Deep Inner Peace In The Now

“Don't look for peace. Don't look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance. Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender”

- Eckhart Tolle

Conflict is the antithesis of peace. You can never find peace if you are in conflict, whether that be within yourself or with others. As Eckhart Tolle so aptly implies, the searching for peace is at conflict with the state of peace. If you are searching then you are inherently not at peace. Accept what you feel now. Accept who you believe you are now. Accept this moment for what it is and you will find peace beneath it.

A Bridge To Now

The breath is an amazing thing. I like to view it as this bridge between our conscious physical experience and the transcendent states that exist deep within the present moment. Think about how as you sleep your body continues to breathe or as you go about your day, without even thinking about it your body will breathe. We can attribute this to our autonomic nervous system but really the breath just happens.  As if something is 'breathing you' as if the will of some higher aspect is moving through your body.

Yet you can also consciously choose to move your awareness to your breath and change how you are breathing. In that choosing you are the director of your experience of your breath. However, this takes some continued effort and efforting isn't really a state of peace anymore than conflict is a state of peace.

Further you can move your awareness to your breath and just let it be. Don't try to change your breath or control it or have any reaction to how fast, slow or shallow it may be. Just be with it and observe. Let go of being the director and just be the observer. This can be the beginnings of entering into the state of peace.

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Body of Evidence

Like your breath, your body is also with you in each present moment. And also like your breath your body may be carrying with it the thoughts, beliefs and emotions of past present moments. When you slow down and sit quietly and feel what is present in your body you may notice all manner of physical sensations or a more generalized felt sense. Running away from those sensations by distracting yourself with the ever-changing outer world won't get you to peace. Passing judgement on parts of yourself also won't allow for peace to exist. And so just like your breath, don't try to change it, judge it or avoid it, just let it be and be that observer.

You may find lots of 'evidence' of the lack of peace in your body, just let it be there. If you'd like you can even send that part of you love and compassion. Sit with it and if it overflows and needs to be expressed then let that happen and like the ocean move past the waves out into the deep stillness that exists beyond them.

Staying In The Now

As Yoda said, "There is no try, do or do not". And so I encourage you to create a practice of both of these quiet spaces of awareness. In this case you will not actually be doing as Yoda suggests but instead being. Being that observer and allowing the peace to reveal itself.

Many wise people suggest that you start your day the way that you wish it to unfold. So I would recommend spending 5-10 minutes each morning first thing when you wake up and practice following your breath, observing your body and sending it love and compassion. Over time you will begin to create new ways of being and that new way of being with yourself in the present moment will begin to spread to others that you encounter in your day.

May you be at peace.

If you are looking for some guidance to finding peace you might enjoy my Grounding and Safety: Guided Imagery Meditation to be helpful. You can listen to an excerpt of it in my store.

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