“Be the (inner) peace you desire for this world”.
Derived from Mahatma Gandhi, this has become my most cherished guiding principle, especially during the past few months. The outer chaos seems to expand more and more and the longing for harmony, serenity, balance and inner peace is growing. Achieving a state of inner peace is also a specific goal of our Qigong training.
Try it out for yourself and engage in this little, short Qigong experiment:
Stand comfortably or sit upright on your chair. Look around you and notice the empty space. Bring your hands in front of your chest and make a fist with each hand. Now throw punches in the air for 1-2 minutes! What do you notice? If you have really engaged with this little exercise, you will have noticed two things:
- The empty space – or also nature or the universe – doesn’t fight back!
- Through the fight you have not only lost valuable life force energy, but you might also feel weaker than before and maybe even really exhausted!
According to John Lennon:
“Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.”
So how do we “do” peace, how “are” we peace and spread and share it? Achieving a state of inner peace that radiates outward certainly doesn’t always follow a “fast food recipe”. However, with a few easy steps you can start right away and create the beginning of a calmer and more serene life.
You can try the following three simple “peace boosters” right away:
- Sit or stand comfortably. Close your eyes and focus on the inside of your head center. From here, connect with your entire body, with your heart, and allow and feel the deep space inside you. Now from the center of your body, connect with the space and nature around you. Open your heart to this special habitat, to nature, to all living things. Invite the best information into your own body, send blessings into nature and to all living beings. Nourish the positive power and information of peace, harmony, joy, health, abundance and freedom. Feel deep within yourself how calmness and serenity arise and spread. Stay in this state as long as you like.
- Bring your hands into prayer position in front of your chest. Close your eyes and breathe calmly in and out. Remain in this position for a moment until a feeling of inner peace and tranquility spreads through you. Enjoy the newly found strength!
- Sit or stand comfortably. Close your eyes and focus on the inside of your head center. Connect with your body and your heart, allow and feel the deep space inside you. Take a deep breath and on the exhale, chant the “Song” sound. Repeat 3-9 times. “Song” means “relax” in Chinese. Feel how the chanting creates a deep calmness and harmony.
With these easy exercises you distance yourself from the outside world and get in touch and connected with your own wisdom. You become more mindful of your own thoughts and feelings. Your trust in yourself and your confidence increase. Also, a feeling of inner joy spreads. This is the inner peace you need to be peaceful on the outside as well.
– Britta Stalling –