The Power of Your Own Inner Peace
I just returned from a wonderful week long Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Retreat. It was a powerful experience that reminded me how grateful I am for these ancient practices that are so relevant for navigating today’s tumultuous times.
At the heart of my inspiration for meditative practice is my knowing that if I want to see more peace and compassion in the world it must begin within myself.
We learn in yogic teachings that the only person you can change is yourself. The practice is to create change from within by training our mind, connecting with our true self, and acting from a place of wisdom.
Like many eastern healing traditions, Kundalini Yoga is based on the understanding that we all possess a vital life force energy, Prana, aka, Chi or Qi.
Prana refers to all the manifest energy in the universe, the intelligence that animates all living beings and makes life the mysterious miracle that it is.
In our body, prana is said to flow through energy channels and when someone is well and balanced, prana flows freely throughout our system. This is the essential goal of all meditation and yogic practice.
Wisdom traditions around the world teach various methods for cultivation of this vital life energy, which at the core are all designed to help us reach higher states of consciousness.
Simply put, this shift in consciousness is an experience of reality way beyond the ego-self; when we realize that our life’s purpose is so much bigger than materialistic goals. When our prana is well circulated in the body we can see and feel a lot more, allowing us to have an embodied experience of a greater reality.
Speaking from my own experience, this manifests as a felt sense of awe, gratitude, compassion and love for all living beings and for our natural world. Underlying it all is a profound inner peace.
Now imagine if more and more people chose to learn how to cultivate and manage their prana and elevate their core vitality in such a manner.
And what if you believed (as I do) in the interconnectedness of our universe; that its fundamental design is grounded in cooperation and interdependence, not conflict and competition.
Imagine the beauty of this seemingly “selfish” practice of you doing your inner work, fostering feelings of joy, peace and genuine contentment actually radiating outward far beyond the limits of your body all around the planet.
Sure we may not have modern methods to prove that our inner peace can bring about outer peace but we can choose to believe it in our own heart and live our life accordingly.
Consider what might change.
Despite what the headlines report, in my world, I see so many people joining the momentum to heal the problems of the world through inner work, to cultivate their vital life force energy, broaden the lens of their work and life, and to consciously embody love and respect for this planet and all beings everywhere.
Individual Peace paves the way for world peace. The attainment of inner calm is the greatest work you can do for humanity. – Sivananda
