Mindful Monday: Choosing Inner Peace
Lately, in my interactions with people, a recurring theme has been surfacing—one that feels timely and essential:
The power of being present in the here and now—and how we can access peace in simple, everyday ways.
Being present doesn’t need to be another task to perfect or a skill to master. Quite the opposite.
It’s not something we do—it’s something we allow.
I can share insights and stories from my journey, but the real transformation happens when people feel it for themselves. When they share their experiences of presence, it becomes real. It becomes alive. And this is why I love what I do.
This past week, I offered a mindfulness session called The Power of the Pause at a leadership summit for Sifton Properties—a forward-thinking, community-rooted company in London that continues to lead with heart and innovation.
At first, the energy in the room was buzzing—people flowing in from another session.
Then I gently invited them to settle…
Just for a moment.
To notice their body in the chair.
Simple.
We sit every day, but how often do we actually feel the chair beneath us?
Feet on the floor. Back supported. Body at rest.
I practice this throughout my day, just pausing and noticing.
Then, we meditated for a few quiet minutes.
There was nothing to achieve. Nowhere to go. No A+ waiting at the end.
And that alone can be challenging in a culture wired for striving and external validation.
When I invited everyone to open their eyes, the shift in the room was palpable.
Stillness. Peace. Presence.
It always touches my heart to witness how even a few minutes of meditation can create such a profound impact—individually and collectively.
It’s powerful.
When I asked the group to share one word to describe how they felt, I heard:
“Peaceful, content, relaxed, clear…”
That kind of shift, in just a few minutes, at a busy conference, speaks volumes.
One participant shared something that really stood out.
At first, he was irritated by the noise of people talking outside our room. It felt like it was taking his peace away. But as he continued practicing, something shifted. The noise faded into the background as he relaxed more into the moment.
When I asked him how that made him feel, he said: “In control.”
Because he realized that what others were doing didn’t have to take his peace away, when his focus had turned inward, all he was aware of was silence.
I can talk about mindfulness all day, but hearing it from someone’s direct experience?
That is powerful.
A simple practice for a few minutes had a profound impact.
We often chase peace as if it’s somewhere “out there.”
We try to fix things, people, and even ourselves, but that striving only adds to our stress.
Peace becomes a future moment we never quite reach.
I remember a teacher once talking to me about this, but at the time, I didn’t fully grasp it. It wasn’t meant to be understood—it was meant to be experienced.
Still, a seed was planted, and over time, I began to notice just how much of my day was spent striving for peace.
That was just life—until it wasn’t.
Now, I feel the shift within myself. And I see it ripple out in others.
We’ve become human doings instead of human beings.
But there is another way.
Mindfulness is available to everyone.
There’s always an opportunity to reconnect with the present—
whether we’re sitting, walking, driving, talking, eating, feeling… simply living.
And the benefits?
They’re deep.
The mind is like an ocean. On the surface, there are waves—sometimes calm, sometimes stormy. Our thoughts and emotions live there too, rising and falling.
But when we dive deeper, what do we find?
Stillness. Peace.
Practicing mindfulness is like diving beneath the waves. Discovering the treasure that was always there.
It’s a choice.
It’s empowering.
It’s life-changing.
And as we cultivate a consistent practice, it becomes more than a concept we read in a book or hear on a podcast.
We experience it. We live it.
We realize that everything we need to feel peace already lives within us.
With love,
Diane