Life in the 21st century is fast-paced and nothing short of chaotic. Numerous factors can contribute to your feelings of anxiety, stress, or depression. Living a peaceful life seems like a pipe dream, right? But it does not have to be?
The following tips for living a more peaceful life will not be easy to follow. In fact, they will seem pretty difficult at first. However, once you’ve gone further down your path of peacefulness, you will find that things do, in fact, get better.
Find Your Tribe
If you’re on social media, you’ve probably seen the memes and posts talking about finding your tribe. But what does that mean?
It means knowing who in your life is really there for you and letting go of toxic people. A toxic person can prevent you from finding your community. This is the person who makes you feel worse about yourself or your situations by talking down to you or minimizing your issues. While letting go is hard (especially if this person is a long-time friend or family member), this will open the doors for the people who really care about you.
Think about what types of friendships you value and who makes you feel good. Be clear about what you want from your tribe and have a little faith in the universe too.
Meditate
As cliche as it sounds, meditation can really help cleanse your mind, body, and soul. Scientific studies show that meditation can reduce stress levels, improve self-awareness, prevent memory loss due to aging, reduce pain levels, and regulate sleep patterns for a more restful night.
Meditation is all about focusing on your breath. Deep inhalations, deep exhalations. Try sitting still for a few minutes in a position that is comfortable and just breathe. Pay attention to your body as you breathe. Take note of where your mind wanders off to when you set it free. And it’s totally okay to let your mind go! It will return when you are ready to exit your meditation practice.
There are plenty of free online meditation guides, so give a few of those a try if you feel you need assistance. Reiki music can be great for the background too if you need music to help you relax.
Create
What do you enjoy creating? It doesn’t matter if you think you are terrible at it. Devoting your time and energy to something that you love can make you feel more at peace in this chaotic world. Channel your thoughts and feelings through something creative and see what happens.
Creation is your outlet for self-expression. You can show the world – and yourself – who you are through what you make. You don’t even have to utter a single word in order to do this.
It is also a way to release the toxicity that has built up within you. All of those negative emotions, those unhelpful things people have said to you, the hurts and hang-ups – they can all be molded into something beautiful if you choose to create them this way. It is a path to peace.
Taking time away from the daily grind to express your innermost self is cathartic, and it can also inspire others to do the same thing.
As the Peace Pilgrim once said, “In order for the world to become peaceful, people must become more peaceful.” Work must be done on the individual level. It is possible for all of us to live more peaceful lives. We will probably never escape chaos for good, but we sure can try. Taking the time to get in touch with our inner selves and allow our creative minds to wander can help us all live more peacefully.