Peace is your home, not just a holiday destination

I still remember coming out of my first Yin Yoga class and how suddenly the world around me felt different. Colors were brighter, people seemed to be in a good mood, Barcelona looked spotlessly clean for once and everything seemed to go according to a harmonious, invisible rhythm. Of course the world hadn’t changed. I had. I was at peace.

Sadly, this feeling of flow and inner bliss didn’t stay for long. It only took one What’s App message from my now ex-boyfriend to take me back to the stressed out Disney villain version of myself that I was back then. But peace is a little bit like salted caramel ice cream, a real juicy mango from Brazil or a good kiss – once you’ve tasted it, you want more.

Since then I’m on the path to getting back to peace whenever possible and I really try to consider every decision by asking myself, will this bring me closer to peace or away from it?

Of course this is not always working quite as well as I’d like, but bit by bit, peaceful moment by peaceful moment, mistake by mistake, I feel myself moving closer to peace. Nowadays I don’t necessarily need a Yin Yoga class anymore to see the world in more vibrant colors (even though I’d never say no to Yin Yoga). The more time I spend in peace the more I feel at home in myself. And at the same time I realize how much energy I waste on anything that takes my peace away. Because this is really the secret of finding peace:

Take your energy back.

Just think of any normal day in your week. Whether it’s your job, your phone, your friends, your lover, the news, or any task you have to complete – with all of these mental occupations we give our energy away. The two biggest energy suckers by far are our thoughts and worries about the past and the future. Now, I don’t want to argue with you. If you want to keep sending loads of energy to your boss or that email you still have to answer, be my guest. But if you can just think of one area in your life where you can take your energy back, I invite you to do so.

How? By coming back to the present moment. Again and again and again.