By Leo Babauta

A lot of people I’ve talked to want to feel more at peace throughout the day. We are often overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, frustrated, angry, or feeling bad about ourselves.

But when you share with them the ways to achieve that inner peace, very few people want to do what it takes. It’s either too obvious, too tedious, or too much out of our comfort zone.

This article is written for those of you who not only want that inner peace, but you’re willing to do the work to achieve it.

So what’s needed? I’ll share 4 things that I’ve found to really help.

Slow Down, Enjoy the Moment

We’re often in a rush, trying to get everything done all at once. Or we’re distracted, lost in busywork, hyperfocused on whatever has grabbed our attention.

The antidote is to practice slowing down. I don’t mean dump your whole life and go live on a beach (though that might be nice!!). I mean do things just a little more slowly. Take some breaths. Start to notice what it’s like to be alive in this moment.

There is wonder and gratitude to be had in each moment, if we take the time to appreciate it. What could that practice look like for you?

Let Go of What’s Not Your Business

Byron Katie puts things into 3 categories:

• My business — my actions, thoughts, words, whatever is directly under my control
• Your business — someone else’s life, actions, thoughts, words
• God’s business — things that are out of our control, like the weather and world events

Too often, we are focused on the latter two — stressing about things we don’t control, frustrated because people aren’t acting the way we want, trying to control the world.

What if we focused just on our own business? This is a very Stoic approach. Let go of what you don’t control.

That’s like doing life on easy mode. You become very Zen-like. Easier said than done, of course, but it’s a practice.

Find Stillness & Connection to Nature

How often do we sit still and just let ourselves breathe in peace? I highly recommend you do a short (or long) sit every day, and it’s twice as good if you do it out in nature.

You don’t have to necessarily do formal meditation — though that is an incredible practice for all of this — but just sit still. Without looking at your phone, or listening to music. Just sit, and let yourself feel the peace of the moment. Could just be for a few minutes a day.

Feeling a daily connection to nature is also incredible for peace of mind. If you do it separate from the stillness, that works too — sit still at home, then go out for a nice hike or jog in the midst of nature. Winning either way.

Practice Relaxing Your Mind

This will take practice: relax your mind. For instance, you might notice that right now, you might have tension in your body (in the chest, throat, stomach areas for example). And if you pay attention to your head, there might be tension there too — in a physical sense, but also mental.

You can relax the tight muscles in your body, and you can relax the tight tension in your mind. Try both right now. What does that feel like? It’s a relaxed, open sense of peace.

Practice this multiple times a day, any time you feel stress, frustration, tension. Notice what this can do for you each time you practice. Can you hold it a little longer, for a few minutes?

With these rituals and practices, you’ll find peace. It might be momentary, but these moments add up. And with practice, you’ll hold that inner peace for longer.