10 easy activities to enhance your inner -peace and mindfulness

You will be great only when you feel great. Physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.

Physical stamina will grow your resilience, intellectual vigor will help you think at your best, and emotional well-being will maintain your balance and security. We have looked at easy actions you can take to enhance them all in our 3 posts shared earlier in 2016:

• 15 healthy practices for your emotional well-being
• A choice of 10 vital activities for you
• 6 self-help tips from CEOs to make a great difference

Spiritual health will heighten your mindfulness, your presence to yourself and others, your peace of mind and your sense of self-worth.

We will focus on it today as your journey to Greatness requires nothing less.

“Almost all the problems of mankind arise from the inability to be alone with oneself in a room for any period of time” wrote Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher in the 17th century. What happens when you are alone with yourself, all relaxed? One could say your ‘spirit’ flows.

By ‘spirit’ I simply mean here the messages from that deepest part of you that makes sense of your world and of who you are. Give it enough time and it will help you become mindful of who you are, and even understand what your purpose for living is. It then helps you gain peace of mind, strength and hope.

In Brian Tracy’s words, “the highest human good is peace of mind. In fact, you can measure the success of your life at any given time by your level of happiness and peace of mind, by how good you feel about yourself and your world.”

When you are mindful, you are aware, open, accepting, energized, curious and seeing many possibilities and perspectives. When you are not, you are most likely “on autopilot, closed-minded, “in your head”, disconnected, tired, passive, operating with fixed stereotypes and assumptions”, as Joshua Ehrlich wrote.

Feelings of emptiness, anxiety, hopelessness, apathy, hate or conflict may signal a lack of ‘spirituality’ in your life. The good news is you don’t have to be a ‘guru’ to enjoy benefits from spirituality. Simple practices normally suffice. Here are 10 of them – may I invite you to select a few amongst the following list?

10 easy activities to enhance your inner-peace and mindfulness

Healthy Practices + Tips & Notes

Healthy Practice #1 - Stop doing, stop thinking for a while and just be quiet

Tips & Notes:

Take time just for yourself every day, and guard it fiercely. It can be a mere 5 minutes, just after waking-up or anytime along the day. Let your thoughts flow without examining them. Your inner-self will let you know what’s best for you next.

Schedule weekends in nature regularly.

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Healthy Practice #2 - Appreciate

Tips & Notes:

AppreciateTake a moment daily to appreciate some things around you: a few mouthfuls along a meal, a painting or a picture, a sunset, the beauty of the architecture…

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Healthy Practice #3 - Offer an open mind to others

Tips & Notes:

Let go of judgment when you listen or look at someone, give others space to express themselves, choose to listen with the certainty that you will find something of value in what others express.

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Healthy Practice #4 - Forgive

Tips & Notes:

Forgive, to forget. It’s worth it. Then you can move forward with a lighter heart. Remember Albert Schweitzer’s witty words: “Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory”

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Healthy Practice #5 - Take a meditation class

Tips & Notes:

Search on the internet for the opportunity in your area. Don’t start with a long meditation retreat, it could be too much of a stretch!

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Healthy Practice #6 - Breathe deeply

Tips & Notes:

Practice deep breathing at your convenience.

If you are an extrovert, discipline yourself to breathe between sentences, if only to allow more time for your brain to process your thoughts, and hence express them clearly and concisely.

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Healthy Practice #7 - Try out a yoga or tai-chi class

Tips & Notes:

Choose a class for beginners; check with the yoga or tai-chi school that the way they initiate new-comers is comfortable for you :)

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Healthy Practice #8 - Learn a compact yoga practice

Tips & Notes:

Ask a yoga teacher what 5-10 minute practice without props s/he may recommend to you, learn it with the teacher and then do it daily. 

Watch the “5 Tibetans” postures on internet as an example!

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Healthy Practice #9 - Celebrate with gratitude

Tips & Notes:

What activity you are not doing that you love or used to love? Music, hobby, sports… Seek ways to re-introduce it into your life. 

And remember that your natural state is joy! 

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Healthy Practice #10 - Discipline is key to success! Choose an accountability-buddy!

Tips & Notes:

Ask your accountability-buddy to regularly check up with you how you are doing with your commitments.

Tell him/her to scowl you the moment you deviate from your commitments (because you will!) 

It’s often hard to do new things to feel good afterwards; even when we know that taking it easy instead will make us feel bad afterwards…

Insert regular reminders about your commitments in your electronic calendar, so they pop up and renew your focus.

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Healthy Practice #11 - How about your own ideas..?

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As a conclusion to the four-post series, let's recap the main points!

• Unleashing your Greatness is an inside-out process: you need to regenerate yourself first by taking care of your health holistically -just as athletes do-: physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
• Confront the beliefs that hold you back from accessing greater health and replace them by healthier beliefs (discover a few on page 4 of this document - Revitalize, Restore, Sparkle, Be Bright, Wholly Healthy and Mindful)
• Choose easy ‘healthy practices’ you like from the lists in our 4 latest posts, and enhance your physical stamina, intellectual vigor, emotional well-being, inner-peace and mindfulness
• Invite family-members, friends or colleagues to be your ‘accountability partners’ for each ‘healthy practice’ you choose
• Remember always, those you love are your number-1 support team; offer them enough of your time and your full presence
• Just maintain the discipline and you will shortly become even more of an inspiring role model of energy, freshness, equanimity, clarity and focus for those around you

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Jean-Francois Cousin

Speaker, Author and Master Certified Coach

Director at the Global Board of the International Coach Federation

Chair of Program and Speakers Committee, APAC Coaching

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