Peace Within

St. Theresa’s Prayer

May today there be peace within.

May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of Great Spirit/Mother Father God/The Light.

Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of you.

The following is an exercise that can be done to interrupt a cycle of stress, or for daily “spiritual hygiene” to support a sense of calm and inner peace.

Practice

Take a moment to close your eyes and breathe as if through your heart. Breathe. Count to four as you inhale, and four as you exhale. Do this until you begin to relax.

Begin to notice where you feel tense or heavy and allow it to drain right down through you into the ground with each exhale, and be offered as energy to the Earth as food for compost. Let it all just flow out and down. Every last drop. Let it go. Feel the air you breathe in displacing any heaviness with enriching oxygen and life force.

Feel your DNA unwind. This is really good for you.

Next, bring to mind someone or something that you love that makes you smile from the inside-out. Let that feeling build until your heart is full with that smile. Now feel it expand, pouring into every inch of your being from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers and toes, letting that smile wash into every part of your body. Every organ, every system, every cell in your body. Your heart is smiling, your liver, your knees, your eyes, your veins and mitochondria, they are all smiling.

Now that your whole being is smiling, become aware of that which you are grateful for. Little things, big things, anything. Even if is remembering the smile of a passing stranger (in case you haven’t noticed by now, smiles are highly contagious). The cashier that offers a sincere “thanks” for your business. A good meal. A good friend. Maybe even yourself for taking a pause. A grateful heart connects us to the indelible center of our being. Notice if your perspective begins to shift, and how you feel different than when you started. Continue as long as you like.

And remember, just as the seasons change, our collective Winter too shall pass. Spring is on the way.

“There can never be peace between nations until we know the true peace which is in the souls of men. This comes when men realize their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and that the Great Spirit is at its center; that all things are his works, and that this center is really everywhere. It is within each of us.”
Wallace Black Elk