7 Steps To Obtain Inner Peace – White Puffy Monkey Bread Clouds

In the middle of Pocahontas State Park located in Chesterfield, Virginia, I stretched out on my back on a quilt in the grass and stared at the monkey bread clouds against the blue sky. It has been a very long time since I stared so long at the clouds floating overhead in such peaceful surroundings. There was nothing else I needed to do except lay back and relax.

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”~ Mahatma Gandhi ~

At first it was hard not to let my mind run away with guilt for taking the time to do nothing except relax. I seem to always have an internal voice that says, “Are you doing something productive? Are you working? What do you have to show for this use of time?” I must confess…I get sick and tired of that pushy voice. Today I used a technique called, “Faking Out Myself” in order to enjoy laying back watching the clouds.

The self-talk dialogue went something like this:

The inner voice: Are you doing something productive? Are you working?

The healthy voice: Yes! I am relaxing. My body needs a break! My brain needs a break!

The inner voice: You slept until 11:30 a.m. so you had enough of a break. What do you have to show for this use of time since you are just laying about doing nothing?

The healthy voice: I am doing something. I’m relaxing, meditating and learning how to control my unhealthy, pushy self-talk.

The inner voice: You need to get up. Go walk or start doing some exercises.

The healthy voice: Nope. I’m going to stare at the clouds and if I fall asleep, that is fine even though I didn’t get up until 11:30 a.m. because I am really tired.

Then I started singing in my head and that made the inner voice shut up because I can’t berate myself and sing at the same time. I also started to really relax. I saw all kinds of things in the clouds – a guitar, turtle, palm print, man’s face, and a stack of rocks.

A bird flew across the sky and my eyes followed it until it flew past all the trees. The bird was so high up there in the sky. I wish I could fly too. Where would I go? Right now, I wouldn’t go anywhere. My mind was free of shaming thoughts due to my unproductivity. I was doing the best thing for myself right then…I was finding inner peace.

I had just eaten a hamburger without a bun, but didn’t feel the least bit deprived. I had not accomplished everything I wanted to last week, but I didn’t feel guilty. I still don’t have a corporate job, but I didn’t feel panicky. I wasn’t doing anything other than relaxing on a quilt in the green grass at Pocahontas State Park, but I didn’t feel the need to get up and do something productive because I WAS being productive. I was allowing my mind and body to rest and relax. Even more than that, I was feeling content as a bit of inner peace settled on me.

“I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches; and he to whom that is given need ask no more.” ~ Henry Fielding ~

7 Steps To Obtain Inner Peace

So what exactly is inner peace?

Definition of inner peace: a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress.

Definition of peace: freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility.

I did a lot of right things today when I relaxed at the park and incorporated some key ways to add inner peace to my life. You can do the same thing too if you…

1. Stop doing everything that is chore and work related.
2. Go to a peaceful place even if you can only do it in your mind.
3. Close your eyes and even fall asleep without guilt if it happens.
4. Listen to all the sounds around you.
5. Breathe deeply and allow your body to relax.
6. Pay attention to your self-talk and be sure that it is positive, reassuring and motivational.
7. Release all the negative emotions or guilt from the past and live in this moment only.

That doesn’t sound too hard does it?