Create Inner Peace

This week of advent my theme is "Striving to find unity and peace with all the people of the world". One way I do that is to create and retain inner peace. Right about now, as the holiday energy builds and social demands increase, I need to review practices that help me to maintain an even-temper, patience, and grounded-ness.

Agenda:

1. Prayer for the light

2. Read the "Emotional Balance Workbook"

3. Recognizing Mindful Moments exercise

4. Inner peace practices

5. Daily love journal

1. Prayer for the Light:

As the earth grows colder,
the winds blow faster,
the fire dwindles smaller,
and the rains fall harder,
let the light of the sun
find its way home.

2. Read the "Emotional Balance Workbook":

I just bought myself the Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance Workbook, by Margaret Cullen and Gonzalo Brito Pons (2015). I got it after realizing that mindfulness might be the key to gaining the equanimity I crave. (I wrote about it a month ago in my Self-Care post, when things were very difficult and I was in emotional turmoil.)

This is supposedly an "8-week program for Improved Emotional Regulation and Resilience". I'm going to take it much slower than 8-weeks.

The introduction explains that this book contains part of a tradition of theories and practices that have mostly been overlooked by Western medicine, that "the qualities we cultivate in our minds and hearts have a powerful influence on our physical and psychological well-being."

My goal with this workbook is to find equanimity no matter what arises; to counter the effects of stress and build my resilience; to become physically stronger and resistant to illness; and to be happier, wiser, and more hopeful.

Chapter 1 is Mindfulness, the Key to Emotional Balance, and it dives into the definition of mindfulness given by Jon Kabat-Zinn: Moment-to-moment awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a specific way - in the present moment and as non-reactively, non-judgmentally, and openheartedly as possible. 

The rest of Chapter 1 parses this definition out. Some key ideas:

• Despite our amazing ability to plan, anticipate, remember, and image, the present moment is the only place we can really be.
• We can only notice (and cultivate a relationship with) experiences and thoughts in the present moment if we are aware of them.
• If we cultivate a fine-tuned awareness of what is arising, with clarity and without reactivity, we can see it in its fullness; we can accept our "evaluating sensations" as part of the experience without letting them interfere with a skillful, effective, and wholesome response.
• And holding on to an open-hearted, patient, kind, gentle curiosity with our mindfulness allows us to approach experiences with hope and possibility.

3. Recognizing Mindful Moments exercise: 

At the end of the chapter I found this journal exercise- 

Remember a moment in your life in which mindfulness was present. Describe what was happening, how you felt, how mindfulness affected the situation, and why it has stuck in your memory.

Take a moment to let go of that memory, then bring your attention fully and mindfully to the present moment. What do you notice? Record sights, sounds, smells, textures, thoughts, emotions, and any specific aspects of your present experience. 

What I notice when I try to practice mindfulness is an impatience and sense that I have "things to do". This is exactly why I find myself reacting instead of responding to situations: My impatience drives me.

"When we're scattered and live mostly on autopilot, we're more likely to become overwhelmed by strong emotions and to habitually repeat deeply rooted patterns of emotional reactivity. Without the spaciousness of mindful awareness, we become slaves to our own patterns."

4. Inner peace practice:

Last month I started practices to reduce stress that include:

1. Morning meditation practice with diaphragmatic breathing; my meditation is often very short, but it helps to center me.
2. Reflective writing; I started a trigger journal, but haven't kept it up. This week I plan to re-start my Love Journal (see below).
3. Integrated meditative moments throughout the day; such as mindful stretching, taking mindful photos, practicing mindful calm, and mindful awareness of nature.

5. Daily love journal:

Periodically I take out a special small journal that I call my love journal, which helps to see the patterns of reactivity I'm a slave to. This week I will:

1. Recall moments of mindfulness, or lack of, from yesterday.
2. List the people I will see today, and hopes for mindfulness and equanimity.