| Carol Norris, MFT : Psychotherapy for the body, mind, brain and spirit |
Cultivating Inner Peace:
An Anti-Inflammatory Practice for Our Bodies, Minds, and World
It sure seems like there’s lots of unrest in our world right now, doesn’t it? Feeling worried and maybe even a bit overwhelmed is understandable. Worry often helps us feel like we have some control over a situation. But, it actually creates less control as it can generate a cascade of inflammation in our bodies much like that of Lyme or heavy metals or mold spores. And worry uses up a lot of precious energy that many of us don’t have to spare.
The good news is we can change that cascade from inflammatory to calming by cultivating a sense of inner peace, a practice that’s a powerful anti-inflammatory tool in our healing toolbox. And it’s not just for our bodies and minds, but also for our inflamed world. It’s something we can actively do anytime, anywhere. A feeling of peace is real medicine.
When we’re less inflamed that reverberates out to others: to the person at the check out stand at the grocery we smile at, to the car you let go ahead of you in traffic, to your loved ones who you choose to communicate kindness to even when you’re feeling impatient. And that, then, helps them feel more at peace. And they pass that on to others. Your seemingly insignificant actions can have a widespread healing effect. This concept isn’t new. It’s just beautifully simple and effective.
So, how about making a healing promise to yourself that when you find you’re worrying about the world, or your health, or worrying about your worry (!), you’ll take that valuable energy and send yourself some peaceful thoughts instead. If you only do it for 30 seconds, you’re still sending the cells of your body vital anti-inflammatory messages. And, even if it feels disingenuous or hokey at first, that’s okay. Keep doing it. With practice, you can catch up with your peaceful intentions.
Maybe as you’re waiting to see a practitioner or are getting a treatment, or maybe you're in line at the grocery store, or sipping your morning tea, or waiting in traffic, you might give this a try:
- Always paying attention to, and doing what feels right, put your hand on your heart and feel the warm flow between heart and hand.
- As you breath, let your in-breath be usual, but let your out-breath be longer: make it be a real letting go feeling. Sigh, even.
- In whatever way you can, envision or just feel a sense of peace. Big or small. If you can’t feel it, fake it, and trust you’re still doing healing work. Because you are.
- Bring that sense of peace to your hands and your heart, and feel that exchange.
- Now send that gentle peace to any place in your body or mind that needs it – your mitochondria, all the cells of your body as they receive healing substances from an IV treatment, a broken heart, the places in your mind/body that hold worry about the world.
- Repeat often, and know that by doing this deceptively simple practice you’re taking concrete steps to reduce inflammation and promote healing within yourself and in our world. Thank you.
The good news is we can change that cascade from inflammatory to calming by cultivating a sense of inner peace, a practice that’s a powerful anti-inflammatory tool in our healing toolbox. And it’s not just for our bodies and minds, but also for our inflamed world. It’s something we can actively do anytime, anywhere. A feeling of peace is real medicine.
When we’re less inflamed that reverberates out to others: to the person at the check out stand at the grocery we smile at, to the car you let go ahead of you in traffic, to your loved ones who you choose to communicate kindness to even when you’re feeling impatient. And that, then, helps them feel more at peace. And they pass that on to others. Your seemingly insignificant actions can have a widespread healing effect. This concept isn’t new. It’s just beautifully simple and effective.
So, how about making a healing promise to yourself that when you find you’re worrying about the world, or your health, or worrying about your worry (!), you’ll take that valuable energy and send yourself some peaceful thoughts instead. If you only do it for 30 seconds, you’re still sending the cells of your body vital anti-inflammatory messages. And, even if it feels disingenuous or hokey at first, that’s okay. Keep doing it. With practice, you can catch up with your peaceful intentions.
Maybe as you’re waiting to see a practitioner or are getting a treatment, or maybe you're in line at the grocery store, or sipping your morning tea, or waiting in traffic, you might give this a try:
- Always paying attention to, and doing what feels right, put your hand on your heart and feel the warm flow between heart and hand.
- As you breath, let your in-breath be usual, but let your out-breath be longer: make it be a real letting go feeling. Sigh, even.
- In whatever way you can, envision or just feel a sense of peace. Big or small. If you can’t feel it, fake it, and trust you’re still doing healing work. Because you are.
- Bring that sense of peace to your hands and your heart, and feel that exchange.
- Now send that gentle peace to any place in your body or mind that needs it – your mitochondria, all the cells of your body as they receive healing substances from an IV treatment, a broken heart, the places in your mind/body that hold worry about the world.
- Repeat often, and know that by doing this deceptively simple practice you’re taking concrete steps to reduce inflammation and promote healing within yourself and in our world. Thank you.
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Copyright 2014 | Carol Norris, MFT
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