Do you purposefully seek peace in your life? Of course we all desire peace but do you take specific steps to achieve it? I’ve been making a determined effort to flood my very soul with peace. I want to feel it wash over me like longed-for summer rain. I want the people with whom I come in contact to feel it radiating from me. I’ve still got a lot to learn but I’m working on it.
Here is my 5-point Peace Plan:
1. Meditation
In my ongoing quest for a peaceful life I’ve been trying meditation recently. Someone in a group I belong to shared a link to a series of free meditation downloads so I decided to check them out. Without fail I have fallen asleep while listening to them. That’s not exactly the purpose but I figure my body is telling me I’m sleep deprived. I do find that I awaken very relaxed and rested.
Last week Oprah started a 21 day online series of meditations led by Deepak Chopra. I signed up for them and receive a link to a new one each day via email. I’m behind – I just did the third one today – but so far I’m enjoying them.
2. Yoga
Yoga is something else I’d like to pursue more seriously. When I was in junior high I would do yoga along with a program on PBS each afternoon when I got out of school. I loved it so I’m not sure why I didn’t continue. Oh, I’ve done it off and on through the years. We have a Wii-Fit and I’ve periodically done the yoga exercises. And I took a yoga class at our local university a few years ago. I just need to make it a priority.
3. Prayer
I don’t talk about my faith here on my blog all that often but prayer is also an important part of my approach to peace. My prayers are rarely formal but are more of an ongoing communion with God. One of my favorite times of prayer occurs when I’m taking walks outdoors. Now that the weather is warming up I plan to spend a lot more time walking, praying and mostly just sending up thoughts of gratitude. I love the quote:
If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is “thank you,” that would suffice.
~Meister Eckhart~
I am so often overwhelmed with thankfulness for the blessings in my life. When I make it a point to recognize how fortunate I am and express my gratitude, it only adds to my sense of peace.
4. Inspiration
I’ve been reading Peace Pilgrim’s book and finding myself re-reading passages and turning down page corners. I need to keep a highlighter nearby. So much wisdom shared by this humble woman. I find myself thinking of her often these days and hoping I can eventually have even a fraction of her faith, confidence, love and peace. Her book has earned a permanent spot on my desk along with a small collection of favorite books which inspire me.
5. “Porch Time”
The final part of my personal peace plan is dedicated time to simply “be”. My porch time which I began last year turned out to be a true sanity saver during some difficult times. I’ve missed it greatly this winter, although I’ve tried to substitute some quiet time in our library. Sometimes that works but there’s just something about sitting outdoors with candles, incense and music. It was gorgeous this past Saturday so David and I ate dinner on the front porch. After we ate and the sun had gone down, David lit the tiki torches and we talked, listened to music and shared a bottle of wine. Shiloh snoozed, just happy to be near us. We stayed out there until bedtime and both of us enjoyed it immensely.
~~~~~
And that’s it in a nutshell. What about you? Is peace something you actively seek? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you have any suggestions for meditations, yoga programs or inspirational reading, please leave me a comment.
Here are some links you might want to check out:
Prayer, Bible Reading daily are important, good music and avoiding an overload of news, most of it bad or worrying or sensational fear based thinking. I long ago realized that a lot of negativity in my life brought a lot of negativity out of me. I think people discount calm contentment, thinking it means you aren't passionate but I believe in a balanced approach to everything.
My prayer time is not formalized. It's pretty much a running conversation. I just need to remember that just like in life, I need to shut up and listen, too. LOL.
My prayer time is probably all day long, it seems. I am one that talks to God more than formally pray. I will say before going to bed, I fall asleep Thanking God for everything that day. My pastor once said, what if the next day you woke up and only had what you had given thanks for to God the night before. That has always stuck with me and wasn't to be used as a guilt tip.
My most favorite time to pray is literally in the garden (flower). I am an avid gardener and catch myself singing "In the Garden" over and over b/c that song is so true and beautiful.
I too have to have my porch time. We have a wrap around porch that I have many chairs and a still bench from my Grandmother that I redid and bought some cushions for. We also have a screen in porch that I use constantly or our sundeck where we sit, grill and eat.
Give me a good book, great family/friends and all our crazy pets and we are good to go!
Love your blog and everything else you write about.
Blessings and love to your whole family,
Wendy B.
Thanks, Terri and Wendy, for your comments. Sounds as though we are on the same page about this. 🙂
Yoga really helps me with cultivating a peaceful life. I need to find more ways to pass that peace along.
Cherie, I've really got to become more intentional about it. My son's girlfriend wants to do yoga so I'm thinking we might do it together. Might keep us both motivated.
Cherie, I've really got to become more intentional about it. My son's girlfriend wants to do yoga so I'm thinking we might do it together. Might keep us both motivated.