Hey! Welcome back to your daily mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to be talking about cultivating inner peace. I'd like to first share one of my favorite quotes with you. It's an anonymous quote, and it goes like this: Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.

It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. To be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. Notice how that lands for you. What does it make you feel or think about? When it comes to the idea of peace, I think our tendency is to usually conjure up ideas of a tranquil setting, quiet, a serene sense of stillness, right? At least that's what comes up for me. And that sort of outer piece can certainly help us feel more inner peace.

This is one of the reasons why, if you go on a meditation retreat, it's often going to be in a quiet location, situated in nature. And even in your meditation practice, you typically do that in a quiet, calmer place. But have you also noticed how you can sometimes be in those quiet, serene, tranquil settings, but still feel an inner chaos? Perhaps, even at the end of a busy day, when nobody needs anything from you, you finally have a chance to relax and be at ease. Inside, you're still feeling agitated and overwhelmed, feeling the momentum of the day and the chaos of the day. Outer peace is different than inner peace.

And what I love about this quote is, is that it suggests we can, we can cultivate a peace within ourselves that can exist amid the usual chaos of our lives. Just feel what that, what that might be like, what it might be like to connect to that possibility. To be in the midst of noise, trouble, hard work, chaos. But still be calm in your heart. Now, you might try and tune into this and go, alright, well, it's a nice idea, Cory, but how do I actually do something like this? How do I really cultivate this in my day to day life? It just feels impossible.

And, I hear you. It's not always easy, and, in my experience, it's something that takes time. But, the power of mindfulness meditation is, is, in its ability to slowly help us cultivate this calmness within our heart, this inner peace. Each time you practice meeting a moment with presence and curiosity. Not immediately pushing it away and not incessantly grasping at it and trying to hold onto it.

You're practicing, cultivating a piece that, that can exist even when the moment isn't perfectly manufactured to your liking. So, in today's meditation, we're going to continue practicing this to cultivate that quality of inner peace in our hearts that we can bring with us into our day to day lives, where it matters the most. Thank you for your practice. I'll talk to you shortly and take care.