8 Ways to Practice Peace in 2014

In 2013, I have been an observer of how ‘negative’ energy is transmitted among beings. The theory that ‘energy is neither created nor destroyed’ implies that ‘negative’ energy we expel out into the universe continues on. As the world continues to expel ‘negative’ energy, it continues on endlessly and we become carriers unless we make a conscious decision to counter the ‘negative’ energy with ‘positive’.

Take the example of a person having a ‘bad’ day. If they are not living in peace, they will generate ‘negative’ energy towards every living being they come in contact with. By proxy of the ‘negative’ energy being expelled by a person having a ‘bad’ day, the recipient of that ‘negative’ energy can easily succumb to absorbing the ‘negative’ energy as their own. That ‘negative’ energy then translates into ‘negative’ actions that can be put out onto others. Then the cycle continues on indefinitely.  

To become carriers of ‘positive’ energy, we need to practice peace in our everyday lives so that we can counter daily ‘negative’ energy. In theory, if more people practice peace, there will be less ‘negative’ energy in the universe that we will need to counter.

Below are 8 ways we can practice peace in 2014 to counter the ‘negative’ energy in our everyday lives:

1. Eat Less Meat – By consuming less meat, we reduce the amount of violence absorbed by proxy of slaughtered animals.

2. Watch Less Television – By reducing the amount of television, we can reduce the amount of violence we absorb through our sensory experiences.

3. Think Before We React – By thinking before we react, we counter the potential ‘negative’ energy we could expel before it’s too late.

4. Listen to people – By listening to people, and I mean really listen, we not only create space for thinking before we react (see #3) but we have an opportunity to be compassionate to other perspectives (see #5).

5. Be Compassionate to Others Perspectives – By being compassionate to others perspectives, we can find common ground in alternative experiences and see possibilities within ourselves.

6. Communicate With Passion – By communicating with passion, we can come from a place of joy and therefore communicate from our own truth, love for what we are doing and mindfulness of how we are doing it.

7. Develop a Meditation Practice – By establishing a meditation practice, we provide space for our minds and bodies to decompress from the continuum of our daily lives, to make sense of what is purposeful and understand what we can let go of.

8. Take Time to Live – Once we have identified what is purposeful, we can move forward in our lives, taking time to explore that which brings us joy, keeps us on our personnel path, and expels peace back out into the universe.

Cheers to practicing peace in 2014… Happy New Year!

Life is short, so get messy! 

Sources: 

Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community and the World by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy by Yogi Ramacharaka