by Ryan Pearson

Created on: March 10, 2009

Achieving peace of mind is
absolutely possible for anyone.
It takes practice. It means
changing habits and making
different choices in your life.

What do you feel is currently
keeping you from having peace of
mind? What changes in your life
would need to take place to
make having peace of mind easier?

There are many choices that we make,
habits that we have, food that we

eat and people that we associate
with that can make having peace
of mind challenging. So, again, I
ask you; what changes do you need
to make to achieve peace of mind?
I hope as you continue reading,
the answers will flow into your
heart and mind.

One of the main ingredients to
inner peace is the practice of being.
Most people are caught up in the
'doing' of life. We must take
time to stop and just 'be'.

When you are caught up in constant
action and motion your mind becomes
turbulent. Obligations, trying to
please other people, making a living
and doing what we think we 'should'
be doing are all distractions that
keep us in the mode of 'doing' and
away from the peacefulness of 'being'.

Some powerful words that can help you
reduce your obligations are "maybe",
"we'll see", "I'll let you know",
"possibly" and "no". When someone
asks you if you want to or will do
something, take a deep breath before
you answer. If what they are asking you
to do is not something that right away
feels joyful, pause before you answer.
Before you say "yes", ask yourself
why you are saying yes. Is it to
please them or so they won't be
disappointed with you? If so,
I encourage you to honor yourself
and use one of the words I mentioned
before. By saying"I will get back to you"
or "maybe", you give yourself time to
get in touch with your inner feelings
and see if that is really something
you want to do.

How often do you do things and commit
to things just to please other people?
You cannot achieve true peace of mind
unless you truly honor yourself. It
is not selfish to say no. We are no good to
anyone if our tank is on empty. It is
necessary to say no to potential
obligations so you can replenish your
tank.

Another obligation that many of us must
do is work to earn a living. When you
are at work there are choices you can
make to help you support peace of mind.
First of all take all of your breaks.
No matter how heavy your work load is,
you must step out of the office and away
from your work a few times a day. I would
highly encourage you to on at least one
or more of your breaks take time to be
alone and practice silence. Go for a walk,
sit under a tree or anything you can to
be away from other people and practice
'being' in silence.

The practice of silencing your mind is necessary
for your inner peace. It is important to take
time every day to be in silence. Take time
daily without music, TV, reading, eating, talking
or doing anything. Either go for a walk outdoors
or sit and just practice being silent. Focus
on your breath and do your best to quiet
the "mind chatter" in your head. This
takes practice. Even three minutes of silent
meditation can have great benefits. Start with
three minutes, then move it up to five minutes,
then eight, then ten, etc. The more you
practice silent meditation on a daily basis,
the more you will find your mind feeling
peaceful. Eventually you will get to a place
where it doesn't matter what is going on
around you, you will always experience a
calming peace of mind.

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