Inner Peace!”
“Breathe your way to Inner Peace!”
“Eat your way to Inner Peace!”
“Light candles on your way to Inner
Peace!”
“Sit still for Inner Peace!”
“Push your granny off the bus for Inner Peace!!!”
“INNER PEACE FOR WORLD PEACE!”
Health and Wellness publications, gurus, brands, T-Shirts and candles all brandish the phrase with a warlike fervour. Exclamation marks and peachy yogi bums make it even more attractive, right? Inner Peace must be something we need to throw our money at, along with our anger, resentment, anxiety, sadness and disappointment.
If we spend enough on “Inner Peace” and do enough things to attain “Inner Peace”, it will be ours.
…but what is it…?
From Xena The Warrior Princess style Yoga “tribes” ecstatically breathing while Warriors 1, 2 and 3-ing their way to their bliss and “Inner Peace”, to His Holiness the Dalai Lama who doesn’t dance or have sex…doesn’t the whole thing seem a bit too weird and whacky?
How come attaining “Inner Peace” looks anything but peaceful?
Here is CHYRON Counsel’s Point of View
“Inner Peace”
First of all, “Inner Peace” is two words. This is significant. In order to understand Inner Peace, we need to understand “Inner Peace”.
Two words. Literally.
These two words have been conjured by the human Mind.
What is the Mind?
Simply, the Mind is a tool that processes our experience.
Like a photo-editing tool, the Mind is constantly reducing, refining, filtering, boxing and labelling something – an experience, or an unlimited collection of unlimited experiences – that is otherwise a bit all over the place.
The result is Thought. The Mind processes experience and reduces that to the form of Thought.
In order for Thought to be defined and expressed, the Mind requires Language.
Language means Words.
Look at that multi-layered framework!
If someone is trying to help you reach Inner Peace by telling you about “Inner Peace”, the experience has already gone through at least four filters:
Mind
Thoughts
Language
Words
Now, read that again. Beginning from “First”.
Seriously. Do it. Slowly, while breathing is preferable.
What is the difference between Inner Peace, and “Inner Peace”?
Inner Peace
Inner Peace is an Experience. “Inner Peace” is a phrase used to identify and express that Experience.
Using the photo-editing analogy, trying to understand “Inner Peace” through someone else’s description is like trying to experience a holiday destination through someone’s Instagram photo. A photo that has been filtered at least four times.
In order to understand “Inner Peace” and why there are so many tools and weird and whacky ways about it, you need to understand the distinctions between your mind, words, thought and experience. You need to first understand that your thoughts are a secondary, possibly tertiary or even further removed mechanism through which to express a pure experience. In order to know Inner Peace, you need to be open to your own naked Experience. No filter.
Words do not equate to Experience.
Knowledge does not equate to Experience.
An analogy
To try and experience or understand Inner Peace through words or observation is like trying to experience an Apple without eating.
Also, you are told that to eat an Apple will solve all of your problems but the Apple will look different for you and you need to find the Apple for yourself and only you will know when you have found the Apple and tasted it. You just need to start eating. Eating things that most people say are like Apples. Hmm…dubious at best.
But!
What you do know, what you have experienced, is that people who say they have eaten an Apple seem to be happier, healthier, stronger, more flexible, more free, no matter what is happening.
As you see the similarities between you and your fellow humans, your experience and observation tells you that an Apple, whatever it is, seems to be a good thing. So you start eating random things that seem to work for others.
You eat a whole bunch of random things. Some are fantastic, delicious, but make you sick, some are horrendous, you vomit it widescreen projectile style but some things are kind of ok, surprisingly. So you keep those things anyway.
One day you realise, wow. That is an Apple.
Then you might try to find more apples and to share apples with others who have not tried apples and that is a whole other blog for which this analogy might or might not be sufficient…
Inner Peace Practical Basics
1. Start listening to yourself
Honestly. Pay attention to what you say. How you say it. Why you said it. How you feel when you say it.
Then you start to understand how your mind expresses itself.
How do you choose to let your mind express your Experience?
2. Start practicing doing things your way
How? By doing and paying attention to what you are doing.
Doing what? Whatever you are doing, do that.
Ok, a bit less cryptic and a bit more focused:
Choose anything that you can consistently do and observe your own Experience of the doing.
Ideally something safe, conducive to overall health and allows you to experiment. Of course, Yoga is recommended.
As you practice, get curious about yourself.
What works for you? What doesn’t? What’s in-between?
How do you feel? How do you react?
Eventually, you will experience Inner Peace and you will learn to express your own mind’s version of Inner Peace.
So what is CHYRON Counsel’s opinion on Inner Peace?
Inner Peace is both an experience and a process that is for you to know and everyone else to find out.
Your mind can be both a barrier and a tool for Inner Peace.
Your attention, practice and openness to your experience are keys to Inner Peace.
Breathing, eating a certain way, lighting candles, sitting, and pushing your granny off a bus may or may not be helpful for you. It really depends…
Apple eating is a fun analogy for Inner Peace.
Yoga has served many well.
Confirmed The quest for Inner Peace can look weird AF from the outside. Or it could look completely normal. Whatever THAT is.
Keep working, keep loving, keep playing
C Disclaimer: the contents of this blog are CHYRON Counsel’s opinion only and nothing in this blog should be construed as personal or professional advice, especially the part about pushing grannies. Please consult your higher consciousness before undertaking any act.