5 Ways to find inner peace in you daily life

What is inner-peace?

Inner peace is what is achieved when external stressors and situations do not affect our mental and psychological well being. Peace is a natural state we return to when our minds are quiet and hearts are open. 

Why is it important to strive for peace?

In a society where we are constantly inundated with distractions, opinions, and expectations, our own thoughts can sometimes become overwhelming. In some cases, our overpowering thoughts can also start to negatively affect our physical health. To reach a point where outside situations cannot affect our well being, mental grit is required. With this, we can move through life with a certain freedom that is unlike any other. 

How can we find inner peace?

Below are several different ways I like to recommend as a starting point for building inner peace in my daily life. Please note, this is not an exhaustive list and there is no one-size fits all approach to finding inner-peace. 

1. Start a meditation practice

Meditation is a spiritual practice that has been around for thousands of years. Applying meditation into your routine can help you to sharpen your attention span, implement mind-body connection, and assist with emotional regulation. With its growing popularity, more research has been done that proves its efficacy in improving brain and biological function. 

Meditation can start showing signs of positive results sooner than you may think. While there is no magic number, one study reported that after 8 weeks of 13-min daily meditations, research participants experienced an improvement in mood, memory, attention span, and reduction in anxiety. There can also be short term effects such as a calmer mood and stable mind. 

Types of meditation include but are not limited to:

1. Mindfulness Meditation
2. Movement Meditation
3. Mantra Meditation
4. Transcendental Meditation
5. Loving-kindness Meditation
6. Visualization Meditation
7. Qigong

You may find yourself trying one or more of these meditation styles and implementing them into your routine. Finding the right meditation style for you is about stepping out of your comfort zone and doing what feels best for your body and mind. 

 2. Implement self-compassion

Have you ever taken a moment to take note of how you speak to yourself? What do you say to yourself when you accomplish something amazing? What about when you make a mistake? How we speak to ourselves can not only frame our opinions of ourselves, but our attitude of the world around us. 

A research study conducted during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown revealed that self-compassion was shown to be positively correlated to peace and meaning. The study states “self-compassion involves being touched by and open to one’s own suffering, not avoiding or disconnecting from it, generating the desire to alleviate one’s suffering and to heal oneself with kindness. Self-compassion also involves offering nonjudgmental understanding to one’s pain, inadequacies and failures, so that one’s experience is seen as part of the larger human experience.”

3. Make time for movement

While physical activity can have a tremendous effect on the body, it also can play a part in your mental health. Regular physical movement is scientifically proven to reduce levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Oppositely, movement releases endorphins that boost your mood and lower stress.

Finish reading this article on our Medium Blog here.

Looking for the right path to peace but unsure of where to start?

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