How to Maintain Your Serenity

Serenity can be described as the ability to sustain a sense of inner peace. Without serenity, you will often experience that hectic feeling of bouncing back and forth between anxiety and calmness in response to day-to-day events. This fluctuation in emotions can leave you feeling exhausted, stressed and irritable. If you would like to cultivate a better sense of serenity in your life, you need to take time to engage regularly in activities that quiet the mind and reduce stress. With time and practice, you can learn to sustain a regular sense of serenity.

Things You'll Need

• Journal
• Meditation CD or DVD
• Yoga DVD or class
• Quiet space

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Instructions

• 1

  Research potential stress reduction activities that interest you. Activities such as yoga and meditation provide you with an opportunity to practice connecting with your own body and mind. Meditation in particular is beneficial to cultivating a sense of serenity, as it allows you the time to check in with your own feelings and quiet your mind. You may also find that a long walk in the woods each morning or a run through your neighborhood gives you a serene feeling.

• 2

  Practice your activity on a regular basis. If you are just beginning a stress reduction activity, such as yoga or meditation, consider signing up to attend weekly classes. Not only will participation in a class help teach you the basics of whatever activity you have chosen, but it will provide extra motivation to maintain your new practice. Ideally, you will do something each day to maintain your growing sense of serenity. But before a daily self-directed practice is developed, it can be helpful to have a teacher and classmates to cheer you on.

• 3

  Keep a journal on your progress. As you learn to quiet your mind and reduce the feelings of stress in your life, you may be surprised to discover what else is on your mind and in your heart. A developed sense of serenity allows you to stop reacting to events in your life in a hurried and anxious way and instead start responding to events with calmness, balance and thoughtfulness. Writing regularly in a journal will keep you in touch with your progress as well as assist you in discovering what areas of your life still need to be calmed.

• 4

  Assess whether you need to make other changes in your life. As you work toward serenity you will likely discover that you need to make further life adjustments. For example, if you over-commit to work, your friends or volunteer projects, you might discover you need to cut back in order to maintain a sense of serenity. You might decide to work on changing habits that are not beneficial to your health, such as smoking or eating junk food. All of these things will eventually add up to a more peaceful and healthy life.