It is easy to believe that peace will arrive once life becomes less complicated: when the project is complete, the promotion comes through, relationships improve or financial pressures ease. Yet experience teaches us otherwise. As one challenge ends, another usually begins.

Perhaps peace was never meant to be something we find after life settles down. Perhaps it is something we choose, even while life continues to move.

One of the greatest obstacles to that peace is the invisible weight we carry within ourselves.

The Invisible Burden

Most emotional burdens are not visible to others. They are carried quietly through resentment, disappointment, anger, guilt or unresolved hurt. These feelings occupy valuable mental space and gradually drain our energy.

When someone has wronged us, our minds naturally replay the event. We revisit conversations, imagine different outcomes and hope that the other person will eventually recognise the pain they caused. Yet while they may have moved on, we remain emotionally connected to the experience.

Holding onto resentment is like carrying a heavy suitcase long after the journey has ended. The weight belongs to us—not because we deserved what happened, but because we have continued to carry it.

Forgiveness offers us the opportunity to finally put that suitcase down.

Forgiveness Is a Gift to Yourself

Forgiveness is often misunderstood. It is not pretending that the hurt never happened. It is not approving harmful behaviour or abandoning healthy boundaries.

Forgiveness is the conscious decision to stop allowing yesterday’s pain to control today’s peace.

It is an act of emotional freedom.

The person who benefits most from forgiveness is often not the one being forgiven—it is the one choosing to let go.

By releasing resentment, we free ourselves from the constant emotional effort required to relive old wounds.

Remember Who You Really Are

Many spiritual traditions remind us that beneath our professional roles, achievements and identities lies something deeper.

At our core, we are peaceful beings.

Peace is not something we purchase, earn or compete for. It is an inner quality that exists naturally beneath the layers of stress, fear and emotional turbulence that accumulate through daily life.

When we reconnect with that deeper awareness, our perspective begins to shift. Challenges still arise, but they no longer define our state of mind.

Instead of asking, “How do I find peace?” we begin asking, “What is preventing the peace that already exists within me from being expressed?”

That question changes everything.

Releasing Emotional Clutter

Just as we regularly clear clutter from our homes and workspaces, our minds also benefit from regular emotional housekeeping.

Every unresolved grievance occupies mental space.

Every resentment quietly consumes emotional energy.

Forgiveness creates room for something better.

Compassion replaces bitterness.

Understanding replaces judgment.

Acceptance replaces resistance.

As the emotional noise quietens, our natural state of calm begins to re-emerge.

Living in the Present

One of the greatest gifts forgiveness offers is the ability to return to the present moment.

Unforgiveness anchors us in the past. We replay conversations, revisit disappointments and continue living through experiences that are already over.

Peace, however, exists only in the present.

Imagine someone criticises your work during an important meeting. The conversation lasts five minutes, yet if you replay it throughout the day, your mind experiences the discomfort again and again.

The event happened once.

Your thoughts repeated it many times.

Forgiveness interrupts that cycle.

It quietly says:

“That experience hurt me, but I choose not to let it steal the rest of my day.”

This simple decision protects our emotional well-being far more than we often realise.

Choosing Inner Freedom

One of the most empowering aspects of forgiveness is that it does not depend on another person

The other individual may never apologise.

They may never acknowledge the hurt they caused.

They may never even realise it.

Waiting for someone else to change before allowing ourselves to experience peace gives away our emotional freedom.

Forgiveness allows us to reclaim it.

It reminds us that our inner world belongs to us.

Three Simple Ways to Practice Peace

1. Pause regularly. Take one quiet minute during the day to disconnect from tasks, slow your breathing and reconnect with your inner stillness.
2. Respond rather than react. Before replying to criticism or conflict, allow yourself a brief pause. A peaceful response often creates better outcomes than an emotional reaction.
3. Let go of one small burden today. You do not have to resolve every painful experience immediately. Simply choose one resentment you are willing to loosen your grip on. Every act of letting go creates more space for peace.

The Journey Home

Forgiveness is not a single event but an ongoing practice of choosing freedom over resentment, compassion over bitterness and peace over emotional struggle.

Life will continue to present challenges. There will always be deadlines, misunderstandings and unexpected difficulties. Yet amid the constant movement of the modern world, we always have the ability to return to the quiet place within ourselves.

Peace is not found when life becomes perfect.

It is found the moment we stop carrying what no longer serves us.

When we choose to let go, we discover that peace was never somewhere ahead of us.

It has been patiently waiting within us all along.

Over decades of rapid change in lifestyles the family structure has undergone changes which challenges us to sustain strong family bonds in a modernised world.

The basis of any healthy relationship is TRUST.  When there is a lack of trust it adds to self-doubt, unmet expectations and second guessing each other.  Trust allows for an atmosphere of safety which is a healthy environment for honest, authentic conversations.  Trust removes the element of feeling judged and its in such an atmosphere that there is a feeling of mutual respect and growth. Such a level of security implies that instead of looking for a listener outside the safety net of the home, one will naturally be drawn towards the inner circle of family and reach out for help.

Very often as a family we tend to live past each other – each one absorbed in their own priorities and schedules.  Each one rushing and there not being enough time.  Often the misunderstanding is that we need a lot of time.  However its quality not quantity, its about being fully present and listening.

Like the fingers of the same hand being different, hence each one has a particular strength and weakness.  As a family each member is different and unique.  Family is about these individual personalities finding common ground in the values they share.  What enables there to be harmony in spite of the variety and the difference is the vision each one holds for the other.  Conflict usually occurs when we trying to create a single mould into which each one needs to fit in.  But when there is acceptance of the uniqueness of the other we can use the difference as a strength.  This brings harmony.  At a spiritual level it relates to seeing the other as a soul, a spiritual being who has been gifted with qualities from the Divine.  This vision instils a deep and profound respect.

Our social conditioning plays a huge role whereby each one assumes roles based on cultural influences.  Todays society in many ways challenges these traditional roles, because our current time requires both genders to contribute to both earning financially but also household chores.  Unless we adapt to these changing roles with a keen sense of appreciation of each ones contribution there can be conflict. Conflict usually occurs because of power based on the ego and the need for control.  It comes back to trust, where there is trust there is no need for ego.  Differences need to be communicated but with understanding and love.  Often there is a dance we need to learn between humility and self-respect to navigate this.

Finally the invasion of social-media and with the advent of AI, family bonds seem unimportant and something which can be avoided in comparison to the thousands of virtual friendships and array of followers lined up which makes up for all the needs of companionship. The age-old saying that man is a social animal has slowly but rapidly transformed into man is a virtual prisoner.

We crave connection, because connection is what makes us feel valued.  Virtual connections give a temporary high – however it is often just fake.  Real connections occur when we are together.  It is a very widely spoken about fact that a family that eats together and prays together stays strong together. When a family sits together for meals, firstly each one is giving a slice of their time into the joint project called “family” and as we all know that money may come and go but time once gone can never come back. Meal times are an opportunity to share the dramas of each ones day – allowing for a shared feeling of belonging.  Similarly, when we pray together, we are combining our individual energies and linking with the Supreme energy whom we refer to as God or Almighty. Such combined remembrance of God fills each one with Love, Joy, Peace, Wisdom and Purity and these positive virtues ignited in each one will fill the home with a nurturing energy which will sustain harmony and peace.

The golden rule for creating and sustaining harmony among family members respect and love without any judgement or pre-conceived notions. Spend quality time with each other enriching each one. Harmony stems from a deep, unconditional affection. This love is the first type of love a person experiences and is essential for emotional well-being, providing a foundation of security and support.

Raja Yoga for breath

The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’ meaning to join or to yoke or to unite.  As per yogic scriptures the practice of Yoga leads to the union of individual consciousness with that of Universal Consciousness, indicating a perfect harmony between the mind and body, between man and nature.

We focus on exercises as yoga, however, it is the union or rather harmonizing of matter which is body and spirit or consciousness.  In many ways humanity, with the influence of materialism, has become disconnected from the inner self, the spiritual self. This disconnect has resulted in internal conflicts and discontentment in everyday life, which gets exasperated by the continuous change in our external world.  That is one reason why we are finding how this discord and conflict is being revealed through our bodies.

We all know that mental stress leads to lowering of our immunity and a varied number of other psychosomatic illnesses. That is why yoga is so relevant in today’s day and age – we need to realign and harmonize internally first so that we can then harmonize with our world.

The various asanas of yoga are helpful to relax and center oneself; however, an internal alignment can only truly occur when we understand and give time to reconnect with our spiritual nature.  This is the alignment of our mind and intellect with our innate qualities or inherent divinity of the soul – the attributes of peace, love, bliss, purity and power.  This is Raja Yoga – to realign with this inherent self.

So, it begins by firstly recognizing and understanding that the true nature of the self is non-physical.  I am consciousness, I am soul, and the soul is eternal.  Perhaps we have this as an understanding but we have to translate this into an experience and further into an attitude so that I view my world and I respond to my world from this premise that I am a soul.  When I come from soul consciousness, I come from the awareness of being eternal, of being energy, of being divinely created – so it results in me creating a capacity within me or attitude within me to respond from a place of love and peace.  Why?  When I truly connect with myself as being eternal I am secure and I free myself from the most basic fear, the fear of death.  This internal security, this internal peace, this internal attitude of focusing on what is beyond the stream of constant change emerges two powerful personality traits. Firstly, I build the capacity to be stable emotionally and mentally irrespective of the change around me.  Secondly, it helps to engage with others with the attitude and understanding that the innate nature of every soul is goodness.  So a spirit of love and respect for all emerges, not only for people but also for nature and all creatures. When love emerges then love creates a feeling of connection and harmony.

How to begin this practice?

Just as when we are unwell we end up breathing in a shallow way, sometimes gasping for breath – in the same way, a mind that is too busy and has far too many thoughts is a soul gasping for inner peace. How do we create silence in the mind?  Silence is not emptiness, but silence is a mind resting on a pure thought.

Extract: the Man who loved angels by Anthony Strano.

A second is the unit of time, just as a thought is the basic unit of consciousness.  A body has many cells and so do time and consciousness.  Whether we measure time in terms of eternity, ages, cycles centuries years…hours minutes, the basic unit or cell is a second.  We may measure consciousness in terms of awareness, attitudes, beliefs, feelings, behaviour, aliveness, responses but the basic unit or cell is always a thought.  If these basic units of time and thoughts are weak then the whole of time and consciousness suffers.  So how do we create inner silence, we begin by a practice of taking one thought in one second and make them work together.

Take one second to think one thought

Slowly and faithfully think: I am

Add another second and another thought: a soul

Add another second or two and think: I am peace

Add another second or two and think: I am a being of peace.

Repeat these thoughts gently to yourself, paying special attention to them.  There is no need to rush, no need for second thoughts or ideas going anywhere else.  Just focus on the original self.

Practising this daily several times, we teach ourselves to think the right thoughts at the right time.  We free ourselves from the internal chatter and begin to feel more, listen more and be more.  As we reconnect with ourselves we harmonize mind with breath, spirit with body, consciousness with nature.  When I am aligned internally I can easily harmonize and connect with others and nature, but moreover, I open myself to connect with the Divine Source, with God.  This allows me to draw spiritual power and truly experience the state of Yoga – which is Union with the Highest Source.  The experience of this highest love then flows through my being, my relationships, my work and I become an instrument to create a better world.

Author: Pratiba Daya

In a global culture of doing doing and more doing – where we have learnt to measure the value of ourselves on what we have accumulated, what we do and what positions we have reached  – it has created a need to think excessively.  The internet whilst useful in many ways has also created this information overload and often we bombarded with more information than we are able to digest, and certainly more than we are able to bring into action.

Secondly, we live in times where speed is of uttermost importance.  Doing everything quickly, driving fast, responding quickly which also means thinking quickly.  Where there is speed quality and control gets compromised. And so we end up needing to redo, repair or rebuild – many times our relationships because n the speed of things, things get said or done which have dire consequences.

Learning to pause – is an act of relief for the mind.  Taking a moment to just be still, observe rather than absorb.  Listen rather than speak.  Stop the rush and be present.  It is in these moments of pause that we are able to discern and if need be it gives us the opportunity to realign with that which is more meaningful and valuable.  This moment of pause refreshes and stabilizes the mind.

Have a positive outlook – is an act of protecting your mind.  As we think so we feel.  Have I ever considered the quality of my thinking?  challenges and situations may come my way – but ask the self what is consuming my attention?  Is it really the issue, the personalities involved or the expectations and frustrations not being fulfilled?  Very often our focus leans towards who we can blame for the way we feeling?  Instead of finding a scapegoat for your emotions, it is healthier to adopt the attitude – to every challenge there is a solution.  Stay focused on the solution and this keeps the mind creative and light.

Contemplate deeper truths – is an act of nourishing the mind.  In the same manner as we feed the body the right foods to increase and maintain our bodies in a healthy state, nurture the self by engaging in spiritual truths to elevate your perspective and keep a broader outlook.  Spiritual knowledge and its study helps to draw out the sacred nature of our inner being.  This leads to a feeling of joy, brings meaning to everything I do and express a deeper love.

When we can appreciate that our mind is a sacred gift through which create and experience life then taking care of the mind is an act of honoring this gift.

Learning how to meditate when you’re troubled with anxiety is an important part of self-healing technique that you can’t ignore. It goes without saying that meditation has been widely recommended as a natural remedy for anxiety. Theoretically, it was supposed to provide mind calming experience for those who suffer from anxiety. But the reality is, most people who suffer from anxiety find it hard to meditate. Some even felt frustrated by the fact that they can’t keep their mind silent.

Here are some simple techniques to help you calm down and gently enter a meditative inner state.

Its always helpful to bring with breath.  For the next few minutes let go of any other thoughts and become aware of your breath.  Breathe in deeply filling your lungs, hold your breath for a few seconds and breathe out.  Do so for a few minutes, gently holding your attention on your breath moving in and out.

Next with each breath become aware of your body.  Turn your attention to your feet.  Relax them.  Next your legs.  Then as you move your attention up your spine breathe out the tension you may be feeling – release it.  Next be conscious of your arms and fingers, your neck and shoulders and ultimately your face.  Breathe in deeply and breathe out any tightness. Allow yourself a few moments just to feel the calmness of your body.

Now into your mind an image that you associate most strongly with a feeling of calm – it could be a setting sun, the vast expanse of the ocean or the still waters of a lake.  As you emerge the image in your mind allow yourself to feel the calmness and peace you associate with it.  Breathe in the calmness and breathe out the anxiousness – observe in your mind the colours and the beauty of the image in your mind.  Be in that calmness and feel that energy in your being.

Now tell yourself – I am this being of peace.  This is my true nature.  I am peace. Let your mind linger on this thought and just breathe in peace and breathe out peace for the next few minutes.

Return to this exercise again and again to relax the body before attempting to meditate.  We can only focus the mind when we begin by first relaxing the body and becoming more present to the body.  Thereafter one can begin to journey more deeply into the awareness of the self as consciousness and return to that sweet inner spot of peace of my being.

A simple meditation to return to Inner Peace – extracted from The Man who loved Angels by Anthony Strano

A second is a unit of time, just as thought is the basic unit of consciousness. A body has many cells, and so do time and consciousness. Whether we measure time in terms of eternity, ages, cycles centuries millennia, years, seasons, months, days, hours or minutes- the basic unit, or cell, remains the second. We may measure consciousness in terms of awareness, attitude, feelings, behaviour, choices, aliveness, responses but the basic unit, or cell, is always a thought.

If these two basic units of time and consciousness are weak, then the whole of time and consciousness suffers.

Just as cancer begins in a single cell and spreads to other cells, so the same happens in human life as the infected seconds and thoughts spread. Ultimately this results in emotional, mental and even physical disease in the human body and mind, since our conscious life is acted and expressed within and through time. … How can we begin to heal ourselves?

If we take one second, the tiniest unit of time, and one thought, the tiniest unit of consciousness we can make them work together.

Take one second to think one thought
Slowly and faithfully think:”I am”.
Add another second and another thought: “a soul”.
Add another second or two and think: “I am peace”
Add another second or two and think: ”I am a being of peace”.

Repeat:
“I am a soul
I am peace
I am a being of peace.”

Repeat these thoughts gently to yourself, paying special attention to them. There is no need to rush, no need for second thoughts or ideas going anywhere else. Just focus on these thoughts about the original self.

Throughout the day, gently but deeply repeat this one second one thought meditative exercise.

Speakers: Dr David Hamilton and Sister Jayanti

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Desmond Tutu.

Kindness is an essential ingredient in all healthy relationships, whether with the self, others or nature. Without it we are diminished as human beings and the world becomes a cold and heartless place. At this time of global upheaval and suffering, kindness is needed more than ever. Join us for a fascinating exploration of the spiritual and scientific aspects of this wonderful human quality.

To be taken care of is one of the most primary needs that human beings have. The moment we pass childhood, the responsibility of care shifts from the caregiver to oneself.

Whether one is a teenager or well into adulthood, care of the self is paramount. A human being simply perishes from neglect. As humans are multi-faceted, caring for oneself takes on many meanings. Evidence has shown that care does not end with good body hygiene, good nutrition and excercise.

The spirit within needs constant attention. On a daily basis we are surrounded by a variety of negative factors both internal and external that impede our functioning.

One who is spiritually minded works tirelessly in order to keep an “internally clean house “. This requires a vigilance as to what type of thoughts one has and also what type of feelings/ emotions are going on inside.

There is inherent duty to protect oneself from harm which entails a lot of introspection. Dwelling on the past, living with regrets, no matter how negative they were is not justifiable under any circumstances. Focusing on ones failures, errors, dark side is equally counter productive. Also, internalising the negativity that surrounds one on a daily basis is very dangerous.

Further, the world is filled with examples of individuals who are trapped in a cycle of negative/toxic relationships. Careful consideration given to each person who one gives one’s time to is crucial to a balanced life.

A spiritually aware individual measures every word before articulating it and every action before conducting it. The reason for this is the deep seated awareness of the law of karma.

Very few are aware that as human beings we have the option of choosing our thoughts, feelings and experiences. Many feel powerless to stop the train of negative thoughts and feelings.

Spirituality means that l the soul take on the responsibilty of ensuring that no negative thought or emotion overwhelms me. I choose with care what goes on in the heart and mind. Such a soul does everything in its power to shift oneself away from any negative tendencies and embrace only ones good qualities.

Daily effort is required to ensure that all one’s experiences, both internal and external are balanced, harmonious and conducive to a good quality life.