Three Simple Ways to Unlock Inner-Peace

Alex Grace is a well-being advocate & freelance writer.  She is also the blogger behind livingprettyhappy.com a well-being lifestyle site encouraging you to live a life happier.  She publishes weekly affirmations to help you start your week positively every Monday morning at 7 am on her Instagram profile (@livingprettyhappy). She shares her thoughts on quick and easy ways to welcome inner-peace in your day to day life. 

Inner-peace was something I used to believe could only be achieved when sat cross-legged on a floor, burning incense and chanting ‘om’.  Now, whilst that is a potential way to do it, it never really appealed to me.  But with increasing daily anxiety, I knew achieving some level of calmness and freedom from near-constant worry was needed to protect me and my mental well-being. Thankfully, I found some really simple but highly effective ways of doing this.  They’ve helped me increase my peace of mind and are always there, readily available, right when I need them. If you’re ready to welcome a healthy dose of inner-peace each day, here are 3-simple ways in which to do it:

Affirmations

The use of affirmations can be so beneficial.  Repeating short, positive, affirming statements regularly programs your mind to accept what you’re telling yourself. So if you’re feeling quite worried or stress is taking hold, take a few deep breaths and repeat your chosen affirmations over 2 or 3 times, allowing yourself to listen to and accept the words you are saying.

Here are some suggested affirmations for peace of mind:

• •  I focus on what I can control and make peace with what I can’t
  • I welcome in peace and release negativity
  • I take things one step at a time
  • Support is always available to me
  • I am capable, worthy and enough

You can write your own affirmations or search online for ones that resonate with you.  Write them down and keep them near you until you can recite them by heart.

Be Mindful

Mindfulness meditation allows us to cultivate inner-peace, teaching us to be more comfortable in the moment.  Instead of letting things overwhelm us, we can learn to become connected and centred, even against the backdrop of our busy modern lives. Just 10-minutes of meditating each day will help us re-wire to become more comfortable with our emotions and less driven by them.  Additionally, pairing your meditation with several micro-mindful moments during your day will integrate the practice more fully – and powerfully – into your life. Micro-mindful moments can be created very easily even from the most mundane of tasks.  Be it washing your hands or walking down the street, you just need to focus in on what you’re doing.  Take a moment to notice the sounds, the sensations, the smells and if your mind starts to wander, just bring it gently back to the moment.

Journal

Journalling is a cathartic opportunity to release pent up feelings and everyday stress, creating a buffer between your negative emotions and your sense of well-being.  Simply writing your thoughts down on a piece of paper – or in a journal – can help to increase peace of mind. Set some time aside to just write.  Don’t overthink, judge or edit what you put on the paper, just let it all flow.  Write about what feels right to you in that moment.  When you’ve finished, step away for a short time.  Then come back and re-read what you’ve written, allowing yourself the opportunity to reflect on what you’ve captured on the page.

Through doing this regularly, you’ll enhance your self-awareness, detect unhelpful thought patterns, put things into perspective and feel encouraged to take action. I hope it is apparent increased peace of mind can be achieved through adopting these simple techniques.  Consistently incorporating them into your daily routine will boost their effectiveness and have you feeling calmer sooner.