The Practice of Coming Back to Peace
As a fully functioning adult, you probably already know this: if you want to get better at something, you have to practice. Whether it’s learning to play an instrument, speaking a new language, or showing up differently in your relationships, practice is what makes growth possible.
You may even have used (or resisted) that age-old saying, “practice makes perfect.” And while “perfect” may be an impossible standard, the truth behind the phrase holds up: practice creates progress. You might also have heard the “10,000 hours” rule—that if you practice anything long enough, you’ll become a master. Whether or not the number is exact, the real point is that mastery isn’t just about clocking time; it’s about deliberate practice—focused, intentional effort that helps us improve little by little.
It’s no accident that yoga and meditation are called practices. Built into them is the reminder that coming back, again and again, is what matters. Every time you choose to pause and breathe instead of yell, to center yourself before a difficult conversation, or to soften in the middle of tension, you’re strengthening the muscle of presence. Over time, these small choices add up to a life lived with more clarity, calm, and peace.
But let’s be real: just like kids resisting piano lessons, we resist our own practices, too. It’s easy to choose distraction or numbing over the effort it takes to consciously return to what we value. And yet, if what we most desire is peace—in our hearts, our homes, and the world—we have to practice peace.
Choosing Peace in Violent Times
Now more than ever, practicing peace is not optional. In a world flooded with outrage, finger-pointing, scapegoating, and endless online rage-bait, the only antidote is cultivating peace in our own hearts first.
Just this morning, I was talking with my Gen Z son about rage-baiting on social media—the way people get hooked on anger because it gives a quick dopamine hit. We laughed about how neither of us needs help working ourselves into a frenzy—we can do that all on our own! But the truth is, while venting online may feel temporarily satisfying, it rarely leads to resolution. Left unchecked, it only amplifies anger and division.
Anger itself isn’t the enemy. It’s a natural, necessary emotion that signals when our boundaries or values are being violated. The problem isn’t anger—it’s what we do with it. Our culture teaches us to suppress anger, punishing kids for expressing it instead of teaching them how to move through it in healthy ways. The result? Repressed anger that simmers until it explodes—often in destructive, even violent ways.
The healthier path is learning to recognize, express, and then regulate anger so it can transform into higher states like peace and joy. This takes persistence. It takes choosing, over and over again, not to get baited, not to spiral, not to abandon yourself. It’s okay to feel anger at the state of the world—you don’t have to pretend otherwise. What matters is using that awareness as fuel for grounded, intentional action instead of reactive harm.
Peace begins with small, steady practices: subtle shifts in thought that shift emotion, that shift action, that—over time—shift your entire vibration.
Be the Change
The quote so often attributed to Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” captures this beautifully. If you want to see more peace in the world, begin by practicing peace in yourself.
How? By weaving peaceful practices into your daily life:
Mindfulness and gratitude
Spending time in nature
Yoga, meditation, and Yoga Nidra
Deep breathing and self-reflection
Prioritizing rest and nourishment
Practicing self-compassion
Decluttering your mind and your space
Limiting toxic media
A regular practice of these will not only bring more peace to your inner world, but ripple outward to your family, community, and beyond.
Ready to Begin?
Why not start today? Yoga Nidra is a wonderful way to reconnect with the peace already living inside you.
If you’d like weekly support on your journey to peace, join me Wednesday evenings for a donation-based Community Yoga Nidra practice on Zoom. Together, let’s build a revolution of inner peace—so it can ripple out into the world.
In peace & love,
Kirsten
