Inner peace is closer than you realize. You don't have to do any thing. In fact, it is your tendency to need to do something that is driving peace of mind out of reach. We have been taught to separate our self into pieces. Be one way at home and one way at office. One way at church or temple and one way with our friends.
In fact, the one thing we don't tend to do is to question - who is the real me? Is there a real me buried under all those 'shoulds, oughts and have-to's? Yes, and this center, this core self, is peaceful - peace filled - by Nature. You will have to slow down and reflect to reconnect with your Self, however.
This segmenting of our self is reflected in our divided brain. Are we left-brain or right-brain? Why not both? We have two hemispheres for a reason. We also don't tend to trust our own mind and heart. We have allowed the outer world to define us - who we should be, what we can do, what we can have - and we've lost our Self, our inner peace, in the process of chasing outer stuff. Enough already.
Ironically, we can have the outer experience and enjoy it more when we show up whole. When we allow our authenticity to come through, drawing on our whole self, our whole mind, our spirit and our physical body, we come to life integrated. The path to inner peace is to stop living in pieces and to start living with purpose.
'The purpose of life is a life with purpose.'
One simple and powerful exercise you can learn to accelerate peace of mind and integrating your 'pieces' is Mindfulness Meditation. It's ancient and, fortunately for me, I had a head start on this new discovery according to science. Science simply validates a practice as old as time. What we've been missing is reflection, quiet, and tapping into rest and restoration.
It is folly to think that more is better just because... Get to know yourself so that you can create a Purpose Filter so the marketer can stop hijacking your attention with illusions of promises that glitter like the golden brick road leading to Emerald City in the Land of Oz... only to find a fake wizard behind the curtain.
Seek first meaning, purpose and joy, and set intention that the material things follows this, not the other way around. Scrambling for significance by over-activity, chasing stuff and money, and struggling to 'get there, and then I'll be happy' will never bring you love, joy, or peace. Peace will always be... somewhere over the rainbow.
Give your mind some space to expand and breathe. How do you feel about 'down time'? Is it a waste of time or will it help you to free your mind? Have you slowed down enough to think about it yet?
Valencia Ray M.D. teaches business owners and corporate leaders how their amazing brain can actually hijack personal power - not in the abstract, but in the context of business and life. You can visit her website at http://www.ValenciaRay.com.
Article Source: Mindfulness Meditation: Live in Peace, Not Pieces
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