Finding Peace is Something we have to do Repeatedly

When we begin a spiritual path, we often turn to practices like mindfulness, meditation and yoga in order to ease stress or anxiety that we feel in our daily life. We may not even realize how deeply spiritual these practices are at first. But as we cave into our being deeper, we eventually find a calm center inside.

As you meditate more, you find that meditation creates a space between you and your thoughts. You come to realize that you are separate from your thoughts. You are the watcher of your thoughts. Understanding this separation allows you to find quiet inside yourself. You find perspective.

“Be present as the watcher of your mind – of your thoughts and emotions as well as your reactions in various situations. Be at least as interested in your reactions as in the situation or person that causes you to react.”

— Eckhart Tolle

The more you allow yourself to separate from your thoughts, you can be more and more peaceful inside.

Your thoughts are like a raging river. Most of the time, the river carries you along with it. However, when you meditate more and more, it's like you have come to sit beside the river instead of allowing it to carry you. You can sit calmly and watch the river floating by. You realize that your thoughts are separate from YOU.

When you find inner peace, you realize that peace and love are your true nature. They are the core of your being. You can be in this stillness at any time, just by remembering the truth of yourself.

Although we have a deeply spiritual nature, we still live in the world. The world steps in and causes us to fall back into the river of your thoughts. Sometimes, it is easy to return to stillness again, but other times, your thoughts are like screaming voices inside and nothing you can do will silence them.

At times like this, be gentle with yourself. Show yourself extra kindness and love, and take some extra time for self-care. Not all days are going to be easy days.

You will wake up again tomorrow, calmer and wiser again. You will find it easier to return to your peaceful center. This allows you to return again and again to the edge of the river of your thoughts. The place where you can sit in stillness, watching the world pass by.

No matter how many times you leave the peaceful center of yourself, momentarily caught up in your thoughts, you can always find your way back. The peace is part of you. It is you. The more often you can remember that, the easier your life will become.