Inner peace starts with noticing

In our world of constant distraction and instant gratification, we begin to ingest the words, ideas and images around us and fuse with them, become them, react to them, be defined by them. Inevitably, your thoughts create your reality. So how do we find peace amongst the storm? Ideally we do a dance between noticing our thoughts, separating from them, witnessing them and sitting in the nothingness, the pure awareness. Rolf Gates writes articulately about his in Meditations on Intention and Being.

"To live with equanimity is to develop an inner life that is independent of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. What grants us our freedom is not a devaluing of the world around us, it is the understanding that we are not our thoughts. The practice of mindfulness is the first step in this process, teaching us to reflect on the mind rather than to react from it. In time we come to see the space around our thoughts as being more important than our thoughts themselves, and we learn to rest in that space. The practices of the heart teach us that standing in this space with kindness and compassion is the true practice of yoga, and to let go of the rest. What follows is the ability to welcome whatever the moment brings." (Rolf Gates, "Meditations on Intention and Being")

If you want to learn more about how to do this, contact me when you're ready. I'll take you there.