When you are at peace with yourself, joy and happiness are sure to follow. This month, focus on what brings you a sense of inner peace and invite those things into your life. This months Positive Pulse was created to help you discover inner peace, with tips on how to resolve conflict, activities for cultivating peace, a guided meditation and more!

Inner peace can be defined as "the deliberate state of psychological or spiritual calm" you feel within yourself. Although life can bring many stressors, being able to call upon and nurture your own inner peace is a skill that will help you manage difficult emotions and situations in your life. Inner peace is an achievable state of being that has more to do with your mindset than what’s happening in your daily life.

1. Spend Time in Nature

When you spend time in nature, you may naturally feel a sense of calm and serenity. It has been demonstrated that consistent exposure to nature is a powerful tool for increasing mindfulness, gratitude, and peace.

Try: Taking a walk outside, going to a beach, taking a bike ride through a nature trail, or having a picnic in the park.

2. Meditate

Meditation has many proven benefits for our physical, emotional, and mental health. In particular, practicing mindfulness meditation can decrease anxiety and mitigate instances of depression.

Try: Yoga, guided meditations, breathwork, or a guided body scan.

3. Be Grateful

Finding inner peace means being grateful for what you have and not focusing on what you lack. It has been found that individuals with a grateful, heart find peace and happiness within.

Try: Keeping a gratitude journal, writing a thank you letter to someone, or writing down three things you are grateful for every day.

4. Declutter

When your environment is surrounded by clutter, it can create feelings of stress and overwhelm. Decluttering helps with keeping a peaceful mind but it can also improve your environment by preventing pests, reducing allergens, and eliminating dust.

Try: Taking on one small drawer, cupboard, or closet every day and organizing it.

When you have a conflict with a co-worker, family member or friend, it can be hard to find peace in your life. Oftentimes people will ruminate on disagreements they have had, which does not resolve anything. Keep your inner peace and resolve conflicts as soon as they occur. Here are some tips for resolving conflict:

1. Talk directly to the person you have a conflict with. Direct conversations are more effective than writing a letter or complaining to somebody else.
   
2. Think about what you want to say ahead of time. Explain what the problem is and how it affects you.
3. Choose a good time. Plan and allow yourselves enough time for a thorough discussion. Try to talk in a quiet place where you can both be comfortable and undisturbed for as long as the discussion takes.
4. Listen and show you are listening. Give the other person a chance to their side of the conflict completely. Relax and listen; try to learn how the other person feels. Although you may not agree with what is being said, tell the other person that you hear them.
5. Work on a solution. Two or more people cooperating are much more effective than one person telling another to change.
6. Follow through. Agree to check with each other at specific times to make sure that the agreement is still working.

Center, K. C. (2022, April 8). How to find your inner peace. Kentucky Counseling Center. Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://kentuckycounselingcenter.com/how-to-find-inner-peace/

Some ways to resolve conflicts. Some Ways to Resolve Conflicts | Clackamas County. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://www.clackamas.us/ccrs/resolve.html

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, May 15). Inner peace. Wikipedia. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_peace

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