Inner peace! Ahhh! Is it possible to always be experiencing inner peace, or is that just a hippie pipedream? How high should we set our sights? Is our only chance at inner peace a glass of wine and a bubble bath? Or can we structure our lives so that we feel inner peace throughout our days?

It’s best to think of inner peace not as a blissful moment of total relaxation–a state which it is not realistic to think we can inhabit all the time– but rather as a state of contentment and presence. In fact, much of the aim of Self Empowered Minds’ Hypnosis in NYCand Hypnotherapy in NYCis to bring us to this relaxed, present state of mind. 

One aspect of the idea of inner peace–particularly relevant for those of us who live here in New York City–is noise. Noises can disrupt our ability to feel calm and relaxed in ways that go beyond our conscious control. Through the evolutionary process, humans evolved to automatically hear certain sounds as inviting and certain sounds as threatening. This survival response goes beyond conscious choice and has much to do with how our autonomic nervous system works. Autonomic means “automatic”, and our reactions to certain noises will affect our physiology in microseconds before we can even fully process what happened. Although it can be scary at times to experience a tense moment, the purpose of it is to keep you SAFE!

For example, if you were a hunter gatherer, and you heard the sound of certain predators, it would be evolutionarily advantageous for you to activate your fight or flight system. No reason to tap into the inner peace when there’s a hungry tiger licking its lips at you! Our minds have been designed to go into high alert when an unusual sound is heard.  For the hunter this could be the sound of a tiger or the sound of a pig in which case the hunter may be the tiger’s dinner or the pig the hunter’s dinner.  In either case, the hunter’s heart would begin to race and “inner peace” would be put on hold.

In today’s world, especially in busy cities like New York City, ambulance sirens, screeching car tires, a sudden shout from an abundance of voices, all cause a momentary fight or flight response robbing us of inner peace.  

But, perhaps you’re in the country, a peaceful surrounding, however your office is hectic, toxic and overburdened with stress.  Each ringing of the phone, calling of your name or someone cursing out loud to themselves is also causing a momentary fight or flight response robbing us of inner peace.  

And perhaps you are thinking to retreat to the country, be alone and work from home.  That will indeed invite inner peace.  Wrong!  Silence can be as unsettling as an ambulance.

We have not yet touched upon the most important thing for humans to hear: the voice of other humans. This is yet another fascinating aspect of our evolution as a species and our physiology as mammals. We survive and calm ourselves down in our interactions with others. Just like the Old Beatles song, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” It’s why the saying “it’s not what you say but how you say it” often rings so true; other people instinctively respond to the intonation in our voices. Or as the poet Maya Angelou said, people don’t often remember what you said, but they remember how you made them feel. 

Starting from the time in the womb, a fetus senses the sounds and vibrations of its mother’s voice. The mother’s voice is essential to the child’s development, and activates many crucial parts of the brain. All human life begins with that beautiful mother-child relationship, the initial attachment relationship that is the basis of our growth and development. As we mature into adulthood, our attachment needs do not go away. And as mentioned in our article on wellness and what it means to be healthy, social isolation can be a significant cause of stress and illness. Positive social relationships are vital for our well-being. And it’s through talking and listening that we often form those bonds with others. 

Looking for inner peace? Where has it been hiding?  Follow the yellow brick road:

• – Pay attention to your own feelings, the environment you’re in, and the people that are around you. The more you become attuned to those three spheres and the information that they’re giving you, the better you will become at navigating them and putting yourself in situations where you want to be. 
• – Eliminate the discomforts.  Unfinished tasks, stifled feelings and unknown circumstances rob us of our inner peace.  When we pose a question, the subconscious mind always wants to answer it.  Even though your conscious mind may have “thought” it pushed the question aside or buried the feelings, your subconscious mind is still desperately seeking answers. This is emotionally exhausting and far from being in a state of inner peace.  Address the noise so it may be quieted.
• – A simple exercise that helps to get out of tunnel vision and bring clarity is to widen your vision.  What I mean by that is that as you are sitting, walking or even running, expand your vision to see beyond your immediate circumference.  Look as far in front, to the sides, up and down as is possible.  This helps us to get out of the tunnel vision and begin to gain clarity.  With clarity you can find solutions to those unfinished lingering tasks, emotions or thoughts.  

Hypnotherapy dives into the subconscious mind to understand what is robbing your inner peace and then tapping into the higher brain to find the solutions.  Reiki further supports this by releasing stress blockages, bringing balance to the chakras and reminding the mind of the true definition of inner peace.

New York City & Inner Peace?! Yes, it is possible! Book a session in our quiet, peaceful New York City Wellness office & tap into that inner peace we know is inside of you!