An underlying theme that has been coming to me frequently as of late is what it is to have, and maintain inner peace.

One avenue by which this message was carried to me was my trip in beginning of this month to the Essence Festival in New Orleans . I found out that Deepak Chopra would be conducting a workshop and automatically put it on the top of my to-do list while there. On that Saturday morning my girlfriends and I went to the workshop and I sat at the edge of my seat bright eyed and bushy tailed as he discussed the health benefits of meditation among other things (there’s literally a picture of me that my friend *accurately* describes my expression as “joy filled”.)  Along with him on that panel was a beautiful lady whom I was not familiar with by the name of Erica Ford.  Erica runs an organization called Peace is a LIFEstyle in which she teaches young urban kids (who would generally not be exposed to) skills such as meditation and yoga.(check out the website here http://peaceisalifestyle.com/) From that conversation I fell in love with her work but also the message itself: “Peace is a lifestyle” I have really been taking the time to explore and understand just what that means to me.

One of my new core beliefs is in well being.  To me, this means that all is truly well even at times that things aren’t going in the direction I was planning.  This belief has  helped reduce stress and negative emotions in my day to day life immensely!! It has effortlessly tied itself into my exploration of inner peace because it turns out they are the same thing explained in different ways!!

Our spirits have a baseline of well being (peace.)  All of our thoughts and emotions serve to maintain or agitate that peace. What I’ve been playing with more specifically is noticing the thoughts that cause agitation.  I am now able to recognize negative emotion (stress, anger, etc.) as a way of spirit communication. Negative emotions serve to let me know my perspective on a subject is not that of my spirit. In bringing these thoughts and emotions to light they are able to be dissolved and my peace is restored (I believe Eckhart spoke about that in The Power of Now actually but the resonance of it didn’t occur until now.)

To further reiterate this point was my opportunity to spend time with some of my older family members on a trip to North Carolina,  I figured it would be a good idea to capitalize on their wisdom; not only did it serve to build a stronger family bond between us but the knowledge they imparted was definitely food for the spirit. ❤  One of the issue I wanted more clarity on was how to deal with being an African American in the United States.  Without going into a rant (because now I see how it compromises said peace) I will say I don’t agree with the history of mistreat and current mistreat of my people by this country. As I began to express these feelings to my great-aunts and grandpa one of my aunts stopped me  mid-rant by pointing out the quality of the energy I was putting out surrounding the subject.  She could see, hear and feel my emotional frustration and offered me this: Do not allow these things to contaminate your spirit.  They discussed this referencing the Bible and for the first time there was deep resonance in what Jesus was talking about when stating that you should turn the other cheek.

Where as before I believed turning the other cheek meant being okay with being mistreated I could now see the truth behind the action.  Turning the other cheek isn’t rolling over and accepting mistreatment it’s the ability to not let things compromise your inner peace!!! When you are able to view those actions from a place of stillness you open yourself up to true and clear guidance as to how you should handle the situation.

The last bit of resonance I received on this subject is in the book I am currently reading.  Anatomy of Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss.  She explores our energy body and the resulting affects our emotions have on our physical body.  To say I’m enjoying it would be an understatement. It further drives home the point that maintaining peace is not only detrimental to our spirit body but our physical body as well, it gives motivation for me to work to dissolve thought patterns that do not serve me. I am learning to truly observe the quality of my thoughts.  I am striving to maintain high quality thoughts and peace in my daily life. I’m thankful for my growth and understanding.

Peace everyone ❤ ❤ ❤