Our series on PACT series, Practicing Attitudes, Characteristics, and Techniques for peace of mind continues with a focus on techniques. There are as many methods for increasing peace of mind as there are human beings – we each shape our own paths toward happiness and contentment. Choices include practice of religion, methods focused on human health and healing, meditation practices, 12-step programs, mind/body programs, counseling and therapy, and much, much more.

Finding your path is up to you – though based on my experience, I recommend sampling from a variety of options before piecing together your own unique set of practices. It’s important to explore what feels like the right technique or set of techniques for you. My path happens to be a 12-step program, but I still consider many other practices to supplement and enhance my growth.

We started exploring techniques with the recent post from Jen Smith on How to Develop a Peace Habit – making a focus on peace a priority. This week, I invited blogger and author Angela Artemis of Powered by Intuition to share on her specialty – leveraging intuition as a guide to inner knowledge that can reduce stress levels and bring us more serenity. She ends with some practical suggestions for incorporating the technique into our daily lives. Enjoy!

To Increase Peace of Mind, Develop Your Intuition
by Angela Artemis, Powered by Intuition

Committing to a daily practice of intuition strengthening exercises increases your peace of mind.

There are many practical benefits of developing your intuition that I cover in my book, “The Intuition Principle.” Some of the many benefits are that it increases your creativity, problem solving abilities, confidence, competence, empathy and compassion, memory, luck, health, decision-making and focus but, the top two on the list are stress reduction and peace of mind.

Have you ever taken a video of your child on vacation at, say, a theme park like Disneyworld?

The camera captures the image of your child and all the people who are passing by plus, all the details of Disneyworld in the background.

Had you taken that same video with the zoom lens on you would see more of your child in the video and very little of Disneyworld.

Developing your intuition changes what you focus upon very much like using a zoom lens changes the focus of the video in the example.

When we narrow our focus from a “wide lens” to a “zoom lens” we remove distractions from pulling our thinking off in many directions and this reduces stress and increases peace of mind.

Origins of stress

Often stress is caused by having too many thoughts competing for your attention at one time. For example, your attention might be splintered by thoughts of everything you need to accomplish that is on your to-do list; how little time you have; fears of doing an inadequate job; worries about your children, spouse or aging parent and a myriad of other things all at the same time. No wonder you feel stressed. You are allowing your thoughts to take over and send you on a wild goose chase by every thought that enters your mind.

Meditation increases intuition and peace of mind

One of the best ways to heighten intuition is to commit to a practice of meditation. When you meditate regularly you begin to hear your intuition more often and to identify it with more ease. When you slow down the thinking mind by going within you turn on your own “zoom” lens. Turning on this inner “zoom lens” also puts your thoughts in “slow motion.”

When you eliminate distracting thoughts and slow down the pace of thoughts, you automatically become calmer. A calm mind is a better environment for fostering intuition than a frenzied one. When thoughts and intuition don’t fly through the mind as quickly, they can be captured and remembered more easily by your mind.

This is the real secret of hearing your intuition. You are already more intuitive than you are aware of. It’s just that all the stress producing thoughts have been drowning out your intuitive thoughts.

Develop your intuition to increase confidence and competence

Once you have begun to develop your intuition not only do you clear your mind of distracting thoughts but you also become more confident and competent. The reason for this is that you begin to hear the guidance of your intuition more often. This wisdom that surfaces in your mind has always been there but, it was drowned out by the wild band of thoughts that had taken over your mind. Now that your mind is calm and focused this wisdom stand out among your thoughts when it surfaces.

Having the answers to problems you’ve been struggling with surface in your mind is calming and reassuring. After a few times of seeing how elegantly this works you begin to relax and trust that the answers will always come to you when you need them. This “trust” translates to confidence in your ability to solve problems in your life and in your own competence. And, the confidence you now exude emerges as a higher level of competency in everything you do.

How to put the power of intuition development to work in your life to increase your own peace of mind, confidence and competence:

1. Commit to a practice of meditation each day. It takes just 20 hours of cumulative meditation practice to make lasting changes to your brain’s physiology. Meditating for as little as twenty minutes each day will result in an increase in your intuition and peace of mind in just 60 days. If you want to speed up your results meditate for ½ hour day so you see results in 40 days or practice ½ hour twice per day to see results in 20 days.
2. Practice stimulating your intuition on a daily basis. Before meeting friends at a restaurant for a meal close your eyes and ask yourself what your friends will be wearing or what they will order from the menu. When the phone rings, stop and ask yourself who is calling. While in meditation each day visualize yourself “receiving” the answers to problems in your life. Feel how happy and excited you are to have the answers come to you.
3. Put the power of affirmations to work in your life. Affirmations help focus your mind. Whenever you feel yourself getting stressed by competing thoughts which pull you in 100 different directions immediately begin repeating this affirmation: I am calm, focused and in control of my thoughts. I choose now to relax and focus on the task at hand. All is well. Or, create your own affirmation.

Follow these simple steps and within 40 to 60 days you will see your peace of mind increase along with your confidence and competence in everything you do.

Angela Artemis, an intuition coach, is on a mission to teach readers around the world to “speak intuition” so that they unlock all the brilliant potential that resides within and start living the life of their dreams now—not later. She is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, Navigating by Intuition – How to Follow The Signs, The Intuition Primer – Practical Lessons to Launch Your Intuition and The Intuition Principle – How to Attract the Life You Dream Of. She blogs at Powered by Intuition.

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Photo credit (baby with earphones): D. Sharon Pruitt, Pink Sherbet Photography

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