9 Tips to Finding Peace Within during Super Stressful Times

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(Photo by David Brooke Martin)

Globally, we are living through some difficult, highly-emotional and fear-riddled times. As the pandemic spreads across mountains and oceans, our fear expands too. Left unchecked, fear can contaminate our thoughts, blur our perceptions and smother our spirits. Despite the shit show that is unfolding around us, I really need you to know that it is possible to find peace within. 

Some of the anxiety and uneasiness we are feeling is because we like to think we are in control over our lives. We tell ourselves that when we are in control, we are safe. In the face of this global pandemic, any illusion that we are in control has been washed away like a sandcastle in the rising tide. The result? Waves of insecurity, edginess, worry and anger.

In this blog, you will discover some quick and easy tips to raise your vibration. You will also learn some powerful practices to set yourself free. I’m also stoked to share with you a beautiful six-minute meditation (tip #6). Now, more than ever, it is vital for us to do our part to maintain a high vibration and bring more light into the world. I know you are ready for this. I can feel it!

But before we get to the nine tips to finding peace within, we must first call out the flag-bearer of fear: the ego.

Setting Yourself Free

The ego is the part of us that is rooted in fear. It is the non-authentic self. The fake you. The fraudulent con artist that tells us bogus lies about ourselves and the world. It warns us that life is to be feared. The ego persuades us to blame, judge and attack. To keep our guard up and be prepared to “defend ourselves”. The ego maintains an invisible barrier between us and others, and blocks us from fully giving and receiving love. When we are aligned with the ego, we prohibit ourselves from being our authentic self. 

It is our egos that tell us that we need to be in control in order to be safe. However, the opposite is actually true. When we are rigidly trying to exert control over our lives, we are not coming from a place of trust. Instead, we are aligned with fear. When we live from our egos, we trade joy and peace for the illusion of safety and security.

(Photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash)

So where does the ego stem from? As young children, we ourselves unconsciously created the ego. At some point as a little boy or girl, we felt it was unsafe to keep our hearts wide open. It hurt too much to be vulnerable. As little ones, we tried to avoid feeling more pain, humiliation and shame. So we built our walls. We hid our precious hearts. We dimmed the light within us.

In my work as an intuitive healer, I repeatedly see that underneath the vicious and suspicious ego is a hurt child who is longing to feel loved and accepted. Little boys and little girls who are longing to feel safe and held. So we start here. We start by loving the little one inside of us. Holding her tight and letting her know that she is safe and perfect just as she is.

When we open our hearts and align with our authentic self, the ego’s very existence is threatened. When we live in harmony with our true essence, we tap into a feeling of safety, wholeness and love. We set ourselves free.

Not so long ago, I devoted a few intense years to unraveling from my ego. Many times I wanted to run away. I wanted to quit. My cunning ego would weave stories around how I didn’t need to do this healing work. My ego desperately wanted me to bury my head back into the sand. But after wrestling with anxiety for the majority of my life, I wanted peace so bad that I committed to doing the inner work. I was willing to do whatever it took to set myself free. This is not to say that I am ego-less (as my kids and husband can attest)! But I am happier, calmer and feel more alive than I have felt in eons.

Time to Reevaluate How We are Living

During these crazy times when it feels like suddenly everything we know is uncertain, there are powerful messages coming through for us. It’s time for us to reevaluate how we are living. Reevaluate how we are treating the earth. Reevaluate how we are treating one another. It’s time to stop seeing ourselves as separate from one another. To stop judging each other. To stop hiding our true self from one another. We are being called to detach from fear and ego, to open our hearts and shift into love. It’s time for us to remember who we are; our true essence.

It’s time to realign with and trust in a force that is greater and more powerful than the ego; greater and more powerful than the human self. To trust and surrender to an energy that is omnipotent and omniscient. Right now we are like fish out of the water. Disconnected. Slowly drying up. We need to throw our arms up in the air and surrender. Give up struggling. Give up living from our small self. Give up believing that we are separate from one another and separate from the Divine. It’s time to step back into that beautiful river of well-being and unconditional love that unites us all.

(Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash)

9 Tips to Finding Peace Within & Maintaining a High Vibration

#1) Extend Love

When we bring our focus to how we can help others, we experience a powerful shift in how we feel. When we send love to one another, we are in our natural state: helpful and compassionate; forgiving and kind. And when we are in our natural state of compassion, we feel amazing!

Imagine that we can form a ring around the world. Standing united. Sending love to one another. Supporting one another. Recognizing the beauty in one another. We have an unlimited amount of love to give. Allow yourself to share it.

Take a moment now to message or call a friend or a family member and tell them how much you appreciate and love them. This gesture will make your loved one feel good and simultaneously raise your vibration.

# 2) Laugh out Loud

(Photo by Denis Agati on Unsplash)

Laughter is a powerful natural medicine. Laughter reduces stress hormones and releases endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemicals. It also boosts our immune system, making us a happy bunch of disease-fighting warriors! The next time you watch a movie, choose a comedy. Or curl up with a humorous book or watch funny animal videos online.

#3) Clearing Other People’s Crap

A very important aspect of self care is to clear our energy of other people’s fear and negativity. The majority of people unconsciously (but sometimes also consciously) project fear and their own unprocessed emotions onto others. While not all of us can see this “invisible” energy, we can often feel it. We’ve all had the experience of being in someone’s company and feeling out-of-whack, insecure, anxious or like we’ve been kicked in the gut. During these challenging times when fear and anxiety are through the roof, the practice of clearing our energy has become even more important.

Let’s try clearing our energy together now.

With your eyes closed, take three deep breaths.
Breathe in peace. Breathe out tension.
Breathe in peace. Breathe out worry.

Now place your hand on your heart and say these words out loud:
“I am ready to hand back any energy that does not belong to me. I give back this energy to its rightful owners now.”

Continue to breathe. Now imagine this energy lifting off of you.

#4) Practice Gratitude
Even in the worst of times, we can always find at least one thing to be grateful for. Practicing gratitude reduces the stress hormone cortisol and makes us feel all fuzzy and warm inside. However, there is another important aspect of gratitude: the universal law that says what we focus on expands.

When we focus on what we are grateful for, we tend to be more aware of it and receive more of it. Rather than placing our focus on what is “wrong” in the world or where we are struggling, instead shift into expressing gratitude for the abundance and beauty in life. This is not about sugar-coating life’s events or prohibiting ourselves from feeling our true emotions. This is about making a conscious decision to have a high vibration and set yourself free from constant negative thoughts.

Every morning, I offer thanks by saying a quiet prayer like this: “Thank you for this life. Thank you for making me a channel and giving me the opportunity to help people heal. Please show me how I may be of service today.”

Now it’s your turn to align with the energy of gratitude. Text or email me five things that you are grateful for.

#5) Spend time in nature

My husband jokes that I am an outdoor cat. I am far happier roaming around outdoors, than lounging on the couch. For those of you who know me well, you know I worship the beach and the sun! The truth is that the moment that I step into nature, I am transported from edgy to calm within seconds. It’s like someone lets the air out of an over inflated balloon. I feel a total release.

Studies show that being in nature reduces anxiety, stress and depression. At the time of writing, we are still permitted outdoors in Canada, as long as we are in wide open spaces where people are not congregating. Take a walk on an unpopulated forest trail or down a quiet tree-lined street. Or find an isolated spot on the ocean or on the lake where you can sit alone or with your kids. And if you are unable to go outdoors, drink a cup of tea while looking out the window. Studies have shown that even looking at nature images on a screen helps to chill us out!

#6) Try this Meditation for Finding Peace Within

The safety we are looking for is not found “out there”. We can’t anchor our safety to something out there. Out there is always shifting. Always moving. And that makes us feel uneasy and anxious. It’s like we are trying to nail down a shifting landscape. The outer world is like a movie. It is not meant to freeze in an unchanging frame. It’s meant to keep flowing.

When we turn ourselves around and look inside, we find peace within. Come to know the brilliance within you. Here, in our brilliance, is the safety and peace we search for. In the light within us is where we anchor ourselves. Inside is where we find unwavering peace. Within us is where the landscape doesn’t shift. Tether your human self to your soul self, to the unwavering love within you.

Click on this link to listen to my 6-minute meditation for finding peace within.

#7) Turn up the Music and get your Dance on

Music has the awesome ability to make us happy when we feel down. Studies show that music decreases stress hormones (like cortisol) and alleviates depression and anxiety. In our home, when one of us (or all of us) is having a meltdown, we turn up the music and have a living room dance party. It works like magic! Instantly, we are laughing and smiling. So crank up your favourite beats. Dust off the piano. Pull your guitar out of the closet. Raise your vibration. Give yourself the gift of feeling good. (Seriously…try it.)

#8) Reduce your consumption of the news and social media

(Photo by Robin Worrall on Unsplash)

If eating dairy gave you abdominal cramps and diarrhea, I guarantee you would stop eating it. It is the same with caring for our energy. If something doesn’t feel good, it is up to each of us to take ownership and make changes. Our energy is each of our responsibility.

For many of us, watching a full news broadcast (especially during these stressful times) can ignite a roaring fire of anxiety within us. Of course, it is important to have an idea of what is happening in the world and in our community. However, it is likely possible to stay informed with reduced news consumption. If you are someone like myself who feels sensitive to an avalanche of negative news, spend less time exposing yourself to it.

This is similar to social media. Pay attention to how you feel while scrolling through posts on Facebook or Instagram. If you feel uplifted, inspired and happy, that’s awesome! But if you notice that you feel agitated or blah, then stop.

#9) Have the Courage to Look within & Heal

Now is the time to be honest with ourselves. We have been hiding from our emotional gunk for a long time. Sit in silence and have the courage to look within. See what you are harboring. Are you angry? Are you scared? Do you feel helpless or lonely? Do you feel unheard or unworthy? What dark places inside of you keep shifting out of sight from the light?

Stop hiding the darkness or pretending that it is not there. And please, let’s stop blaming others for how we feel. Instead, let’s look for where we can heal. We heal when we reveal and shine light on what is stored within us. We heal when we ask the Divine to help us transform our pain and shame into light and love. We heal when we allow ourselves to witness and feel the emotions stored within. When we do this, we permit our buried emotions to rise up and out. With the intention of setting yourself free, allow this energy to be released.

And there you have it…nine tips to feeling peace within and maintaining a high vibration!

My greatest wish for YOU is that you know the brilliance within you. That you know you are LOVE. My greatest wish for humanity is that we say yes to surrendering to the powerful energy that supports us, and yes to being who we truly are; the radiant light within. May we trust that in our openness lies our strength, and may we love each other with abandon!

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Much Love,
Rachel, Intuitive Healer

PS: To experience an intuitive healing session and feel lighter, calmer and freer, please reach out. I am here for you.

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