The Signs That You’re Experiencing Inner Peace

Inner peace certainly gets a lot of lip service these days. It’s something that many of us want to achieve. But what exactly is inner peace? We may have a vague idea, or even a memory of a time when we felt at peace, but that feeling can be as fleeting and intangible as trying to hold onto a sunset.

We too have the power to rest in our peaceful nature.

The truth is that peace exists within us at all times. It is at the core of our own true nature. Our busy minds actually rest on a deep state of peace, but because we are always searching for it outside of ourselves, we forget that it’s right there inside of us just waiting to be remembered. We go about our day being pulled in one direction and then the other by our senses and minds. It is only when we realize that we are carrying around a gem of deep peace that we can continue to return to it in our daily practice.

Yoga and meditation help us to return to that place of peace. Our practices take us inward and deliver us back to ourselves and our own true nature. When we practice, we feel it and remember it. It’s just like when the good witch tells Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ that she had the power to go home all along. We too have the power to rest in our peaceful nature. It just takes a little practice to remember how to find our way home.

When we are at peace, everything can happen around us and our happiness doesn’t depend on external circumstances anymore. We can stop looking outward for peace and happiness and instead just enjoy what is happening around us from a different point of view. That state of deep peace can’t be gotten through the external world. Its not achieved through acquiring possessions or positions, or even people. It’s waiting inside of us always and only needs to be rediscovered. It tends to show up in ways that aren’t exactly measurable. So it takes some understanding before we know what to look for. When we are at peace, it radiates from within and expresses itself in our daily lives.

How do we know our practices are actually working for us? How do we know we are more connected to that place of peace?

Here are some signs of inner peace:

• An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment
• A loss of interest in judging other people or interpreting the actions of others
• A loss of interest in conflict
• A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experience
• A loss of ability to worry
• Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation with attacks of smiling
• Contented feeling
• A sense of connectedness with others and nature
• An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen

When do you feel most connected to your own peaceful nature?