“Many people think excitement is happiness…But when you are excited, you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

The event we looked forward to, vacations, a new job, car or house and so on all bring excitement. They also bring passing happiness. As Thich Nhat Hanh points out this excitement bring a swing in our emotions and a flurry of related activity. Sure, the happiness the excitement brings is wonderful, but in no time, it fades.

Bring a past, exciting experience to your mind; can you recall your excitement? This feeling was based on external circumstances, wasn’t it? Notice, what do you feel in your body as you recall this event.

Now, bring a memory to mind of a time or situation where you felt especially content. Your surroundings, the people around you, bring it fully into the present moment. What did you feel? What do you feel now? Ahhhh….. maybe a soft smile? Did your breathing change? This feels like peace.

I hope you felt a difference and can recognize that contentment is peace and peace is happiness. When we’re riding the storms of life, peace seems an elusive stranger. Our minds and hearts in turmoil, we tend to look for remedies that give us temporary reprieve. Through diminished energy, we lean back into habits that keep us stuck in the wave of the storm. Breaking this patterned response can truly reset our ability to not only weather the storms that will inevitably arise, but also emerge from them sooner with less mental anguish and heartache.

How to experience peace? Accepting this very moment as it is fully: wherever you are, whoever you are with and whatever you’re doing. You have chosen it and right here, right now; it supports your own evolution. By accepting it, regardless of the storm you may be in, you see that it is meant to wake you up; to push you in a new or different direction.

If all is well, breathe in and out with gratitude by fully acknowledging you are experiencing peace and contentment. This month at Creation Yoga, we are exploring the theme of peace. We will move with intention, breathe with steady awareness, meditate in stillness and unite ourselves with the feeling of peace.  Please join us!

With Loving kindness,

Om shanthi!

~Tiffany