If you, like me, are starting to feel exhausted by constant change, both personally and professionally — and are struggling to find stillness and peace amidst the chaos, you’re not alone. We are in a weird place right now where so much is being uprooted in our lives. Whether you think it’s all good or bad isn’t the issue, it’s how we relate to it and that’s what we’ll talk about today.

Why do we need peace?

There is hardly any greater joy than peace of mind. It’s worth so much and when we don’t have it, we realize how much we want it. In fact, we’re willing to pay people for this peace of mind. We hire experts to help us navigate through life. We pay for the convenience of knowing things will be taken care of. It’s why we hire certain people or buy a certain brand. It’s a sense of trust that gives us ease to relax and know that all is well. We don’t just want peace, we need it to make decisions outside of fight or flight reactions.

Peace comes in so many different forms. Peace can be a physical thing where you are so exhausted that the real peace comes from resting your body. Peace can also be mental when know it will all be ok and you have time enough for everything.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because I’m moving. Those who have moved in their lives know that moving can be one of life’s most stressful events. Add a global pandemic, work pressures and life gets to be chaotic. But we as leaders, know that our job is to find the ease in difficult situations. In this case, how do we find peace amidst the chaos? Here are the practical ways that I’ve found peace, amidst this chaos and the specifics of what works.

Transitions

Whether it’s when you get up in the morning or go to bed at night, we have 2 very big transitions in our day. There are also a number of countless other transitions that are happening throughout the day. From one activity to the next, we have the opportunity to pause. What do we want to experience in this next thing? How do we want to show up? What do we want to say? What do we want to do? How do we want to feel? Each of these moments are a time for us to realign our energy and bring it to a vibration of joy, determination, peace, loving kindness.

The two transitions I have paid attention to the most are those when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed at night. I take a moment to just sit on my meditation cushion (right next to my bed) and cycle through feeling healing energy run through my body, sending love to all parts of myself, thinking of what I’m grateful for today, and visualizing what I want to bring into my life. In the evening before I get in bed, I sit on the meditation cushion and ask myself, “what do I need to do? What do I need to know?” In those moments, I let all the messages, intuitive hits and direction come through. As I’ve done this more and more, I’ve gotten more clear on the direction I need to take, what’s coming next, and how to proceed. These two practices have been life changing and as I look to what’s next, I see myself doing this throughout the day before every next activity to help me consciously show up as the best, most true version of myself. I do these two practices every single day. That’s how important they are and I credit a lot of my ability to feel incredible joy and keep working towards my vision of impacting people’s lives to this practice of intentional transitions.

Peace in my body

Finding peace within my body has been such a big part of my process. Whether it’s getting more sleep or exercising daily, this practice of moving and resting in cycles has kept me going even when I’m exhausted, feeling challenged by the day’s events, or overwhelmed by how much I need to figure out or do. Whether you realize it or not, your body is responding to your emotional states. It is releasing cortisol, dopamine, serotonin based on your thoughts and feelings, changing your internal physical state whether it’s through tense muscles or your immunity.

I’ve spent time overriding my body and I know that it takes a toll. I may think that everything is fine, but I’ve realized that my body will tell me that it’s not. This is why I exercise every day. When I do this practice of daily movement, it allows me to focus on my physical health as much as I do on my mental health. How much time do we spend training both our mind and body every single day? If the answer is low, I know how my life and ability to manage stress and chaos will only grow if I do train my mind and body. Just like we have muscle memory to complete certain moves without thinking about it too much, when we let ourselves tie how our body feels to how our mind is thinking, this is when we become aware. This is when we’re able to harness that mental, emotional, spiritual energy and connect it to the physical. This is when we move thought to form and realize that form can also inform us on whether or mental states are serving us or not.

Less is more

How many times have we kept saying yes to things that we think will bring us closer to peace and realize that it actually doesn’t? This is the less is more philosophy. I am starting to embrace a more minimalist lifestyle because I see how more doesn’t always make us happy; it often actually causes more stress. I’m not saying I want to abandon joy, but I do want to seek a life that’s filled with less but more focus. It’s not easy to focus but it’s so worth it.

For example, I want to feel closer to my faith in this world by spending time connecting to my inner wisdom – none of which requires material goods. I want to have better and deeper relationships with my family and friends – which requires my presence and time, not my things. In the pursuit of more, I actually need less. But what I do need more of is the discernment and the ideas of what it is I truly want. What would it take to be more me? What do I care about? What do I want? How do I focus on the things that matter the most and keep that front and center?

It’s a focus on the fewer that truly matter and when you have that kind of focus, life comes to match your desires. When I moved to the town we were living in, I remember I had one word in mind. Community. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know how we would meet people, but it was my focus. I knew I wanted a sense of community. I wanted to know people, make friends, and connect with people. When I had that kind of focus on community, it led to us signing our daughter up for a pre-school that was a co-op and encouraged parent involvement but more importantly, socialization. The friends we’ve made through that school are still some of the closest friends we have. We’ve created a community of weekly get togethers. Spontaneous hang-outs. Informal gatherings. Low-pressure and authentic connections. All the things that light me up. This is the power of focus. My question to you is what do you want to focus on? What is your less? What do you want more of in your life?

It’s all energy

As you think about your transitions, your body practices, your less but more – this is all about managing your energy. How do you allow yourself to notice where you put your energy, how you gain or deplete energy, and how you reap the most gains from that which you put your energy into? I have a deep passion around energy and not only the physical energy you think of in terms of rest and movement, but the energy of thought and intention. Your words and thoughts have power. If you are truly invested in finding peace of mind, of feeling like you can find calm amidst the storm you will need to create it within yourself. You are an oasis of calm. You are a center of energy and you have the master controls. Even when things are tough, you can feel all the feelings without regret, shame, or fear. You can feel overwhelmed and know that you will find peace. You can feel scared and know that peace is within you. You can feel out of control and still in control. None of these feelings are wrong, but neither is a feeling of certainty that you’ll find your moment of peace even when everyone else isn’t. The collective energy right now is ramped up and there is a lot of fear. Fear doesn’t have to be your story just because it’s someone else’s. Likewise, if you’re feeling scared and others feel good, let yourself feel it without judgement. All feelings are welcome, but you get to choose which ones you want to stay and guide your decisions. Allow yourself to train your body and mind to find peace amidst the chaos and that will be your energetic home. A place you can return to and is there for you anytime you need it.

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