“I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches; and he to whom that is given need ask no more.” ― Henry Fielding

Dear ELLEN, How do you define inner peace? Most of us think of inner peace in terms of stress - as in, the absence of stress.  But is it really an “empty” state, or is it actually very full, rich and beautiful?  I choose the latter! When you’re at peace, some wonderful things happen: your thinking becomes clear, you feel physically energised, you have a sense of vitality, you’re in a state of flow, and your outlook and attitude are positive.  So emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually, inner peace is a state rich with LIFE, where nothing is missing except disempowering and stressful thoughts. You can achieve inner peace in just minutes every day.  Here’s how: 1. Meditate! It’s no surprise, I put meditation at the top of the list. If the noise in your head is causing you grief, you must learn to shut down the self-criticism, judgments, worry, anxiety and infinite worry loops.  Does your inner dialogue make you feel peaceful, or not? If not, then you can choose to either let the negativity consume you and destroy your inner peace, or put a stop to it. I recommend “STOP”:  Pay attention to your feelings. The instant you notice you feel less than awesome, stop and pause - ask yourself what you were thinking about that is upsetting you. Then say, “STOP.”  Immediately do one of two things: a.) replace the self-defeating thought with a positive thought or  b.) add a positive “but” statement to it. For example, take this disempowering phrase, “I’m such an idiot! I should know better than to react in anger.” and add, “BUT I’m practicing controlling my reactions and that makes me feel good.” This effectively neutralises the negativity of the statement. 2. Visualise the ideal. Hold a vision in your mind of your ideal situation. Let yourself feel how awesome it is to think about this happy and peaceful state of being and this wonderful situation… basically tell your subconscious mind that THIS scenario is more important to you than the current situation.  This is not denial! It’s giving your mind a very specific command about a better “problem” it needs to solve. This makes you solution-oriented instead of problem-oriented and often the old problems will sort themselves out in the process.  3. Unleash the inner tornado. Close your eyes and BREATHE IN your problem. Really take it in. All of it. All the worries, icky feelings, everything. BIG inhale. Hold your breath for a few moments and while you do this, imagine seeing the problem inside you starting to swirl around inside you like a tornado.  Imagine the tornado breaking up the problem (in effect erasing it) and at the same time allowing your intuitive mind/body to work on the problem outside of your logical mind.  Still holding your breath, shift your focus from “problem” to “ideal situation.” How this alchemy will work is not your worry, it’s your mind/body’s job to make it happen. Then, give a huge, looooong, powerful exhale. You’ve told your mind what you want, and you have commanded it to erase “this” and create “that.” By exhaling, you’re RELEASING all of your worry, anxiety and other negative emotions that prevent your subconscious from solving the problem in a way that your logical mind has probably already dismissed. (Then, all you have to do is take action on the inspiration you get). You can do all of these during meditation.  To create even more inner peace, here’s a physical step to take: 4. Prepare and control. A lot of stress is caused by lack of preparation and feeling not in control. So always be prepared (a great Boy Scout motto), and control what you can. Taking action will give you some relief from stress and lots of confidence.  Even if you can’t solve the whole problem in one go, you can take a step. And another. Small steps add up quickly! 5. Finally, remind yourself, “This too, shall pass.” Every situation has a lifespan. You can shorten the lifespan of an unwanted situation by steadfastly holding on to the vision/feeling of a positive situation - and in the same way, you can dramatically extend the lifespan of a positive situation! Your inner peace is under your control. Own that power!  Although you can’t always choose what thoughts come up, you can choose what to do with them - let ‘em rip through you, stop and replace them, or stop and neutralise them.  You alone create the mental images that cause you worry. With practice you’ll be able to easily create positive and peaceful images as you now create negative peace-destroying images. To a simpler more fulfilling life, Steven Johnson Co-founder Brainwave Research UK