Simple Ways to Invite More Peace Into Your Life
These days, especially now during this time of spreading peace on Earth, inner peace seems to be harder to come by. There’s always so much on our plates and not enough hours in the day to do it all. Before we know it, we’re caught up in the culture of busy-ness and peace falls farther down the to-do list.
Maybe we’ve forgotten that it isn’t normal to be chronically stressed out and overworked. And perhaps maybe, to some degree, we’ve actually just accepted this as our lot in life.
While we’re all just running from task to task, the thing we deprive ourselves of is often the one thing we need most. This one thing is something that could make all the difference in the world for our sanity and productivity — a moment of calm.
But when it comes to inner peace, the devil is in the details — which is fine because, as with most things, it’s better to start small. Here are a few simple ways to bring a few moments of peace into your life.
4 Simple Ways to Invite More Peace Into Your Life
1. Silence. This sounds like a no-brainer but its effects are really quite profound. Turn off all the noise. Yep, that’s right — no music, no TV, no “background noise” of any kind. Turn off all the bells and whistles on your phone. Just be in the quiet. I love to do this when I drive now. Once you’ve reset in silence, it’s easier to see how overstimulation is stealing peace from you at every turn.
2. Stay present. Studies have shown that the brain can’t multitask the way we think it can. Instead of tackling multiple tasks, the brain has to keep switching back and forth between tasks at a rapid pace. This feels very chaotic and stressful for the central nervous system. So skip the multitasking every now and then and choose to do one thing at a time while devoting your entire attention to what’s in front of you before moving on to something else.
3. Slow down. Whatever you’re doing, take the pace down a few notches. We’ve been conditioned to and are often rewarded for moving quickly, and it becomes a habit even when it’s not necessary. It’s like we don’t know what to do with ourselves when we’re not rushing about. Drive the speed limit. Stop rushing everywhere. Take a slower yoga class. Go for a leisurely walk. Just slow down every now and then.
4. Declutter your space. Nothing breeds chaos like clutter. There are only so many times you can dump out the laundry basket of clean, unfolded clothes or empty the entire drawer when looking for something before you start to go a little insane inside. Spend a few minutes to organize and straighten up the messes in the spaces you have to look at every day, even if it’s just a few minutes each day. This small daily time investment will quickly pay dividends in terms of your peace of mind.
How do you find peace in your daily life? —Alison