Peace of Mind Tips and Advice.

Do you have peace of mind in your life?

I am sure you would be happy to forget your troubles, problems and worries, and enjoy a few moments of inner calmness and freedom from obsessing thoughts.

What is peace of mind?

It is a state of inner calmness and tranquility, together with a sense of freedom.
It is a time when thoughts and worries cease, and there are no stress, strain or fears.
Such peaceful moments are not so rare. You have experienced them in the past, at times when you were engaged in some kind of an absorbing or interesting activity, such as:

• While watching an entertaining movie or TV program.
  
• When being in the company of someone you love.
  
• While being absorbed in reading a book.
  
• While lying on the sand at the beach.
  
• When you are on vacation, do you experience some sort of mental numbness? At this time, the mind becomes calmer, with fewer thoughts and fewer worries.
  
• When you are deeply asleep, you are not aware of your thoughts, and therefore, you are in a state of inner peace.

Such activities, and similar ones, take away the mind from its usual thoughts and worries, replacing them with an experience of inner peace.
The question is, how to bring more peace of mind into our life, and more importantly, how to experience it in times of difficulties and ordeals.
You might also ask, whether it is possible to turn it into a habit, and enjoy it always and under all circumstances.
First, you need to learn to bring more moments of inner peace into your daily life. Later, you will be able to experience these moments in times of trouble or difficulties too, when you really need inner calmness and tranquility.
You can turn peace of mind into a natural habit, but to do so, some inner work is required. This work includes changing a few mental habits, improving your concentration, certain forms of meditation, and a few other means.
There are many articles at this website, about attaining peace of mind, as well as a highly recommended book, completely dedicated to this subject, with guidance, advice and exercises.

Simple tips for peace of mind:

1. Reduce the amount of time you read the newspapers or watch the news on TV.
2. Stay away from negative conversations and from negative people.
3. Don't hold grudges. Learn to forget and forgive. Nurturing ill feelings and grievances hurts you and causes lack of sleep.
4. Don't be jealous of others. Being jealous means that you have low self-esteem and consider yourself inferior to others. Jealousy and low self esteem, often lead to lack of inner peace.
5. Accept what cannot be changed. This saves a lot of time, energy and worries.
6. Learn to be more patient and tolerant with people and events.
   
7. Don't take everything too personally. A certain degree of emotional and mental detachment is desirable. Try to view your life and other people with a little detachment and less involvement. Detachment is not indifference, lack of interest or coldness. It is the ability to think and judge impartially and logically.

Every day, we face numerous inconveniences, irritations and situations that are beyond our control. If we can change them, that's fine, but this is not always possible. We must learn to put up with such things and accept them cheerfully.

• Let bygones be gone. Forget the past and concentrate on the present moment. There is no need to evoke unpleasant memories and immerse yourself in them.
• Practice some concentration exercises. This will help you to reject unpleasant thoughts and worries that steal away your peace of mind.
• Learn to practice meditation. Even a few minutes a day will make a change in your life.

Inner peace ultimately leads to external peace. By creating peace in our inner world, we bring it into the external world, and into other people's lives.

 By Remez Sasson via www.successconsciousness.com

3 Reasons Gratitude Shifts Energy.

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when
our hearts are conscious of our treasures." ~ Thornton Wilder

Gratitude as a soulful practice creates all sorts of abundance and happiness in your world. For those reasons alone it’s a wise investment, but it also shifts your energy in subtle, and powerful ways.

Gratitude creates changes at the emotional and mental levels, it also changes your body at a cellular level. There have been plenty of studies demonstrating how gratitude reduces levels of stress and that is reason enough to focus on your abundant flow.
But, it’s difficult to get to that place on a consistent level, unless things change in your programming. Here are 3 reasons gratitude shifts energy and the powerful point of view that becomes your default way of seeing and being in the world:

1. Shifts your focus to the present moment. Even though the actions, or experience, you might feel grateful for occurred in the past the energy of gratitude is present moment focused. Gratitude shifts your state of being, as you focus on the infinite flow of goodness pouring through you. The present moment is where everything IS! It connects you to what’s true, to the dynamic aliveness of right now… the best place to BE!

2. Creates a new orientation. It doesn’t matter whether you’re from a dysfunctional family, or you’ve suffered extensive trauma or depression, gratitude creates a new default groove – just like a music track on a CD. The positive focus and easy flow of energy become the new YOU. You experience incredible resilience in being able to navigate the stumbling blocks of everyday living. Gratitude propels you out of ingrained disempowering stories and creates a new story that you live into powerfully and playfully.

3. Establishes an indelible partnership with Source. There is nothing that will make your connection to the Source of Life more real, than experiencing gratitude. Your focus on gratitude expands your bandwidth of feeling, sensing and knowing. As you experience the infinite flow of life, in your moment to moment experience, you will come to trust and KNOW that what has been passed down by perennial wisdom is not a cool story, but is TRUE. There is nothing better than to experience gratitude in your body being and know that you ARE a child of an abundant and loving universe.

Shifts in energy create shifts in being. Living as the dynamic flow of life creates a life of miraculous synchronicity and infinite abundance. Life is a joy and a wonder.
Gratitude is a powerful transformation tool. It changes you and the world you live in!

 by Adela Rubio 
adelarubio.com

How to Become More Forgiving.

Forgiveness is a quality that brings admiration and respect from others. It is also a hard quality for some people to develop, especially those who have been hurt deeply. Becoming more forgiving is a process — a healing process, but it is completely achievable; even for those who have bitterness and anger where forgiveness should be. Bitterness and anger eat away at you, rooting feelings of mistrust and resentment, which in turn erode relationships.
Dr. Larry Nims, Ph.D. and clinical psychologist, equates unforgiveness to psychological pain, a block of healthy communication and bringing toxic negativity into present relationships. Steps to take as you are learning to forgive will reveal emotions you would probably rather keep inside, but to become more forgiving, you will need to confront these emotions, one step at a time.

Step 1: Admit that you are not ultimately in control of the universe

Sounds obvious, right? But, Dr. Nims notes that becoming more forgiving requires you to admit that you cannot control the way others react. Though it is tempting to believe the opposite, you are not the judge and jury of what is right and wrong. Focus on controlling your own actions and responses, and not the actions and responses of others.

Step 2: Look for the positive

Take an event that has triggered unforgiveness in your life, and journal about it. Look for the positive things that happened as a result of this incident, if any, and focus on those. This will help you to refocus on positive things that have happened and move you toward becoming more forgiving.

Step 3: Develop empathy

Obviously, you feel what the other person did was wrong, and you don’t have to change your mind about that, but try to put yourself in their shoes. Looking at things from another person’s perspective takes you out of your bubble of hurt, and may make it easier to become more forgiving.

Step 4: Determine the damage that has been done

Steven R. Silverstein, author of Help for the Hurting Heart, advocates determining exactly what wrong was done, not just how you feel about what was done. Without determining the damage done by the offense, you cannot truly forgive. Being able to objectively look at offenses committed against you is crucial to becoming more forgiving.

Step 5: Choose to forgive

According to the Webster's New World College Dictionary, the word "forgive" means to give up all claim to punish or enforce a penalty. As you release your potentially very valid right to punish another for their wrongdoing, it's important to remember that you are not also agreeing that what they did to you was right or "ok." It simply means that you are choosing not to punish them for it or remain bitter about what happened any longer. In a sense, as you release them from punishment, you are also freeing yourself.

Step 6: Forgive yourself

As you take inventory of those against whom you have harbored unforgiveness, make sure you don't overlook yourself. In the course of emotionally stressful and painful situations, many people behave in a way that leaves them with regret later. In order to eventually walk in freedom from bitterness, resentment and regret, you must also forgive yourself for any poor choices you've made in your life.
Once you have gone through these steps of becoming more forgiving, you will have the foundation and strength you need to choose to forgive.

 E.C. LaMeaux
www.life.gaiam.com

10 Easy Ways To Ease Stress.

1. Breathe ! Many of us breathe shallowly, which means we breathe only into our chest. It is more calming, relaxing and healthy to breathe fully into our abdomen using the diaphragm.

2. During long periods of concentrated activity take frequent breaks.
When working, writing , studying, typing on the computer, or any other focused activity take a break for at least 1 minute per 1 hour of activity. You can stretch, take in a couple of deep breaths, walk around, get a drink of water, or simply go outside; fresh air is wonderful for the body’s circulation. The main point is to allow the body a change of pace and recovery time

3. Exercise and get plenty of fresh air. Exercise is not only good for our body , but also our mind. In exercising our brain produces and activates the hormonal substance endorphins which has a sedating, calming, euphoric effect on body and mind creating a mental state of a natural high and feeling "up with life." Cardiovascular exercise also releases in a healthy positive way pent up tension, frustration and anger. Which can be a natural by product of life.... so do something beneficial with it!

4. Balanced diet. Get plenty of green vegetables, and whole grains. These foods act as "stress buffers" cleansing, toning, and balancing the body. Also, if you are taking vitamin supplements they need to have food present in the body to be of benefit. Vitamins work synergistically with food. Also a balanced diet allows the body to be consistently fueled and nourished.

5. Drink plenty of water; preferably filtered water, or spring water. Research has shown that there is no better liquid for the body.

6. Balanced lifestyle. Time for leisure, rest and rejuvenation. A balanced lifestyle includes activities to enhance , harmonize, relax, and integrate mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

7. Have a creative outlet. A hobby; some activity that does not have to generate income. This can be painting, drawing, sewing, fishing, crafts, reading, writing, journal keeping, writing poetry, or perhaps meeting with friends for a philosophical conversation. A hobby can turn into a business, however that is not the main focus. It is enjoyment and creativity in and of itself.

8. Supportive friends, family; an association with like minded individuals. It is important for us all to have someone we can share and talk with on an intimate level. This communication and understanding sometimes comes from family members, however most often it comes from friends and associates that we develop a bond with because of similar interests and life situations.

9. A program or outlet that allows you to grow and expand. Studies have shown in the elderly that those that used their mind beneficially did not usually develop Alzheimer’s disease. Keep exploring and enjoying that precious gift called "you".

10. Laughter. Laughter is still the best age old medicine. In fact, there are many clinics and cancer therapies that include this in their treatment. Laugh at yourself, laugh with others.
A bird is able to fly high because he takes her/himself lightly.

Take an active part in your life. It is an expression of YOU....

Michele Metche'

 www.selfinlight.com

SOUL ALIGNMENT: How to find balance in your deeper self.

In the midst of life challenges we may feel frustrated, depressed and even fearful. To live a more balanced life one key to remember is that all of our experiences lead us to the next step on our spiritual journey. And we already have all that we truly need to take our next steps into alignment.
Alignment means that we’re balanced throughout our mind, body and spirit. It’s important because when we aren’t in balance we’re stressed, and long-term stress ultimately leads to disease.

How to shift our lives into balance

One way to balance ourselves is by living intuitively and trusting our guidance. In working with clients and supporting the development of intuition, I often remind them that there will be times when guidance takes us into situations in which we may not feel comfortable at first. However, this is all part of learning to trust.
Three years ago, I was guided to leave my well-settled, very comfortable and familiar life in Vermont and move to Alaska. Many, including my family, thought I had gone off the deep end in a traditional mid-life crisis! After 30 years in Vermont, did I really want to leave my life and holistic practice to go—where?! As I packed up my life and sold my house, I discovered that I had many fears to release. I wondered why I was called to Alaska, and how I would come to find balance in such a different lifestyle so far away. As time went on, however, I realized that I needed to go beyond my comfort zone, to stretch myself in both faith and alignment.
Our inner soul searching will always take us where we need to go. It doesn’t support us to skip over our lessons, or go around them. For each lesson reveals the next rung on the ladder of our spiritual path. In working with clients, I sometimes feel their urge to hurry through a particular lesson, especially when it’s challenging. I remind them that a soul lesson is here until we learn it. Only then will it be released. If it isn’t released, it will come around again in a new form.

Letting go

Each time I’ve taken a deep plunge into the unknown I realized later that it was the dive that was the scary part—not the unknown. Of course, the first step into the unknown is never easy; it can be terrifying. But this is how we make the next shifts in our consciousness: by letting go of our fears and taking the plunge into the new.
Shifts into deeper soul alignment often have a quality of inner release. The rational mind doesn’t have a major role in this. Instead, alignment may come in meditation or by sitting quietly, in letting messages come through to our conscious mind, and in relying and acting on the messages that speak to our intuition.

Noticing alignment

As you take steps to align on deeper levels, the results may be felt in your body. You’ll become more peaceful, experience less stress and have a desire to take better care of yourself with diet, exercise and meditation. You may notice how you’re more relaxed and full of positive energy. Unhealthy situations or people will either change or be released from your life. You may find yourself changing careers, friends, spouses, hobbies. As you see the shifts in yourself—and as others begin to notice—you’ll begin to trust more in the process. Always remember that you’re never given more than you can handle, or anything that you can’t do.
The alignment of consciousness isn’t so much about what we do, but about how we feel. It isn’t what job we do; it’s how we feel when we do it. It’s not whom we connect with; it’s how we feel when we connect with that person. When we’re living with joy and passion, we’re in alignment; we feel alive and energized; our lives are running smoothly and effortlessly; and we teach others simply by being who we are how to live joyfully. Joy is our choice!

Shirley Knapp
www.shirleyknapp.com.