In the world of counseling and self-care, increased moments of peace in our lives are common suggestions. With schedules continually to become busier and busier and our responsibilities growing it can be very hard to feel any inner peace in all the rushing around and moving right on to the next thing to do. When we live a life full of stress and business with no time for meditation or down time, our bodies as well as our minds become overloaded. Our systems suffer and our bodies cannot recover as well as it needs to. Today, we are going to talk about the need for peace in our lives and steps we can take to increase it. Ready to dive in?
What are the Risks of No Inner Peace?
When we push through life and ignore our bodies need for rest and recovery, we open ourselves up to many potential negative impacts. Increased anxiety and depression are often seen in the lives of those who have not taken steps to care for themselves. More frequent illnesses are also more common in those who lack self-care. Some of us will carry on through life not even realizing the harm in doing so or that there are other ways to take care of ourselves that can help us to develop inner peace. This could be because it is what we know, what we have be taught and modeled or what we have just fallen in to. Below are some possible things to consider when evaluating your lack of inner peace. Do you find these familiar in your life?
- Multiple people in your circle who are toxic or negative
- Always chasing something to make you happy
- Often self-blaming for everything
- Afraid to do new things that are uncomfortable
- Blaming all your problems on someone else or something else
- Desire approval from others
- Struggle with being perfect
- Consistent desire for some materialistic new thing
If you read through these things and found yourself familiar with multiple points, I commend you for making it through them. Simply put, we cannot grow if we are not willing to recognize areas where growth is needed. We cannot grow if we are not willing to see areas of our character that keep us stagnant. You are not alone and there is help. Below we will talk about why we need peace.
Why Do We Need Peace?
Peace in our lives and moments of calm relaxation helps us to focus and stay on track in life. It is easy to think that happiness or a good time is enough to carry us. As we walk through life and the trials we sometimes face, a deeper place of calm and stability is needed to remain focused and able to process what is needed to thrive. This can be different for each of us as we have different belief systems. The need for inner peace is the same in us regardless of our beliefs. The list below can help understand what establishing peace in your life can benefit.
- Keeps our mind able to focus and process
- We increase our ability to embrace life
- We rest better and recover quicker
- Helps us to enjoy the moments, to be present
- Helps how we perceive the world and others
It is easy to see that there is benefit from taking steps to bring inner peace into your life, but how do get there? We will take a look at that below.
What are Steps to Increase Inner Peace?
We are people who have personal or unique interests and so the steps needed to increase inner peace could look a little differently for each of us. What you will notice is that the feel of each recommendation has the same characteristics. They are quiet, calm and bring stillness. We can’t fill our time from morning until night and squeeze “peace” in during the minutes before we sleep. We will need to be intentional in making changes. Our extracurricular things may need to change. Change will be necessary. Without choosing to change we will not be able to increase our inner peace. Ready to take a step that could help gain inner peace?
- Mediate – clear your mind and focus on good thoughts
- Take responsibility for your actions
- Spend time being grateful – make a list of those things
- Spend time in nature
- Take walks and notice the trees and leaves instead of your list of to-dos
- Declutter and/or organize your spaces
- Reduce social media time
- Practice deep breathing & count them – clear your mind
- Enjoy time with people who make you smile and laugh
These are steps you can choose to try to change the structure of your days and open time for peace. Hopefully, over time, you will feel a lighter weight on you, free space in your mind with a more positive outlook. You are worth it. You deserve inner peace.
If you have taken steps for inner peace and find that you still struggle to balance your thoughts, your desires and responsibilities, we are here. You are not alone.