WEEK 3
Cultivating Inner
Peace
Achieving True Inner Peace
The path taken to find inner peace is as hard or
simple as a person makes the journey of self-
acceptance to be.
Unflappable: a wonderful descriptive phrase for
inner peace; marked by assurance and self-
control.
How to find inner peace?
1. Have nothing unresolved
Clear up the larger unresolved issues
personally and professionally that sap
your energy and create other problems in
your life.
2. Surrender and accept what is
Stop struggling. Unhook yourself from the
situation or person and view it from a
detached perspective.
3. Take full responsibility for how you
react to others
You choose your behavior. Choose who
you want to be in all circumstances.
Mentally prepare yourself and plan for a
calm, unflappable response even during
trying times.
4. Become aware of and sensitive to
feelings rather than ignoring them
This means your own feelings as well as
others. Don’t shove away feelings because
they are uncomfortable. Take time to
poke around those feelings to discover
what is behind them.
5. Tell the entire truth
Be real. Lay it on the table in a gentle and
authentic way to yourself and others.
Turato, Kathleen Ysiel B.
1. Know your higher self.
a. Differentiate between yourself
versus your mind, ego, need or
past. Taking time to understand
who you are and what your values,
goals, joys, passions, your integrity
that define you and make you
authentic.
2. Unhinge from adrenaline.
a. Adrenaline gives us a jolt of
superhuman energy when faced
with a threat. An adrenaline
lifestyle can do sould damaging
things: overworking, being greedy,
insistence on getting ahead or
winning even at the expense of
relationships. Let go of adrenaline
dependency or risk losing your
health, your relationships and your
peace of mind.
3. Know what rattles your cage.
a. There’s a reason you react and
understanding the truth behind
those feelings is the first step in
addressing the problem or letting it
go. Asking yourself why you feel
the way you do, until you know the
real answer. Then deal with the
answer directly.
4. Step over nothing, even the small stuff.
a. Don’t ignore even the little
tolerations or imbalance in your
life. You may not be able to change
everything, but awareness and the
ability to manage tolderations in a
healthy way can bring you peace.
5. Prioritize peace ahead of performance.
a. Most profound impact of inner
peace is the peace it spreads to the
world outside of us. Peace
between families, communities,
and countries begins with each
individual. Inner peace is
contagious. As you find your inner
peace for yourself, you become a
 model for others and spreads the
seeds of peace everywhere you go.
REYES, KATE ROIZ E.
5 Spiritual Practices to
Cultivating Inner Peace:
1)Meditation
Peace of mind and inner harmony is
obtain through meditation . Through this
we can silent our minds and void out all
the unnecessary thoughts. By
meditating more we start to become
more calm and relaxed both physically
and mentally. This practice enhances
our awareness and allows us to fully
access a deeper meaning within
ourselves which can be fully at the state
peace.
2)Surrender
The means of surrender is to let go of
the judgements, expectations or
emotions. Accepting the present for
what it is and trust the universe for
whatever happens next without the
need for an outcome. In result, we allow
ourselves to open the possibilities life
has to give and offer. We slowly change
in a way we see ourselves and our
perspective about the world.
3)Breathing
Breathing is uncontrollable and we do it
naturally. This is our main life force and
is subtle to the field of inner energy.
Through the practice of breathing
exercises may help the calmness of our
mind and release stress. Somehow
inner peace is connected through
focusing on our breathing. The outcome
of this practice may lead to aliveness
and awareness. With each inhale we go
deeper within ourselves and through
exhale, we let go all that no longer
serves us.
4)Compassion
Compassion arises from a sense of
oneness and seeing ourselves in
another. Once we see ourself different
and separated from everyone else this
causes suffering. Compassion, love,
kind and empathy to everyone created
peace and harmony within ourselves.
This brings us closer to our true selves
and we are more inclined to the truth as
we are at peace.
5)Forgiveness
The fundamental to our inner peace is
through forgiveness as it frees us from
all the bad ties and bondages. It sets
our soul free and let go the grudges that
we hold for so long. Holding grudges
block off the flow of peace and we
continue to suffer. Forgiveness is
needed to find peace as we let go hate
and anger. It also includes self-
forgiveness and letting go of our guilt
Nathaniel B. Geguillan
Despair
- A feeling of total loss of hope. It is a deep
dejection and loss of faith about one's ability to find
meaning, fulfillment and happiness.
The main reasons that can bring a person to
despair are pessimism, helplessness, lack of willpower,
self-pity and discouragement. It is these factors that
can often lead us to despair, to complete moral
devastation, to a critical point. These causes are like
symptoms of the disease. And if we learn to deal with
them, we will be rid of despair as an unpleasant
disease
Prevention is the strategy of dealing with
conditions that lead to despair. It involves finding a
foundation that gives hope, especially in the midst of
circumstances that produce despair.
Many people find such a foundation through re-
examining their spiritual roots in order to discover
meaning and purpose beyond themselves..
“It is the greatest good for an individual to discuss
virtue every day...for the unexamined life is not worth
living” – Socrates
Soldao, Shaira Mae R.
Existential Despair: A Deeper Cause of Human
Anxiety
When you experience this “existential despair,”
you are facing your mortal self and the unbearable
truth of your finiteness.That’s why our life’s
purpose and the responsibilities of each day, no
matter how mundane help us survive. They
ground us and prevent us from overthinking our
ephemeral, perhaps meaningless existence.
Self-Absorbed Solipsism
This kind of despair could also inspire a state of
solipsism –an obsessed, preoccupation with our
own desires, fears and worries to the point of self-
absorption. It’s also the unfounded belief that the
“self” is the only measure of truth. It’s a
misguided, self-indulgent gauge of reality.
Tips to avoid existential despair:
● Find a life purpose. WHATEVER that may
be. It doesn’t have to be a high-minded,
virtuous one. Something you enjoy doing
for yourself or others. Dive into it with
supreme tenacity and eagerness. If you
don’t like your current job, keep looking
for other avenues of employment. Be
open to new careers and projects that fill
your spirit with excitement. Maybe you are
in the wrong line of work.
● Do NOT allow your days to be filled with
extensive idle time. Structure your days
wisely. Mental stimulation is vital to a
healthy mind. Life doesn’t have a remote
control. Change the channel yourself. No
couch potatoes.
● Focus on things in your life that you CAN
make a difference in on a daily basis like,
your marriage/partnership, kids, your
extended family, your job, your
responsibilities, staying healthy, etc.
● Set goals for yourself on a daily basis.
Make sure you have a new challenge
every day. It’s healthy to occasionally
tussle with a conflict you may have been
avoiding for years. It’s also healthy to try
new things that may feel scary to you.
● Stop looking for guarantees in life. It’s ok
to live with some uncertainty about the
future.
● Stop procrastinating. Take action. Make
daily decisions and choices in your life
and learn to accept those decisions.
● Do not isolate. Make an effort to connect
with other human beings at least one time
per day. Unless you are a monk,
remember that humans do not do well
alone. Socialize, interface, open up a
conversation with someone, anyone.
Offer a kind word or a smile.
● Avoid universal, big-ticket questions that
have no immediate answers. It’s not your
job to figure out the secrets of the
universe. Stay in the inquiry, but, learn to
live with the unknowns that you don’t
need to understand today.
● Remind yourself: I am not a victim. I am
not the product of my life’s circumstances.
I cannot change the world, but I can
change my response to it.
● Don’t make everything that happens to
you a commentary about your life. It’s not
always about you. You are NOT that
significant in the grand scheme of life.
Live with that.
Flores, Ma. Eliza Desiree
Despair
➢ It can be conceptualized as a profound
and existential hopelessness,
helplessness, powerlessness and
pessimism about life and the future.
➢ It is a deep discouragement and loss of
faith about one's ability to find meaning,
fulfillment and happiness, to create a
satisfactory future for oneself.
Symptoms of Depression
➢ hopelessness
➢ suicidality
➢ anxiety
➢ apathy
➢ anhedonia
➢ insomnia or hypersomnia
➢ irritability
➢ emotional lability
➢ chronic cognitive impairment
Francisco, Zyra E.
Anxiety
is a general term for several disorders that cause
nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying.
This disorder
affects how we feel and behave and can cause
physical symptoms
. true meaning.
Anxiety can cause people to give up on many of
their beliefs. It can
cause people to feel like nothing is
holding them up, and nothing is going right for
them. It can cause them to question religion, give
up on
spiritual practices, and more
The 4 Rules to Quiet the Mind
1. Say what you mean. Mean what you say.
Part A: Say what you mean.
Have you found yourself making up excuses to
avoid fully dealing with a potentially
uncomfortable situation?
For example, your friend asks you to some social
event. You don’t really want to go, but make up
an excuse that “I can’t make it” or “I’m busy”,
probably so you can quietly avoid something or
someone or some activity.
It is not that you cannot do something, as your
excuse suggests. The truth is that you have
chosen not to do something, but the act of
creating an excuse or avoiding it initiates a stir in
your inner space, and it takes energy to maintain.
Instead of stillness and peace, you are now
holding onto and thinking about this little
lingering “lie”.
When you are about to say anything, make a
conscious decision to say the absolute truth, or
what you actually mean. The absolute truth
doesn’t have to be harsh or hurtful, you can do so
compassionately and authentically, but firmly.
When you own what you say, no one can reject
it, even if they don’t like what they hear; because
you are telling the truth and you mean it.
Part B: Mean what you say.
Sometimes we say things in passing out of
obligation or habit that we don’t mean or intend
on following through with. For example, we say,
“I love you” to our parents or significant other
when we hang up the phone, not because we
mean it, but out of habit. The words comes so
automatically now, that they start to lose their
In another example, we will say, “I’ll call you
soon“, “let’s chat soon“, or “I’ll call you
tomorrow“. Or we offer to help, as parting words
to a friend, and don’t intend on keeping that
statement, but say it because it was easy and
made the other person feel good.
We may think that these casual comments are
harmless, but we know deep down that they are
not true. They become little lies that we
internalize, and over time they will develop into a
guilty conscience that distracts you away from
this moment.
Make a conscious commitment to yourself to
mean everything that you say, and not to make
empty promises that you cannot, will not, do not
intend to fulfill.
2. Don’t say to anyone unless you can say to
everyone.
Whether we admit to this or not, most of us love
some form of gossiping (myself included). We are
also quick to notice fault in others, and then talk
about them with our trusted allies. Or we find out
about someone’s misfortune and immediately we
want to tell somebody.
I’m sure you can interject and include many
examples from your life. But for sake of
conversation, one example is: Jenny, at work, had
an emotional fit and yelled at a co-worker today,
and when we got home, we immediately told our
spouse about the drama.
Make a commitment to yourself, that you will not
say something to one person, unless you can
announce it to the world, to everybody. Make a
commitment to stop the spreading of drama and
bad energy.
3. Don’t say inside, what you cannot say outside.
Most of us are extremely critical of ourselves.
Because we would never tell the world what we
say to ourselves, in the privacy of our mind, we
believe that we are the only ones affected by
negative self-talk, low self-esteem, and anxiety.
When something doesn’t go perfectly, we are
first to blame ourselves, criticizing what we did
wrong, what we didn’t do perfect enough, what
we missed.
We all have inner chattering, but problems arise
when we start to believe in our inner chattering,
such that false beliefs about ourselves are
formed. These false beliefs become detrimental
to our spirits and future wellbeing, unless we do
something to unlearn these beliefs.
The basic premise of the third rule to inner
cleanse is that, whatever thought you are not
able to say out aloud to people (anyone), don’t
even bother entertaining inside your head. Keep
your inner space clean.
4. Don’t say unless it is true, useful or kind.
Some people have so much inner chatter that it
spills out of them in the form of useless speech.
Not only is this distracting for those around this
person, it takes an enormous amount of energy
for this person to keep talking. Recall the last
time you talked for a long time about something
random, and how drained you felt afterwards.
Plus, the more useless things we say, the more
useless things we feed back into our head.
Be conscious of what you say and only say it if
any of the following is true:
• Is what I’m saying …
• True to me? An authentic statement from
my heart?
• Useful or helpful to someone or some
situation?
• Kind or compassionate? Such as a
compliment, or an offer of help?
Dineros
What is Stress?
- It can be defined as the inability to cope
with a perceived threat (real or imagined) to one’s
mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-
being, which results in a series of physiological
responses and adaptations.
- or it can be either good or bad.
Good stress
- It is positively compels people to action
(ex. To study for an exam or a baby
learning to crawl.)
Bad stress
- It results negative feelings such as
distrust, anger and depression. It can be
acute or chronic and it may lead to a
serious health problems.
Examples of stress include:
- Financial
- Marital
- Work
- Health
- Academic
Stress has a significant effect on health. Because
it can affect the susceptibility to disease. It can
also affect the progression of disease. One of the
example of health stress is chronic stress which
has been linked to cancer, diabetes, obesity and
alcohol substance abuse. In addition,
developmental abnormalities and neuro -
degeneration can occur because of an overload of
stress.
With continuous stress the body becomes more
vulnerable to physical or psychological problems.
Long-term effects of prolonged stress can include
hypertension, headaches, arthritis, adrenal
fatigue, decreased immune function, cancer,
peptic ulcers, infertility, ageing and reduction of
quality of life.
Exposure to stressful situations is one of the most
common human experiences. These situations
can range in our daily annoyances and the
consequences of overstretched, time pressured
lifestyles and etc.
Why do people develop stress?
- Society has changed greatly in the last
few decades, most noticeable due to the
technology explosion. Not only is just
about any information available at your
fingertips through the internet, but
communication has become instant (e.g.
cellphones, emails, instant messaging).
All these factors have not only made our lives
easier, but it has subsequently created greater
pressures on us which causes of stress.
Stress is actually a normal part of life. At
times, it serves a useful purpose. Stress
can motivate you to get that promotion
at work, or run the last mile of a
marathon. But if you don't get a handle
on your stress and it becomes long-
term, it can seriously interfere with your
job, family life, and health. More than
half of Americans say they fight with
friends and loved ones because of
stress, and more than 70% say they
experience real physical and emotional
symptoms from it.
How to manage stress?
It can be managed through
maintaining a healthy body through
exercise, sleep hygiene, healthy diet and
healthy relationships in social
interactions, having time for self and
others and communicating and learning
management skills (ee. Prioritising, time
management). In additionally relaxation
can also be used to manage the stress
through meditating, praying, massage,
and doing a hobby that you enjoy.
Lastly it is important to become aware of
your stressors and your emotional and
physical reactions. Learn how to
moderate your physical reactions to
stress. Reduce the intensity of your
emotional reactions to stress. To achieve
more balance in their lives and to avoid
stressed.
Pangilinan , jamela
Loss/lack of spirituality
● Spirituality is an important aspect of
mental health.
● It can interfere with interpersonal
relationships, which can contribute to the
genesis of psychiatric disturbance.
● Psychiatric symptoms can have a religious
content.
For example: the loss of interest in
religious activities is a common symptom
of depression.
● Religious and spiritual beliefs are an
important part of how many people deal
with life’s joys and hardships.
➔ Studies show that religion and faith can
help promote good health and fight
disease by
◆ Offering additional social
supports, such as religious
outreach groups
◆ Improving coping skills through
prayer and a philosophy that all
things have a purpose.
Turato, Kathleen Ysiel B.