We currently live in a society where the noise of our thoughts and our anxieties tend to consume us daily. In such a fast-paced world, inner peace can be a struggle to achieve. We're continually awaiting the next thing in our lives, and that can be one of the aspects that disrupt our inner calm. In this article, we’ll share how to find inner peace using fifteen proven ways.
What is inner peace?
Inner peace is the state of calm you feel within yourself. The world around you could be stress-inducing and chaotic, but if you feel calm, you might be experiencing inner peace. It’s an achievable state of mind that has more to do with your mind than what’s happening in your daily life.
How to achieve inner peace
When it comes to achieving inner peace, the first step is coming with a good attitude. If you're cynical, or even too skeptical, it will block you from reaching this calm state of mind.
You need to bring an open mind before you can have inner peace. With that, here's 15 ways to get there.
1. Meditation
To start, we have meditation. We're always thinking about everything, whether it comes in the form of our future, our work tasks, or what we'll be eating for dinner. We're never not thinking about things. This is why meditation is one of the best things we can do for ourselves to achieve some sense of peace in our lives. Meditation gives you a break you need from the noise of your thoughts.
To start your meditation practice, check out our app Declutter The Mind. If you're new, check out our meditation courses. Once you know how to practice meditation daily, you can begin to find some inner peace.
Consider trying out this guided meditation for inner peace below.
2. Social media detox
One of the causes that disrupt inner peace is social media. Social media is the most accessible platform where a comparison is present. It's a competition of the highlights in your life. However, what you fail to realize is that nobody ever posts the moments that are mundane and normal. If you're always on social media seeing highlight reels, this can give you anxiety that you may not be living your best life. As you see your friends and followers posting their travels, their relationship, their successes, you're stuck there comparing your own life to theirs. If you're not careful enough, social media can disrupt your inner peace.
This is where the concept of FOMO or 'Fear of Missing Out' comes from. Social media can cause you to fear not living your best life, and comparing yourself to your friends' stories and posts will disrupt your inner peace. You don't necessarily have to do a complete social media detox for a week or a month. However, every once in awhile, it's best to take a break from your social media platforms. Doing this helps you gain control of reality and peace of mind. Social media can be a facade, and you may fail to differentiate what's real and what's not.
3. Practice self-love
In general, the world becomes more peaceful if you love yourself. One of the aspects that disrupt our inner peace is the constant war we have within ourselves. By practicing self-love, you'd be integrating inner peace within your life. You can actively practice this by doing things that make you happy and lift your spirit. If your passion includes writing and reading books, then you can do these activities in your free time.
You can also practice self-love by taking care of yourself and your body. Working out is one of the most common practices you can do. Not only does it release endorphins in your body, but it also makes you feel good about yourself, which leads to inner peace. Doing something you're passionate about is ultimately the best way to gain inner peace. One of the main reasons for inner peace is conflict and lack of passion. If you invest in yourself and take care of yourself properly, then you have more room for inner peace in your life.
4. Be kind
You can find an inner calm, when you’re kind to those around you. Have you tried doing acts of kindness or good deeds for other people lately? You can find peace from doing nice things for people. When you put out good into the world, you get good back into yours. Your well being improves from being kind. If you’re going through a chaotic time, consider doing kind acts on a daily basis. You’ll quickly find that you find inner peace because your mind is so focused on being kind it doesn’t notice the drama anymore. Spend time with people who are less fortunate than you because they’ll likely need your help. You’ll have more peace when you help others as it helps you too.
5. Steer clear from negativity
This is the most basic yet can be the hardest thing to do to gain inner peace in your life. Of course, nobody with a calm mind would want negativity. However, sometimes it's in our nature to dwell on negativity rather than positivity. Choosing to dwell on negativity in your life, whether it's in the form of your thoughts or your habits, will disrupt your peace. Negativity is the fastest way to ruin the inner peace you currently have. It's the easiest thing to dwell on negativity.
For instance, when something happens the opposite of how you expect it to be, the most natural thing would be to live on the negativity of the situation rather than looking for the bright side of things. When we focus on even something as simple as our negative thoughts, we're giving that control to our peace. Instead of looking for the flaws and hopelessness of the situation and of things, choosing to be more positive is the best way to regain your sense of inner peace back. Learn how to stop complaining and steer clear of negativity.
6. Live in the present
You can find peace by being in the present moment. Most people live in the past with past events circling their mind non-stop or panicking about what will go wrong in the future. You can do a meditation practice to help you focus on the present instead of a different time frame. Everyday life doesn’t need to be complicated. When things around you are stressful, focus on the present with hyper focus.
7. Avoid self-pity
In a way, this is connected to what was mentioned above in negativity. As humans, we have this immense tendency to go in a self-pity routine when things aren't going our way. If we didn't get that job or we go through a breakup, we integrate feelings of worthlessness, guilt, and regret within ourselves, which is why we lose our peace entirely. However, this isn't supposed to be the case. It may be a normal tendency, but it isn't exactly a healthy habit. Self-pitying yourself is one of the fastest ways to not only dwell on your emotions even more, but it gives you feelings of depression and anxiety.
Life is generally hard, and self-pity isn't going to change the fact that life is painful sometimes. The only thing self-pity does is that it typically makes you feel worse than you initially did and takes the blame for other people. To gain back your peace, take awareness and accountability of the situation rather than self-pitying yourself. Rather than telling yourself, "I'm such a worthless person," take responsibility and tell yourself, "I may have messed up, but I can do better next time." By practicing this habit, you're taking back your control, building more confidence, and you're deciding to do something about your life. We fail to realize that our life, including our peace, is in our control, and we can't have peace if we don't do something about our lives first.
9. Laugh a lot
You can't expect peace from a place wherein you're taking your life too seriously. Life can be challenging enough, and ultimately, the best thing you can do for yourself is finding the beauty in your life. It's okay to laugh, even at the silliest of things. Laughing has been proven to be the best medicine for struggle, after all. Contact your friends and arrange a meetup. Watch a funny movie on Netflix. Have a wine night with your friends. Basically, just find humor in even the most mundane things. Inner peace is often gained from a place you never expect to, and sometimes, that's from a place of humor and laughter.
9. Communicate respectfully
You can find inner peace when you regularly communicate respectfully towards others. When you tend to speak assertively but positively, there’s little room for misinterpretation. Your mental health is worth preserving, so remain calm in heated discussions. Your past mistakes of miscommunication can be improved for future situations. Don’t allow people to walk all over you by being a pushover; you can still stand up for yourself. However, cut out hurtful and offensive language from your life. No one wants the drama caused by saying the wrong thing.
10. Distract yourself
I know that it can be unhealthy to use distractions to forget your emotions. However, in some instances, distractions can actually be right for you and help you get your feelings in check. If you're overwhelmed by anxiety or your own thoughts, it's reasonable to run to video games, working out, or Netflix to help you regain a sense of control. Our emotions can control us if we're not careful, and it's not a pretty sight. By using distractions, it can help you think straight and get your mind in order again. You're not using your distractions as an escape for feeling things, but it's an outlet to process your emotions better.
Furthermore, by processing your thoughts and your emotions correctly, this helps you regain your peace. Unlike the contrary, distractions such as anxiety relief games also help you focus and think straight compared to using your emotions to make individual decisions. As you're overwhelmed, if you attempt to even do anything while you're high on emotions, it could be disastrous.
11. Practice self-care
When you prioritize self-care, you improve your mental health and your well being. You can find inner calm when you do activities, such as spend time with loved ones who uplift you, go in float tanks, speak kindly to yourself, and practice self compassion. Inner tranquility comes when you practice acceptance of who you are. You deserve to enjoy life and have a peaceful mind. You’re a resilient person, all you need to do is treat yourself better. Manage difficult emotions by practicing meditation, rephrasing negative thoughts into positive ones, and practising self compassion. Finding peace starts with self care.
12. Express yourself through art
Finding peace can be a challenge, though you can find inner peace through art. Whether you’re a prolific painter or a smooth saxophone player, you can improve your mental health with art. Art of all kinds improves your well being. In the modern world, people spend so much time mindlessly consuming art, such as music, social media posts, and more.
Instead, mindfully be the creator of art. Pay attention to little details. Get into a flow state where you don’t notice time passing by and enjoy the process of being an art creator. Those in a flow state often don’t notice their anxieties or pain because they channel it into their art and it transforms into something beautiful.
13. Don't pressure yourself
Feeling burned out and drained is a real thing you can feel if there's a lack of balance in your life. As an individual, you're continually striving to gain that work-life balance for yourself, and it's very much possible. However, you can't always perfect it. Some days, you put too much of your energy into your work, and other days, you feel unmotivated and unfulfilled. In attempting to balance everything, you should also take it easy on yourself. Especially if you're a perfectionist and you have a tendency to control things, you may tend to pressure yourself in getting all aspects of your life together, and this is why you probably lost your sense of peace.
If you ultimately want inner peace, you should realize that you're human, and you're just as flawed as everyone else. You don't have to put all ounce of energy in your work if it means being harsh on yourself if you see yourself fail. It also doesn't mean that your worth is somehow less if you choose to take a break from your work. Decide the healthy balance between certain aspects of your life, and deal with your frustration if you don't get it perfect.
14. Access nature
You can instantly improve your mental health and find inner peace in nature. In daily life, go for a walk in the woods or by the water to access nature. You’ll improve your overall well being doing activities like gardening, hiking, running, mountain climbing, or even biking. Getting fresh air and letting the sun shine on your face can be a beneficial experience. A walking meditation can allow you to stay present as you experience the splendid beauty of nature around you. You’ll have positive thoughts and less stress if you focus on watching animals scurry by and simply marvel at how wonderful nature and life can be. Spending time outdoors is always a quick and easy way to achieve inner peace.
15. Accept things as they are
Your past mistakes aren’t a reflection of you but of a past you, who didn't know any better. If you need to find inner peace within yourself, forgiveness is a good starting point. In the modern world, people aren’t very forgiving. Many people shame people on social media for having bad days, making mistakes, and being a “bad person.” Yet, they don’t realize in their own actions to shame people, that they themselves are being hurtful and bad. A victim mentality won’t serve you. You’ll need to rise above and accept that people will make mistakes in life– everyone will. You need to be a resilient person who can overcome the chaos in the world around you. All you can control are your own actions, everything else you’ll need to learn to accept.
Find your inner peace
In conclusion, these are just some ways to help you achieve inner peace. Generally, creating inner peace may be challenging, especially if it doesn't come naturally to you. In a world where everyone is preoccupied with everything, we no longer have time for ourselves. However, inner peace is still possible. If we choose to have awareness and change certain aspects of our unhealthy habits and lifestyle, we have more room for peace in our lives.
