5 steps to peace of mind

Lesson 1: Know yourself

Start keeping a diary. When you name problems, it materializes their meaning, you know the «enemy» by sight. Do not try to build beautiful phrases — describe your feelings and impressions spontaneously and naturally. Perhaps at first it will seem to you that you are writing in the wrong way, but gradually the style will become more elegant, and the wording used to describe the state of mind will become more accurate.

Lesson 2: Meet your inner child

Method 1. Focus on yourself for a few minutes, on your feelings, and then connect with your inner child. Don’t look for any special way to do it — just ask him to come and he will come. Look at him. Is that you as a child or not? Be that as it may, you see before you a spontaneous figment of your imagination, in need of being loved and comforted.

Ask your inner child what he hopes for and what he needs. Let him speak freely. Now try to establish how his expectations differ from your needs and your life. Make sure that loving him gives you pleasant emotions, calms you down and instills a sense of self-confidence.

This understanding will take some time. Do not force things — everything should happen by itself, like a joyful meeting after a long separation. Most likely, you will no longer want to part with it. You may dream about your inner child at night.

Method 2. Imagine that you are standing at a window in a castle and looking at the park below. Children play and have fun there. You hear their joyful laughter and voices. One of these children is you. Watch yourself from afar. This child embodies life in its simplest manifestations: spontaneity, openness, physical activity, love of games and treats …

Tell yourself that what this child lives (and this is you!), serves as the foundation for the formation of faith in yourself and … in others. Let these images and thoughts take over completely. Do not delay the emotions that surround you: this child is life itself!

Lesson 3: Get your body back

Walking is a sure way to find peace. Such a simple way of setting the body in motion simultaneously sets in motion mental activity: we think, dream, remember … And we are surprised at how quickly solutions appear for situations that just seemed extremely confusing. There is more faith in oneself, optimism grows, energy is added.

According to a study conducted in 2007 by researchers at the University of Essex (UK), walking for 30 minutes in the countryside increases self-esteem in 90% of people and enhances the feeling of inner comfort, stimulating the production of the so-called «hormone of happiness» — serotonin.

Lesson 4: Open up to others

Calmness is achieved not by solitude, but by regular communication with other people. When we are sad or irritated, we prefer to chew thoughts alone, hide in a corner and refuse to meet with friends. But the desire to listen to another person, the desire to help him and try to understand always has a calming effect.

This is a way to assess the situation from the outside — we begin to think not about ourselves, but about another person. Even if problems don’t go away, we don’t see them as dramatically anymore. Sometimes it is enough to leave the house, go to a cafe, mingle with the crowd to distract from sad thoughts and worries.

Lesson 5: Master Mindfulness Meditation

It has been used for therapeutic purposes for several years. Such meditation develops attention to yourself, your thoughts and actions, as well as the sounds, smells and silence around us. One way to master it is to master the art of haiku. Consisting of three lines and seventeen syllables, these short Japanese poems are an invitation to find joy in the simple pleasures that become available to us when we take the time to stop and look around. Remembering a haiku or, even better, trying to write your own poem in this genre can stop our “mental chatter” and our desire for complete control through rational thinking, praised by Descartes.