How to cultivate inner peace

For most of us, 2020 was a rough year. With everything going on in the world, it can be hard to feel anything but anxious, depressed, or fearful.  Though these emotions are valid, getting stuck in them doesn’t help us face these extraordinary challenges. To overcome these hard times, we must have inner peace.

WHAT IS INNER PEACE

Inner peace is the state of being calm no matter what is happening in your life. Some cultures and religions cultivate inner peace through prayer to their god/gods. Some use meditation. Other people practice forgiveness or self-love. There are many ways to cultivate inner peace, and no option is better than another. This article goes over a few practices that can get you started on your journey to inner peace.

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE MISSING IT? 

• YOU ARE NOT LIVING IN THE MOMENT

  Are you constantly worried about what the future will bring? Or perhaps you are obsessed with certain events of your past? If you are living in the future or the past, it will be very hard for you to experience inner peace

• YOU ARE STUCK IN NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

  Fear, anger, depression, and other emotions are valid and should not be ignored. However, things become problematic when we get stuck in those feelings. If you find yourself stuck in negative emotions without any relief, you are missing out on inner peace. 

• YOU DO NOT LOVE YOURSELF

  Sometimes internal factors rather than external cause emotional distress. Not experiencing love and compassion for yourself can lead to lifelong emotional issues. If you constantly beat yourself up, compare yourself to others, or feel that you are never good enough, you are going to have a hard time finding inner peace.

HOW TO CULTIVATE INNER PEACE

• MEDITATION

  Meditation is a very popular technique to cultivate inner peace. People all over the world meditate and feel its effects quickly. In order to meditate for inner peace, sit down in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and breathe deeply. During this time, just notice your thoughts and don’t run away with them. You don’t have to stop thinking entirely. You just need to notice the mental chatter. If you can sit like this for as little as five minutes, you will begin to cultivate inner peace.   

• DEEP BREATHING

  For those who struggle with meditation, deep breathing might be a good alternative. While you are going about your day, pay attention to your breath. If you constantly feel anxious, you will probably notice that your breathing is quick and shallow. Take a moment to ground yourself and take deeper breaths. You will quickly feel much calmer and peaceful. 

• SELF-LOVE

  As mentioned before, it’s not always external factors that keep us from experiencing inner peace. Many times our relationship with ourselves can cause emotional pain. It is incredibly hard to experience inner peace if you do not love yourself first. 

  So how can you begin loving yourself? Perhaps you’ve been overworking yourself lately and your body desperately needs a rest. In this case, taking a nice relaxing bath or a long nap is a perfect example of self-love. Or perhaps you beat yourself up often. Changing your internal dialogue from negative to positive can be a great factor in experiencing inner peace. For example, instead of beating yourself up for the things you haven’t accomplished yet, remind yourself of the things you have accomplished. 

• FORGIVENESS

  Sometimes we hold onto emotional pain when someone has hurt us. Though it can be hard to forgive, it is impossible to feel inner peace without forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean that what they did was okay. Forgiveness is the act of letting go of the negative feelings we have towards that person and what they did. When we let go of the emotional pain that this person caused, we can easily cultivate inner peace. 

In times such as these, inner peace seems impossible. However, we cannot overcome the obstacles we face without having a calm, peaceful mind. Inner peace not only feels better than anxiety or depression, but is also much more helpful when facing these unprecedented challenges. I hope this article helps you on your journey to inner peace. Find peace, my friends, and we will get through this together.