Protecting Your Peace Through Mindfulness: Returning to the Calm Within
Protecting Your Peace Through Mindfulness: Returning to the Calm Within
The world we live in continually makes demands of us. Every day is something different. We are pulled in separate and different ways. One way asks for our attention, another requires our time. Peace is a luxury that is long overlooked but in even higher demand. All of these demands and need for notice is a noise we can often do without. More axioms, notifications, opinions, expectations, and responsibilities constantly pull us in a myriad of ways and directions. If we don’t stop, we lose our balance. And if we are not intentional about it, we begin to carry a weight that isn’t ours to leverage.
Mindfulness is an invitation back to home, our home. This place may not be a place physical in nature (maybe it is), but spiritually and metaphysically consider home as the present moment. It is a present moment of silent calm and balance, a place where peace already exists.
Peace doesn’t have to be a destination.
When I speak of peace through kind rebirths, I mean peace is not something we chase. It’s something we need to protect. From the noise and clamor of the outside world, the workplace, the local and national news, or any outside disturbance we encounter that causes us stress, we must relocate our presence and our position. For true worry and stress, at least the ones I am attempting to describe here, are not born of the present moment. It is native to the feelings we attempt to absorb by worrying about the future or future events that have not yet unfolded or by replaying and repeating the misdeeds and harmful thoughts of our individual pasts. Perhaps they are grown from using someone else’s journey as a compass for our own or maybe we simply absorb an energy that’s not only unconducive for our growth, but in fact, may belong to us at all. These are all noises that steal our peace. If we are conditioned to respond to every ping or every unpeaceful headline, or the shifting emotions in others, before we can blink, we are lost in the dismay of disorder and internal imbalance. And what results is our lives are constantly living in a reactive state instead of in the intentionally-balanced peace we seek or the one we desire and deserve.
When peace disappears, fortunately it can be temporary. And while it may be gone momentarily, if we lose sight of presence, we lose sight of ourselves. It is here where kind rebirths reinspire your state to return to where you once were. As such, we should consider that return to mindfulness for mindfulness gives us power to pause. A pause here reconstitutes the loss of presence. Reclaim it.
What Is Mindfulness?
Let’s revisit this. One of mindfulness’ main tenants with the Kind Rebirth collective is the practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgment. It’s choosing to observe what’s happening inside and around you, instead of being swept away by it. We stay grounded.
It is:
Act intentionally to notice how your body feels in responses to certain stimuli, situations, and catalysts.
Center your immediate thoughts on your breath to establish stillness
Observe your thoughts in a manner that does not facilitate your attachment to them.
When I have what I consider a successful mindfulness moment, I see what’s happening. But also at that moment, I am not what’s happening. It’s not happening to me; it’s happening outside of me. So, my emotions and my actions are called to a different response and reaction than what may normally or habitually occur. We are often taught to respond, but less about how to respond without action, or no action. Without this, what I have found is clarity is replaced by stress; solid grounding is replaced by a chaotic mind, or presence and peace are replaced by the pressure to react.
Mindful Rebirth and Pause
Peace does not come from fixing anything around you. It comes from within and works on your consciousness and soul. Then it redirects outward. So, for what it’s worth, stop and don’t reach or react. Pause. Then breathe. Your breath can control your heart-rate and can decrease anxiety. Open your eyes and mind to awareness of the moment. Think to yourself, “what am I feeling right now; what is making me feel this way; or is it something within my control to change?”
Because I care
Practice mindfulness that increases your personal and internal calm. Also, practice it to protect your personal energy (what you attract and what you deflect). So, I implore you to consider the following for your benefit at your benefit. 1) Learn and normalize saying no without guilt or guilty conscious. 2) When your body, mind, and soul require rest, gift it. It is that important. 3) Regulate the emotional weight of others you choose to carry. I’d be foolish to tell you to abandon others in need and if we practice compassion, we are called to do so. But learn those limits. Life is a balance, so absorb it. And 4) Remove yourself from energy-draining occurrences. Energy is just what it is – to refuel you. Don’t run out of gas because then you rarely help anyone else, even yourself.
Stay mindful…
Rebirth
