Finding Peace and Tranquility

How can we find peace and tranquility during times of what appears to be upheaval and chaos?  With the media primarily covering what is wrong in the world, it is hard some times to remember that there is a lot of good going on as well.  Economically people all over the world are struggling, and good news seems hard to come by.  All that said, there are many things that we as individuals can do to find peace and lose the stress.

One of those things is to begin to take charge of your own thoughts.  If you are having fearful, worrisome, doomsday thoughts, you may want to choose to have thoughts that make you feel better.  As I have repeatedly said over and over again, we choose every thought that we have, and we can choose the thoughts that help us to feel better, or thoughts that keep us stuck in fear and worry.  

You might want to choose not to watch the news, or read  newspapers that are full of stories about war, death, lack, and fear.  You can choose to not watch movies or read books that are based on a negative or violent story's.  What you choose to put into your daily consciousness is how you will perceive your world.  If you fill your mind with information that is negative and fearful, You will begin to feel that way too.  

If you are looking for peace and tranquility, fill your consciousness with positive information.  Watch movies and read books that are uplifting and help you to feel good.  There are many authors of "self help" books that can be found on CD's.  I have many of these and listen to them often to keep reminding myself of a positive focus.  Be in conversations that are about what is right, rather than converse about everything that is wrong.  Stay in positive communication as much as possible, which means staying away from gossip too!

Another thing that you can do to reduce stress and fear, is to exercise.  Again a topic that I talk about repeatedly!  Exercise releases sedative like endorphins into your body that will help you to feel relaxed and tranquil.  It is the main reason that I have always chosen to exercise.  Not only will you be doing your body a whole lot of good in areas of anti aging, lowering risk of disease, improving your cardiovascular system, and reducing body fat, but you will feel better immediately with these endorphins.  Exercise is a fabulous stress reliever.

Yoga, or stretching is yet another way to find peace and calm.  Just by doing fifteen to thirty minutes of stretching exercise, you will begin to de-stress.  Yoga is sublime for getting into that peaceful zone.  Doing a daily practice of flexibility or Yoga exercise will help to reduce your anxiety and stress levels and help you to feel more peaceful.

If you are choosing to eat a diet of primarily natures foods, i.e. fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains, and lean proteins, you will feel better for it.  Foods can effect your moods and behavior, particularly if they are processed, white flour, white sugar foods.  These types of foods can spike your blood sugar, and then drop you back down, possibly leaving you feeling depressed or sluggish.  

Natures foods do not do that, unless you have an allergy to a certain food.  Eating processed food, fast food, white flour, white sugar foods, can cause weight gain and may lead to obesity.  Obesity leads to depression, and you will find yourself in a vicious cycle of unhappiness where peace and tranquility are hard to find.  A healthy diet will help you to feel better, which will help you to feel less stress.

Of course I would be remiss if I did not include "meditation" as a tool for finding peace and tranquility.  Meditation is all about finding inner peace, connecting to the source, and stilling the negative mind chatter.  Meditation is a practice, and is never easy when someone is new at it.  With consistency it can become a vehicle to connect to peace and tranquility.  No matter what is going on in the outside world, meditation can keep you peaceful and tranquil.

So lets take a count of all the things that we can do to find a more peaceful existence....First, we need to control our thoughts and keep them in a positive place.....Second, we need to have daily exercise to keep our bodies and minds healthy and stress free....Third, we need to stretch and do flexibility exercises to reduce our stress levels....Fourth, we need to choose a healthy diet to support healthy moods and a healthy body....And Fifth, we need to practice a daily meditation to find inner peace and stop our negative mind chatter.

Choosing to do these five things will change your life for the better in so many ways.  I have numerous articles  on each of these topics back in the archives of this blog.  I invite you to take a look back and become better informed on how you can find more peace and tranquility in your life.  Enjoy!

Wishing You Health and Happiness,

Queenie