How To Drop The Drama And Nurture Inner Peace

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” 
~ Dalai Lama XIV

Many people are telling me right now that they feel a compulsion to drop the drama. These are people who are going through a spiritual or psychic awakening or who identify as empaths, intuitive, sensitive or psychic.

Suddenly they don’t feel like being with ‘friends’ who gossip destructively, who drink excessively or who otherwise drain them. They find themselves putting up barriers, or going into behaviours such as avoidance by not answering their phone or returning emails. They feel themselves withdrawing from the complexities and overwhelming interaction of their lives. They also feel the need to ‘get their house in order’. For some people that might be doing seven years of overdue taxes. For other people, it could be de-cluttering their home, or even their social calendar so that they can reclaim some calm quiet space for their transformational journey. Does that sound like you?

Many people have also asked me if it’s okay to feel like this? Of course it is! Sometimes we need to simplify and create time for ourselves so that we can heal and reconnect.  When we reduce the outside chatter and the need to be organised and involved we are free to spend times with ourselves, in self and spiritual exploration. Our inner world is rich and filled with delights, directions, ideas and advice, but we can only connect with this aspect of ourselves through peace, solitude and rest. And sometimes we need to rest FIRST. Reconnection can begin after our batteries have recharged enough that we are no longer just in survival mode.

Most of us live bombarded by situations, workplaces, devices and relationships that over-stimulate us. In fact, this overt stimulation seems ‘normal’ and we don’t realise just how frazzled, stressed and over-extended we are because that’s how everyone lives!

In this state of bombardment, our bodies produce extra chemicals to hype us up and help us cope. As we become more stressed we are less able to hear our own inner guidance systems and Universal guidance. This further taxes our body and soul. We also become much more left-brain dominant. Our left brain analyses and organises and prioritises and schedules and criticises to help us cope with the overwhelming inflow of stimulation and information. (I feel exhausted just reading that!) 

Our creative, emotive, spiritual right brain is used much less when we are under stress. That aspect of us becomes ignored. As a result, we become depleted, depressed, exhausted and just plain old stuck. In fact, sometimes we become so depleted or overwhelmed that the Universe assists us in our need to hibernate and reconnect by gifting us an illness, accident or other life-altering drama so that we have no choice but to rest and re-evaluate.

If that sounds even remotely like you, it’s time to nurture some inner peace. Inner Peace is a place of calm connectedness, an energy of stillness and silence that is found deep within you. It replenishes you, it heals and refreshes you, and it radiates from you to touch, heal and calm others.

Here are some simple suggestions for nurturing Inner Peace:

1. Declare certain days or times of the day to be screen free.
2. Simplify your life.
3. Spend less time doing things you don’t want to, and being with people who tax you.
4. Instead of going to shopping malls and crowded places, try a beach, a park, your garden, or even your lounge or bedroom. (But no TV, phone or computer!)
5. Let go of some of your extra commitments and activities.
6. Book a weekend break somewhere in nature where you can eat, sleep, walk, read and rest. Leave the phone and laptop at home and resist the urge to listen to the radio, read the newspaper or watch TV.  Practice being lazy and indulgent.
7. Learn to meditate.
8. Take up yoga, tai chi or qi gong and practice it daily on your own.
9. Indulge in a regular massage, health or beauty treatment that is relaxing and/or healing.  Ask the practitioner not to talk unless the question or instruction is part of the treatment.
10. Spend five minutes each day just being mindful of where you are, how you feel, what is happening around you in nature, and what is happening in your body.
11. Walk.
12. Go on a retreat.
13. Start a hobby you can do on your own like art, woodwork, knitting or writing.  Make the hobby a form of meditation.
14. Dance. It frees and builds energy within the body, and promotes joyfulness.
15. Sleep. (It’s a remarkable antidote to fatigue!) 

Here is a short guided meditation to nurture your connection to inner peace:

Take care of yourself, today and always,
Much love, Nicole xx