While our world might seem mostly upside down at the moment, there is an opportunity to create peace and harmony within.
As someone that has moved most of her life and had changed injected into every part of her being for the past decade plus, it’s taken a lifetime to develop practices to cultivate lasting peace. I recognize change is hard for many. I spent 10 years as a management consultant helping people and companies process massive change from a people, process, and technology perspective. Change is possible and a given, but a willingness is needed to lead to acceptance.
To master the skill of preserving your peace despite external factors takes practice. It’s what practices like meditation and yoga have taught for thousands of years. Every day we have the possibility to inject peace inside despite external chaos, change, and dysfunction.
Covid-19 has had an impact on my life and business like many. We are each going through our own experience though, it’s impossible to say, “we are all going through the same thing.” The reality is we are not, and this journey is for each of us to ride in part on our own and to honor how we choose to ride it.
Know that you too can create a haven of peace within yourself, so that you can ride uncertain times with a sense of internal stability and support.
Try establishing rituals and practices such as these to help you:
- Make your heart your constant. Make it your home and your place of permanent harmony. Life is change after all.
- Create a peaceful morning ritual. Start your day connecting to your breath, with meditation, with vibrational music (528 hz) that promotes harmony, or with a gratitude practice. Before you look at your phone or news, get centered and create a peaceful tone for the day.
- Take a pause. 1-3 minutes of stillness to re-center and ground yourself. Working from home is new to many and can be a new balancing act if you have children to care for as well. Even a short few minutes of nothing, can renew your sense of peace. Really take in the stillness, close your eyes, take 5-10 deep breaths in and out, let the thoughts come and go, then start again.
- Watch your thoughts. Do you have negative or fearful thoughts replaying through your mind throughout the day? Write them down. Ask yourself how can I see these differently? Is there a way to re-write them or reframe them from a place of loving awareness? Negative self talk is a massive drain of energy and lowers our overall vibration. It makes it difficult to stay motivated and have the energy to tackle new challenges. We do have the power to change our thoughts at every second. As A Course in Miracles explains, a miracle is simply a shift in mindset. We have the ability to create many miracles in our lives and in a given day if we are able to shift our thoughts.
- Hit the ground. This might seem odd to some, but if you feel like your world is spinning, sit on the ground, connect with the earth below you or carpet or concrete. The act of sitting and grounding helps us instantly recenter and connect with a sense of support beneath us.
- Move your body. Make it a point to move your body throughout the day. Get stagnant energy to shift. While there are endless zoom and virtual workouts available, you can also start with simple stretching, going for a short walk, bending over and letting all the tension leave your body. If you find yourself getting sucked into your chair or workspace, set an alarm for every few hours that simply reminds you to, “move dear.”
- Maintain a peaceful vibration. We are energy, we give off frequencies of energy, our home does as well. It’s important to be mindful of the energetic vibration we feel inside, what vibrations we are giving off during our calls, zoom meetings, and even emails. It’s also good to notice what energy we feel from our workspace/home. You can raise the vibration within yourself and your space with movement of body or rearranging furniture, positive vibrational music such as 528hz, getting access to natural light, plants, essential oils, positive affirming messages that are visible throughout the day
- Establish a peaceful sleep practice. Sleep is sacred and one of the most important nutrients for our body. A peaceful day can often start when we have a peaceful night. Let your mind start to rest by stopping all work 20-30 minutes before bedtime. If are feeling extra anxious or stressed, listen to sounds that calm such as 432 hz vibrational music or meditative music. Consider a short meditation or gratitude practice before bed. Do a quick body scan as you lay down. Are there any areas of your body that are holding tension? Breathe into those spaces, let go, and prepare for rest as you release your grip on the day.
This is your life. While we cannot control what might be happening around us, we can decide how we will respond to it. You have the power to choose to do your part to create peace for yourself. Recognize it will likely have to be a daily practice or series of them. You can discover what works best for you and it actually might look different day to day.
Yoga, meditation, time in nature, and vibrational tones have been key to creating my own peaceful haven daily. I look forward to hearing what works best for you.