to yourself. There’s no need to please other people. Be assertive and take control of your life. Avoid chasing after those things that society has determined to be important.
Here is a lovely poem by Vanessa Hughes on Inner Peace
Well below your ego
There’s a place that doesn’t care
What people say or think or do
It’s very peaceful there
This place is deep inside you
It’s way beneath your skin
The stillness that surrounds you there
Is you without the spin
It’s soul, unspoilt, it’s raw
Untouched by human mind
Affected not by boxes
Or labels of any kind
When you can find your inner peace
Anytime or place
No matter what is happening
You have your own calm space
Kenrick Vaz 