{"id":1449,"date":"2018-01-11T20:08:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T20:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2018-01-11T20:08:59","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T20:08:59","slug":"peace-of-mind-in-the-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2018\/01\/11\/peace-of-mind-in-the-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace of Mind in the New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/01\/20180108_113846.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1452\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/01\/20180108_113846-215x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/01\/20180108_113846-215x300.jpg 215w, https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2018\/01\/20180108_113846.jpg 572w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/><\/a>The tall pine tree outside my window stands serene. Birds nestle in its boughs and sunlight sparkles through the raindrops on its branches. Just looking at it brings me a sense of peace.\u00a0A few paces beyond, the world is anything but serene. Frantic drivers crowd the roadways, invasive ads urge us to buy the latest device, and negative news spews from the media.<\/p>\n<p>Today over 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety disorders. More than 16 million a year are suffering from depression, with the annual suicide rate increasing by 24 percent. And in the past month, three out of four of us have experienced stress-related insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, irritability, or exhaustion.\u00a0That life creates suffering, Buddhism\u2019s First Noble Truth, is only too evident today.<\/p>\n<p>But it doesn\u2019t have to be. The world\u2019s great spiritual traditions remind us that we have a choice. We can mindlessly react to the commotion around us or choose to see things differently, to cultivate greater peace of mind.\u00a0What brings you peace of mind? Is it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Getting or giving?<\/li>\n<li>Reacting or creating?<\/li>\n<li>Doing or being?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And when you see the difference, what does this mean to you?\u00a0Do you have your own ritual that brings you back to peace? Is it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Beginning the day with regular contemplative practice?<\/li>\n<li>Quiet moments of prayer and spiritual reading?<\/li>\n<li>Pausing to reflect on the beauty of nature?<\/li>\n<li>Giving yourself space to breathe amid a busy day?<\/li>\n<li>Spending a few moments at the end of the day to reflect on three things you\u2019re grateful for?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This month is a good time to choose your own daily ritual of peace. For the peace you cultivate is not just for you. It ripples out to touch all the people you meet. Each day the small choices you make can begin to heal our beautiful, but troubled world.<\/p>\n<p>I wish you\u2014and all of us&#8211;greater peace of mind in the year ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Namaste,<\/p>\n<p>Diane<\/p>\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Current anxiety disorders statistics from the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA): <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adaa.org\/understanding-anxiety\">http:\/\/www.adaa.org\/understanding-anxiety<\/a> and the National Institute of Mental Health,\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nimh.nih.gov\/health\/statistics\/prevalence\/any-anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml\">http:\/\/www.nimh.nih.gov\/health\/statistics\/prevalence\/any-anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Information on depression and suicide rates in the United States from the National Institute of Mental Health, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nimh.nih.gov\/health\/statistics\/index.shtml\">https:\/\/www.nimh.nih.gov\/health\/statistics\/index.shtml<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stress statistics from Winerman, L. (December 2017). Our Stressed Out Nation. APA <em>Monitor on Psychology, <\/em>p. 80. From Stress in America survey data: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.apa.org\/news\/press\/releases\/stress\/index.aspx\">www.apa.org\/news\/press\/releases\/stress\/index.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For more insights on the gratitude practice, see Robert Emmons. (2007). <em>Thanks.<\/em> Boston: Houghton Mifflin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tall pine tree outside my window stands serene. Birds nestle in its boughs and sunlight sparkles through the raindrops on its branches. Just looking at it brings me a sense of peace.\u00a0A few paces beyond, the world is anything &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/2018\/01\/11\/peace-of-mind-in-the-new-year\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7,10,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-leader","category-insights-from-positive-psychology","category-mindful-leader","category-spiritual-practice"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"writeherewritenow","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/author\/writeherewritenow\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/contemplative-leader\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Contemplative Leader<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/insights-from-positive-psychology\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Insights from Positive Psychology<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/mindful-leader\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Mindful Leader<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/category\/spiritual-practice\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Spiritual Practice<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"The tall pine tree outside my window stands serene. Birds nestle in its boughs and sunlight sparkles through the raindrops on its branches. Just looking at it brings me a sense of peace.\u00a0A few paces beyond, the world is anything &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1453,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1449\/revisions\/1453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}