How to find inner peace is an important topic these days. The word is out. Inner peace is the new wealth and everyone is dashing to get their portion. Well hold up a moment! It is not reserved just for the highest bidder, the richest or the poorest. It is not reserved for the most aggressive, nor for the best negotiator or the most popular.
First of all, inner peace is not for sale. Secondly, there is enough for us all and last but certainly not least, it has always been an amazing part of the fabric of true health and wealth. We are glad though, that many are coming to the realization that inner peace is what really matters and it is what most of us are truly seeking whether we are aware of it or not.
What is Inner peace
The term Inner Peace is self explanatory but for definition sake let’s just consider it a state of mind which is tranquil; free from worry, where an individual experiences harmony with him/herself. Inner peace can exist in the most chaotic of situations and on the flip side, an individual may be in what appears to be the most Zen-like situation and not have inner peace.
Inner peace is a state of mind and attaining it requires a conscious and intentional effort. Easier said than done though, however the benefits are incredible. Let’s explore five tools, among many, which are valuable in helping us find inner peace.
1. Know Yourself – Have a good definition of yourself
What pisses you off? You should know. If you know, you can devise ways to avoid it or to deal with it. By knowing, you now have the choice to decide whether you will ignore it or figure out why it messes with your psyche. In so doing, you just may be able to construct or seek relevant assistance to construct strategies for eliminating or minimizing its impact on you.
Now what brings you joy – peace – contentment? Hmmm…
In knowing ourselves, we should seek to understand our likes and dislikes, what delights and what disgusts us, along with identifying strengths and weaknesses. Making this distinction is a gateway to inner peace as this provides the appropriate tools to better navigate life.
Metacognition and Inner Peace
Metacognition is very important in this process. This involves the understanding of one’s own thought process. Simply put, metacognition is an understanding of how we arrive at our thoughts and the patterns behind them.
Attaining inner peace is a deliberate and intentional process and this involves learning. In so doing, metacognitive practices play the role of allowing us to monitor, make assessments and plan along the way and it allows us to ask ourselves:
What did I do when he approached me?
Why did I have such a response?
What can I do the next time something like this happens?
Your understanding of these factors may be a handy tool on your path to inner peace.
2. Educate Yourself – Learning, Unlearning and Relearning
Education is vital to the process of achieving inner peace. In the process we should be prepared to learn, unlearn and relearn. Education affords us reasoning skills, it sharpens our ability to deduce, make inferences and analyses. Here we are looking beyond formal education and this can be achieved in many ways. Let’s explore a few.
Reading: With a visit to the library or the click of a button we can explore a world of experiences capable of positively impacting our lives. A good book allows us to explore the world, experience different cultures, learn from others while at the same time adding depth to our thought process.
Travel: Like our book above, travel exposes us to new experiences. This exchange and sharing of culture called travel is capable of boosting our creativity, tolerance, imagination as well as our perception of the world and the people therein. A broad perspective and understanding of the world has the potential to contribute to a sense of peace within us.
Courses: Call it the internet, the metaverse or whatever you choose to. One thing I know for sure is that courses have never been more at our reach than they are now. Just think about it and boom! – you are able to connect with an entity who is capable of mentoring, tutoring, lecturing or guiding you in your field of interest. Even in the face-to-face realm, courses are available in a variety of subject matters. Making a great choice in this regard can be beneficial as we seek to better understand ourselves and find inner peace.
3. Take care of your health – Get in great mental and physical shape
What did they say about health again? Health is wealth. Well, we already know that inner peace is part of the fabric of both health and wealth. To achieve inner peace, we should take care of the body and mind; the abode of inner peace. Here are some health tips:
Eat well: What are the different food groups? What are the nutrients they provide? You may be years past your Food & Nutrition class but this bit of information is vital. Eating a proper balanced diet has the power to positively affect our mood. You see the brain and the body work together, therefore whatever we put into that body affects the brain and its functions.
Get a good night’s sleep: a good night’s sleep is important for both physical and mental wellbeing. It allows the body to recharge and refresh and it has the ability to keep us calm and alert.
Exercise: Exercise does wonders for the body but did you know that it is super beneficial for the mind? Exercise makes you feel better about yourself. It helps with calmness. It can reduce sadness and anxiety and generally helps to regulate our mood which ultimately leads to inner peace.
Mental Health and Inner Peace
Seek Psychological Counseling: We are getting to the core of your being here. Professional counseling allows you to open up in a trusted forum with a trained facilitator. The benefits include:
- The release of hurt and resentment
- The possibility to feel understood as a human – free from judgement
- Emotional healing
- The exploration of possibilities for mental growth and avenues to peace of mind.
- Facilitation in clearing your conscience, asking for forgiveness
- Support as you allow yourself room to heal
- Support in attaining self compassion
- Transformation from negative to positive self talk
- Support in taking responsibility for your actions
Alone time: Be still, dig deeper and get to the core of who you are. Learn to let go, cultivate hope and faith.
Self-care and Relaxation: Yoga meditation, spa, family time, games night, visualization, mindfulness as well as spending time in nature are all practices that hold the potential to guide you towards inner peace.
The body and mind are intertwined and require a holistic approach. These health tips will help us feel better about ourselves and we may find that we are less likely to: be anxious, rude or dismissive and on the other hand, we become more tolerant, calm and understanding with a greater sense of peace of mind.
4. Practice Empathy – Be Compassionate
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is a well known quote from the great book – the Bible. There are many other similar sayings all pointing towards putting ourselves in the shoes of others.
Unless you live alone in the land of Nowhere, you will find that you have to interact with other humans at some point in life. The result of these interactions depends a lot on you. Yep you! Your interpretation and response largely depends on how you perceive events, your ability to see things through the eyes of others, your experiences and awareness.
Empathy points to emotional intelligence. When we understand ourselves we better understand others and as we seek to understand others we learn more about ourselves.
Through empathy we become better able to assist others, listen to others, share, mentor, counsel and make more meaningful connections. These empathetic responses further allow us to deepen or gain inner peace.
5. Be Authentic – Be unapologetically you (within reason)
Have you had an interaction with an individual that left you with the question: Bro, who are you?
Perhaps. It feels like the person is conflicted with who to be and when to be who. Ok, this may be puzzling but indeed some individuals take on the persona of perhaps someone they admire, someone who is popular or someone they dreamed of being. This in itself can present barriers in the development of the individual in question as he/she is limiting genuine self development.
Being authentic in your approach to life is an important tool in the process of attaining inner peace as it allows you to sharpen the tools for your own growth as a person.
Authenticity and Inner Peace
Being ‘authentically you’ allows you to:
- Dig deeper into the core of your being and ‘know thyself’
- Sharpen the tools to self improvement
- Embrace wellbeing
- Minimize the need to imitate others
- Make good choices as they will align with your personality
- Minimize the need to live another person’s lifestyle
- Lessen the need to prove yourself to anyone
So… do you! Dig deeper, find that place of peace that passeth understanding and reside there happily. Do not feign it though – you will know and you matter! Instead, strive for it, manifest it, visualize it, work for it.
So this was ‘How to Find Inner Peace.’ Here’s hoping that you found the 5 tools from the toolkit valuable. As a bonus for getting to this point I’ve decided to add another important tool to the toolkit: Simplify your life! Be sure to visit again as I will be sharing more on inner peace and simple living right here. In the meantime enjoy: Simple Things that make me Happy