How to Cultivate Inner Peace

How to Cultivate Inner Peace

We, humans, desire calmness and peace above everything else. Have you ever taken a walk amongst trees and chirping birds all by yourself? That moment of pure bliss when we enjoy the silence whilst admiring the sounds of nature can be called “momentary peace”. That is a kind of external peace, which is great for the human spirit and Peace is something that we would all like to incorporate into our lives. However, like most things in life, peace requires significant effort to be achieved. And like most things we achieve in life, it is never permanent, but can be maintained with some inward effort. Whatever we do in life, the goals we set for ourselves, the actions we take, and the people we add to the circle of our life, we must do while keeping in mind that peace is the ultimate destination.

Differentiating between the External and the Internal

External factors are things that happen in our life, things that are not in our control. Whether it is the loss of a loved one, not achieving our goals or fallout with friends - these are the things that are not in our control. Whether it is stress, anxiety, regret, guilt, or remorse, these emotions are almost unavoidable. However, emotions can be controlled and processed. It is important to feel these emotions, but being able to keep your inner peace intact despite feeling all these things can make you into a very strong person.

Pain, loss, suffering builds character if you learn to strive through it. Letting these emotions get the better of you is when you start to lose your spiritual self. Balance must be struck between feeling your emotions and maintaining inner peace. Let us talk about a few hacks that will help you cultivate inner peace and isolate external disturbances.

4 Practices to Cultivate Inner Peace

Our world is more connected than ever. Social media has given us the ability to reach out to people in any part of the world and communicate with them and also witness their daily lifestyles. Seeing how people around the world live their lives can be engaging if seen from a partial perspective. However, comparing ourselves to others is the easiest way to create grief out of nowhere. Your conditions made you who you are today, and it is your duty to become your best version of yourself. However, comparing your life to people who have nothing in common with you can be very frustrating and can spiral thoughts like, “Look at their life, and look at mine!”. What people project on social media has nothing to do with their inner self. A person’s lifestyle cannot reflect what they feel on the inside. Limit the use of social media and focus on yourself - cultivate inner peace and do not be bothered by what others are doing.

Most of us treat our friends, our partners, and our families in a very loving manner - and we must. We say nice things to them, uplift their spirits and constantly praise them for their efforts. We often forget to treat ourselves as a friend - we must appreciate ourselves. Often more than not, our efforts might not be appreciated by others. We must pat our own backs, and we must be good friends to ourselves first. Appreciate yourself, appreciate everything about yourself. Tell yourself you are beautiful, you are enough, and that you are the most important person in your world. Prioritize yourself and acknowledge your growth - this is the best way to maintain inner peace.

We often forget to praise ourselves, but we never fail to criticize our mistakes and our actions. This is the easiest way to lose your inner peace. Acknowledge the fact that you are human, and you are not perfect. You’re not a robot designed to carry out your functions. You are human and that’s what makes you so beautiful. You are a creation of God, and you are doing the best you can. Always remember this - you are perfect because you are imperfect. Your little imperfections make you this amazing human being, who strives through pain and embraces love. You were never meant to be perfect because nobody was. Humanity is all about the improvement of the spiritual, physical, and mental self. Keep getting smarter, stronger, and more peaceful. Remember, you are doing great when you are being yourself.

Now, it might sound like we had this one coming, but meditation is the exercise for your spiritual being. You run and exercise for your physical fitness - similarly, you must mediate to recollect and calm your spiritual self. Your spirit is what motivates you, helps you process your grief, makes you feel happy, and enables you to feel emotions. Meditation is the best way to retrospect and look inward. Meditation is like synchronizing your physical self and your spiritual self. Give yourself ten minutes every morning, and meditate - you feel the change immediately. Go give it a try!