Five Simple Practices for a More Serene Life

When we’re young, we have so many aspirations.  We may aspire to have a great career.  Or to change the world in some positive way.  But mostly, we aspire to have lives that are interesting or exciting.  But as we get older and get a little bit of life experience under our belts, we come to realize that the best life that we can have is a serene life.

Now, you’d think that having a serene life would be easy!  After all, how difficult is it to have a quiet life? How difficult is it to go through the day feeling at peace and having gentle relationships with all? Well, as most of us know, it’s actually pretty difficult! 

That’s because a serene life doesn’t just happen.  Rather, you have create a serene life. To do so, you have to be thoughtful with how you spend your time and intentionally create moments of peace throughout your day.

Below are five simple daily practices that you can adopt to create a more serene life.  Incorporate these practices in your life, and see how much more tranquil your life can be.

1. Begin the Day in Stillness

How you begin your day sets the tone for the day.  That’s why it’s so important to start the day in stillness.  Your mornings should be “racket-free.”  No blaring television or radio.  No rushing around.  You want to quietly ease into the day.

Now, if you have to deal with other human beings in the morning, whether they’re children or a spouse, a good way to start the day quietly is to wake up just a little bit earlier than everyone else in your household.  For example, for years it’s been my practice to get out of bed before anyone in my house.  That’s because I need to start the day in silence. 

You also want keep the outside world “outside” of your life for a period of time after you wake up.  So, I will gently ease into my day before I respond to emails or look at the news.  

When we intentionally start our days quietly and are careful with how we spend our early morning time, we effectively declare, “My priority is to have a gentle, quiet day.  Yes, I’ll deal with issues that come my way, and I’ll interact with others.  But I’ll be approaching any issues or problems from a grounded, quiet and serene place.” 

2. Move Your Body During the Day to Increase Your Serenity

One of the best ways to have a peaceful, serene mind is to move your body.  When we move, our bodies release endorphins, a chemical that makes us “feel good” mentally and physically.  And that cuts the edge off any stress we may experience. 

The key is to engage in regular, gentle movement.  You don’t need to do a punishing workout.  What you need to do is to move in ways that are good for your body, and which calm your mind.  So, consider walking outside or on a treadmill.  Do light yoga or stretching.  Or, go for a bike ride on a beautiful day. 

The benefit of gentle movement is that it reconnects you to your body.  And when we are mentally connected to our bodies, our brains are focused on our bodies. And that gives our brains a break from fretting and worrying. 

So, we make it a habit to move throughout the day, and give your brain a much needed break from any concerns you may have.  That way, during your day, you can create periods of time during which you feel completely at peace.

3. Empty Your Mind Once a Day onto Paper (Write It Out)

When we don’t release the negative thoughts and feelings floating around in our brains, we walk around feeling tense and aggravated.   So, to attain serenity we need to find ways to get rid of those negative thoughts and feelings. 

But how do we release all them?  A great way to release negative thoughts and feelings is to write them down.  It’s cathartic to empty your mind onto a piece of paper each day via a journal or diary.  Realize that folks have been writing down their most personal thoughts and feelings in diaries for centuries.  Why?  Because after you’ve written down your worries and concerns, you feel so much better! 

Now, if you feel like being a little bit more modern, you can release your feelings by typing them into a Word document.  Or, you can share your thoughts with Chat GPT and perhaps receive some insightful feedback!   

Regardless of where you release your thoughts, the key is to release them in written form.  The act of writing down our thoughts and feelings is powerful.  By writing down our thoughts and feelings, we are able to process them in a way that’s more effective than just saying them out loud.  And once we’ve processed those difficult thoughts and feelings, and then let them go, we can feel serene and at peace.

4. Do One Thing Each Day That Aligns with Your Values

We feel good about life when part of each day is spent doing something that we value.  When we spend our days doing things that we don’t care about or don’t want to do, that’s when life becomes frustrating.  We then go through life feeling irritated.

To feel serene and good about your life, you have to spend time each day doing things that align with your values.  So, every day should be spend doing something that matters to you.  Your priority should be to do at least one thing each day that makes you happy.  Or do something each day that you find to be emotionally, spiritually or intellectually rewarding.

Now, for each of us, that “one thing” will be very different.  As an example, I’m most at peace when I can spend some part of each day quietly writing or reading.  For you, that “one thing” may be playing the piano.  Or knitting.  Or painting.  Or gardening…

I could go on, but you get my point.  We’re all so different.  But what we have in common is the underlying need to do something each day that feeds our souls. 

So, be mindful that serenity doesn’t come from being productive.  Rather, it comes from wisely choosing to spend some of our time each day doing something that we value.

5. Close the Day with a Gentle Ritual

To have a serene life, it helps to have “end of the day” rituals.  These are rituals that allow the day to gently wind down.  After all, it’s much too stressful to go at full speed with work or chores until your head hits the pillow.  It also isn’t good to watch a noisy television show until you fall asleep.  Instead, you want to end your days peacefully.  You want to have a peaceful hour or two at the end of each day which signals to your brain that, “Now is the time to rest. The day is now complete.”

There are all kinds of rituals that you can implement to end your day peacefully.  You might end the day by sitting quietly and reading a couple of pages of a good book before going to bed.  Or, you might drink a cup of herbal tea in a comfy chair.  Or, you might knit or crochet while listening to classical music.

There are so many rituals to choose from to end the day serenely.  For example, every night, I end the day by meditating in the company of my rabbit.  I use the Calm App to guide my meditation, and I sit on the floor in his enclosure, while he hops around.  That ritual is grounding for me because it stops the “noise” of the world and brings me back to the things that truly matter to me:  My pets.  My husband.  My daughter.  My friends.  My lovely life at my peaceful house.   

The key is to create a rituals that allow you to gently close each day.  That kind of ritual tells brain that the day is done, and now is the time to rest.  By implementing gentle rituals to end the day, you can end your day with the same serenity with which you started it.

Realize that to create a serene life, you don’t need to do anything dramatic. You don’t need to leave society and sit on a hilltop.  Rather, you just need to implement approaches to make the life that you currently are living more peaceful and tranquil.  So, if  you are seeking to create a more serene life, consider following the simple practices above.  If you do, you’ll find that your life will become calmer, more peaceful and yes, more serene. (If you would like to read about how to create a slow life in a fast paced world, click here.)