Inner zen, the state of peace and tranquility within, is something we all want to achieve, regardless of what spiritual beliefs we subscribe to. However, when things go south, many people tend to allow negative thoughts to take over their minds and destabilize their natural state of peace.
Getting a handle on our thoughts, emotions, and mental processes is essential to achieving inner serenity and finding peace. And that’s why we’ve pieced together this blog to share important tips on how to be at peace with yourself. These tips can help you live more harmoniously, no matter your external circumstances.
Now, let’s dive right in.
1. Let Go of Perfectionism
Letting go of perfectionism ― wanting to control every aspect of your life ― is perhaps the most significant way to create inner tranquility and reduce self-deprecating thought patterns.
While striving for excellence is great, psychologists have shown that chasing perfectionism will likely result in lower life satisfaction.
It is perfectly okay to have healthy aspirations, but setting impossibly high standards for yourself (and even others around you) or being rigid in your approach to life is a surefire path to feeling anxious and distressed when things don’t meet your excessively high expectations.
Embracing imperfection can be tricky, especially for those who see anything less than perfection as failure. That said, the following strategies can help individuals gradually release the grip of perfectionism and achieve inner peace:
Validate Your Attempts at Doing Right
Beating yourself up when you stumble or make mistakes will only make you feel worse. Instead, praise yourself for your efforts and the courage it took to try.
Truth is, we all make mistakes and don’t live right sometimes, despite our best intentions. Understand that validating your attempts at doing things the right way and allowing yourself to be imperfect makes your life much easier.
Practice Tolerance
Accept others as they are; avoid trying to force them to accept your views because doing so can cause conflicts in your relationships and disrupt your inner harmony. Embrace the fact that everyone is different and has their own unique journeys.
Accepting yourself, flaws and all, is important, as this is a major step in practicing tolerance. Inner harmony will remain elusive if we only accept others but treat ourselves poorly.
Make Peace With Situations You Can’t Control
Give up the need to control situations, especially things you cannot control. Doing this frees you from lots of unnecessary stress and anxiety. Exactly how do you make peace with situations?
For starters, quit complaining about situations that are less than perfect. A healthier and more productive approach would be to focus on finding practical solutions rather than railing against unpleasant circumstances. Also, practice letting go of small, everyday annoyances; these little things can add up over time to cause bigger emotional turmoil.
2. Listen to Soothing Music
It might not be apparent to many, but the positive effect of listening to music goes beyond entertainment. Music can do a world of good for our physical and emotional health. A recent research suggests that listening to music can:
- Improve our sense of well-being by releasing endorphins to relieve pain and reduce stress.
- Lower cortisol levels and heart rate
- Distract us from emotional and physical stress
- Reduce stress-related symptoms
All of these benefits point to one thing: creating inner harmony. With lower cortisol and reduced stress levels, it is much easier to be at peace with yourself (and others) and experience emotional/mental serenity, even when everything in your outer world seems chaotic.
As you listen to soothing music or nature sounds, certain brain regions can detect the pitch, rhythm, tone, and other sound elements and use them to influence your emotions and even physiological reactions.
However, not all music sounds lead to inner balance. To get the calming effect of music, it is important to find the right type of music that soothes and supports your emotional well-being. We recommend listening to these Nature Sound Retreat singles and albums to increase inner stillness:
- Celtic Coast: Ocean Waves & Celtic Music for Relaxation (an hour-long album of non-stop exotic Celtic music combined with a relaxing sound of ocean waves crashing against the shore).
- Summertime: Lofi Summer Chill (a 12-track album totaling 1 hour and 13 minutes, designed to help promote a state of mental calm and relaxation).
- White Lotus: Spa Music for Relaxation (12 songs, totaling an hour and 45 minutes, featuring 528 Hz frequency, including Reiki healing music, stress relief music, inner journey music, and more).
You can easily find many more soothing music and sounds under Nature Sound Retreat on all music streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music.
3. Live in the Moment
Worrying about the future and dwelling on the past can rob you of inner peace. To increase inner tranquility, you must find ways to actively reduce anxiety about the future and regrets about the past.
That’s where living in the moment ― practicing mindfulness ― comes into the picture. Here are a few practical suggestions to help you live in the moment:
Practice Mindfulness Meditation
Regular mindfulness meditation sessions can train your mind to be present. Start with short sessions, aiming for consistency. Feel free to extend your sessions as you become more comfortable with the practice.
Limit Multitasking
In a bustling world where we’re constantly trying to outdo ourselves, multitasking may seem like a good thing. However, it can easily increase our stress levels and disrupt inner peace.
It is usually best to focus on one task at a time. When you give your full attention to what you’re doing, you become fully immersed in the present activity.
Set Reminders
We often get caught up in our daily routines in everyday life and forget to be more mindful. One way to bring yourself back to the present is to set reminders. Use alarms or reminders on your phone or computer to prompt you to pause and be mindful at certain intervals during the day.
4. Practice Breathwork
Speaking of living in the moment, breathing exercises are highly effective for helping you stay centered and grounded in the present moment. We often overlook breathing because the action is automatic. But we can leverage this natural process to control our autonomic nervous system.
Consider adding one or more of these breathwork techniques to your daily routine:
- Deep breathing: Deliberately take deeper breaths for a few minutes, inhaling deeply through your nose and exhaling slowly through your mouth. Breathing this way can help you feel more grounded.
- Box breathing: Inhale for a count of 4, hold your breath for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts, and then pause for 4 counts before repeating. This simple breathing exercise can quickly induce relaxation.
- Mindful breathing: Give your undivided attention to your breath for a few minutes as you breathe in and out. When your mind wanders (as it will likely do), gently bring your focus back to your breath. This practice keeps you in the present moment and increases mindfulness.
In addition to calming your nervous system, deep breathing exercises can reduce anxiety, leading to greater inner calm and peace and enhanced overall well-being.
Regularly making time to practice breathwork can also improve your ability to handle stress and stay grounded, regardless of difficult situations and everything else life throws your way.
5. Have a Grateful Heart, No Matter What
Maintaining a grateful attitude is one of the most important tips on how to be at peace with yourself. It’s nearly impossible to achieve inner balance when our focus is on the things that are missing or not going well in our lives.
You can promote a more optimistic and contented inner state by taking time each day to contemplate what you genuinely are thankful for.
It’s understandable to worry that you might eventually run out of things to be truly grateful for, and you might fear becoming repetitive. When it comes to expressing gratitude, repetition is perfectly acceptable.
Whenever you feel stuck and can’t come up with things to be grateful for, consider starting with the simplest joys of life, such as:
- Everyday comforts: Consider the convenience of modern technology, a hot shower, or a comfortable bed.
- Sensory pleasures: Be thankful for the taste of your favorite meal, the warmth of a cozy blanket, or the sound of rain tapping on your window.
- Nature’s beauty: Appreciate the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, the colors of flowers, or the serenity of your neighborhood park.
- Learning opportunities: Be thankful for the chance to learn and grow, whether it’s through conversations, experiences, books, or online sources.
- Health: Express gratitude for good health, the ability to breathe easily, or the strength to go for a walk.
Indeed, certain aspects of our lives may not be unfolding as we want. But by shifting our focus to the things that are working and being genuinely grateful for them, we align ourselves with the best frequencies for manifestation and easily attract our heart desires.
6. Spend Time in Nature
Engaging with nature is another simple but highly effective way to reduce stress and enhance inner harmony. Nature’s inherent beauty has a soothing and rejuvenating effect on the mind and body, which explains why being in natural surroundings improves overall well-being.
Whether you go for a long walk in the woods or take a stroll in a park near your home, getting outside and immersing yourself in the great outdoors is a good way to escape the bustle of daily life, de-stress, and reconnect with the natural world.
It is usually best to disconnect from technology to be fully present in the natural environment. Turn off your phone, put it on silent mode, or mute your notifications (especially from social media) to minimize distractions. Remember, the goal is to be physically present outdoors and spend quality time in nature.
7. Make Time for Inner Work
Like creating a tranquil home atmosphere, inner tranquility doesn’t happen without some effort on our part. To achieve the state of inner calmness, we must make time for inner work, which comes down to carving out time for regular introspection through practices like journaling, self-reflection, and meditation.
With journaling, you can turn your focus to your inner landscape and become more self-aware. By making journaling a regular practice, you can quickly unearth hidden beliefs and thinking patterns that may disrupt your inner harmony.
On the other hand, engaging in the mental process of self-reflection allows you to contemplate your life, actions, and emotions (without necessarily documenting anything in writing).
Also, making time for the less structured and more open-ended inner work of self-reflection often brings about valuable personal insights and self-awareness.
In addition to journaling and self-reflection, creating time for spiritual practices is an important part of doing the inner work and achieving a peaceful mind.
From regular check-ins with your chakra to using tuning forks and practicing yoga, healing your inner self helps to align your energies, achieve inner balance, and, of course, nurture a sense of inner tranquility.
Lastly, and very importantly, make amends as quickly as possible whenever you do something wrong, whether it is treating someone unfairly or doing something dishonest. The sooner you make things right, the quicker you’ll experience relief from guilt and find peace of mind.
In Closing
Let’s bring this article to a close with Marcus Aurelius’s famous quote, “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.” Your inner tranquility will ultimately radiate into your outer world when you consistently work to maintain it.
Remember, knowing how to be at peace with yourself requires continuous work, but it is well worth the effort. You will give yourself the gift of inner peace and balance as you apply these tips daily.
