THE TOP 10 WAYS TO CULTIVATE INNER PEACE IN TROUBLED TIMES (c) Christine Morris, Ph.D.

1. Get out of your head and into your body. Do you know how your arm throws a softball or how you fall asleep at night? No, and neither do you "know" (in your head, that is) how you find peace. Your body is your best guide here. What does peace feel like in your body? Which activities (or non-activities) cultivate peaceful sensations for you?

2. Create space in your life. On a weekly basis, review the upcoming week and schedule one or two blocks of time for "peace." Resist planning for this time. Allow yourself to do or not do whatever feels most peaceful in that moment.

3. Set the scene. When you wake up in the morning, take time to set an intention of peace for the day. Imagine how you want to feel and be. Know that peacefulness is a choice you can make, regardless of the situations you encounter during the day. Pray, meditate, or simply drink your hot tea . . . with the intention of setting the scene for peace.

4. Put down your hammer. One of the biggest obstacles to peacefulness is our inner compulsion to "do" constantly and to try to "fix" things -- situations, people, etc. Step back from stressful situations in order to notice your own thoughts and feelings without judgment. Give yourself permission to leave the world alone and go within.

5. Take a deep breath. Have you ever noticed how shallow and quick your breathing becomes when you are stressed? Taking long, slow deep breaths is a way to signal to your body that you want peace.

6. Notice nature. Get outside at least once a day for a short walk. Notice how nature all around you is in the midst of seasonal change. Imagine the peacefulness of trees and plants in the natural world. Notice how gradually and peacefully change occurs. Be patient with your process of cultivating peace.

7. Light a candle. Choose a ritual, such as lighting a candle, that represents experiencing peace. When you look at the flame, imagine a white flame of peace that always resides in you.

8. Hug your loved ones. It feels good to be loving and affectionate. It's also good for our relationships!

9. Choose your next thought carefully! What are you thinking about when you are in turmoil? What situations are you imagining? If you want to sustain peace in your life, you must learn to release troubling thoughts and to replace them with more peaceful thoughts and images. Say to yourself or out loud, "In this situation, I want peace."

10. Let the floor support you! Deep physical relaxation is a wonderful way to cultivate inner peace. At the end of a long day, I love to lay on the floor, drape my legs over the sofa, close my eyes, breathe deeply, and simply feel the support of the floor beneath me. I focus on letting go of all muscle tension. Relax, let the floor support you for a while! Author Profile: Submitted by Christine Morris, Ph.D., who can be reached at cmorris@howardcc.edu

Oh my goodness!  Time is getting close!  I have only a few days before the competition.  I am getting even more used to the bow, and the strings are starting to break in.  My pieces sound good, my run throughs are good, and practicing is good too.  My arm is better, and I am just ready to go and show them what I have.  Please send me good vibes!

Thank you universe in advance for allowing my body, mind, and spirit to be one with the music, and play my heart out, to move people.
Thank you universe for this wonderful journey for preparing for this competition.
Thank you universe for giving me such confidence.
Thank you unverse for giving me such a wonderful and supportive boyfriend who is helping me sound better everyday.
Thank you for a great run through again tomorrow.

Hello everyone,

Today was a much better day. My bow is starting to adopt to me and vice versa. I am starting to relearn how to play and the bow hair is starting to break in. My arm was unfortunately hurting today due to not knowing the mechanics of my bow, and I forced it yesterday when I played through. Today because of the slight pain, it forced me to play soft, and in return, my instrument gave me a bigger sound! You see, even in music making, you have to “allow” for a good sound. You can't force.

Did my run through and this time, it was even better. I am starting to be one with the music. My boyfriend who is also a musician is being super critical, which is good. Because it will bring me to that highest level of playing in 4 days! Wow!

After today, I am feeling pretty good. I have come to a couple of realizations. Not only do I have to affirm, visualize etc to win, but also, I have to hear these pieces of music in my head first, and put feelings to it first. Sounds like the Secret, right? Well, this was actually something I knew before I even knew about the LOA. It struck me one day after I went to a big museum. And I was just amazed at how all these famous artists can create these amazing sculptures, and paintings and collages seemingly out of nowhere. How do they do that? I came to the realization that they knew exactly what they had in mind before they started. Or perhaps they just let their inner creativity guide them throughout the process. Well, it's the same thing for me. I have to have each piece of music exactly as I want it to go in my head before I even touch my instrument. Also, I need to know what kind emotion and feeling it should convey. And connecting those two together, and I just let my body follow the sound that I hear and the picture I see in my mind and the creative instinct in my body, then comes a beautiful sound out of my instrument. Today it was the proof that's how it should happen. Wow I was on the subway, I was thinking about how the Debussy should feel and sound like. And I got rid of my own limitations. Instead of thinking how well I can achieve it, I imagined the best case scenario. I imagined that I was the most famous musician in the world. If he were to play that piece, how would it sound? Ah ha!!! That's how I will sound then. That was really a revelation to me. I realized that I had put limitations on my own creativity, sound qualities, and power based on what I think I can achieve only. As soon as I started pretending I was that really famous person, instantly in my head, I sounded a hell lot better. And in return in the run through today, I played like that famous person!

Bottom line, don't limit what you think you can achieve. Sometimes we don't even know that we do that. If we encounter a certain situation, think about what a certain mentor or a person we admire would do. This was a great learning lesson.