The world continues to look messy unless we silence the chaos on the inside. I kept searching for solace in places, people, and things for a long time, but guess where I found it? Within me.
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” — Buddha
What is inner peace?
Inner peace is a state of calmness, feeling of content and absence of negative thoughts and emotions even in presence of stressors. That said, peace cannot be defined objectively, the meaning for inner peace differs from person to person.
Have you ever been irritated by the buzzing sound of bees? When this irritating noise stops, you feel so relieved, you appreciate the silence, don’t you? We all have this buzzing voice inside our heads, telling us what we are and aren’t, what ought to be and isn’t, how people should behave but don’t and so on. Inner peace is when this voice becomes dumb.
“The voice in your head is like a wild horse taking you wherever it wants to go…When the voice in your head finally stops talking, you experience inner peace.” — Miguel Angel Ruiz
Now, where does this voice come from? Throughout life, we tend to learn unhealthy ways of perceiving and reacting, which is limited to the knowledge we gain over the years. This gives rise to the voice. To control this voice it's important that we learn to reperceive.
6 Important factors contributing towards developing inner peace:
1. Acceptance — Accepting oneself, others and the world.
2. Anger management — Anger is like dance, just how we can control our movements while dancing, remember, that anger can also be controlled.
3. Forgiveness — Both interpersonal and intrapersonal. Imagine carrying a heavy bag on your shoulders all day. That’s exactly how a burden of not forgiving feels like. Not forgiving leads to a constant reminder of hurtful feelings, thoughts or situations.
4. Non-judgemental — A broad mindset comes from acknowledgement. Keep an open mind, accept that your opinions and judgements are only limited to what you know.
5. Mindfulness — Through mindfulness-based practice, one can learn to reperceive and regulate emotions effectively.
6. Art — Research studies have proved that art education can make a person feel more liberated, relaxed, happy, content, confident and motivated which in turn can lead to inner peace.
“Do not let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace.” — Dalai Lama.
You can find such mindfulness-based interventions, art therapy, music therapy, expressive arts and many more services at ManoShala to assist you in your journey towards inner peace.
By Muskan Gupta, Psychologist, Manoshala
Commentaires