Peace Projects
Peaceful communication
Think twice before snapping at other people, no matter how much you feel they are provoking you.
It is often a good idea to move away from negative people, wherever possible.
Practise speaking thoughtfully and with kindness.
There are many ways to help bring peace on earth.
Please feel free to try some of the following or make up
your own:
Growing peace on earth (a great idea for children!)
One lovely way is to create a “Peace Garden”. You don’t even need a garden - a window box or flower pot will work too. Simply dedicate an area to growing peace on earth. Be creative. Examples of plants which are often associated with peace and harmony are lavender, chamomile, geranium, olive - there are many you can use. You might prefer to choose peaceful colours. Crystals such as rose quartz, moonstone and black tourmaline can also be used. You might like to add some statuary such as a dove (often linked with peace) or a peaceful looking character. A “Welcome” sign could also represent peace and harmony. A friend of mine likes to sing into her creations to imbue them with particular energies - you could sing into your peace garden as a way of dedicating it to peace (see the mantras below for examples.)
Whatever you do, do it with the intention of anchoring peace on earth.
The wonderful thing about this is that every time you look at your peace garden, you will think about peace on earth and have peaceful thoughts; continually generating more peace on earth.
Other ideas: as above but with the garden dedicated to grounding and growing more love or more joy on earth. Cake making also lends itself well to this!
Walking mindfully
Get out into nature and walk gentle peace or love into the earth. Simply hold one of these states of being in your mind and heart as you walk, intending that it is fed into the earth for the earth to use as she wishes. Don’t strain to do this - be kind to yourself and the earth and know that even 30 seconds of mindful walking is beneficial.
Some lovely sound meditations
♥ Use of the mantra “Shanti” meaning peace
♥ Recitation of the word “Peace”
♥ Recitation of “Heal, soothe, calm”
A “Loving the Earth” Hug
One of my favourite visualisations is to imagine myself giving the earth a loving hug, in much the same way as you would hug someone you love enormously. It’s a hug full of heart-felt love and appreciation and joy! In my imaginings, I can extend this visualisation to imagine everyone on the earth, holding hands with the person nearest to them, giving a huge loving hug to the earth. Imagine if everyone did this!!
I come from a family of proud grudge bearers! In fact, despite being well educated, I did not learn what forgiveness was until I was in my mid 20s, when I finally found the courage to ask my dear friend, Liz (thanks Liz!) I can remember her telling me that it is when you feel that, whatever someone’s said or done, it’s OK. At the time, I found this very difficult to grasp. Because of my upbringing, it took some significant personal development work for me to understand and commit to the concept of forgiveness. These days, I can still get caught up in mental-emotional struggles following what can appear to be random attacks from other people. But, I find the following thoughts useful in helping me to practise forgiveness:
♥ We all make mistakes (if I can call it that) and I want to live in a world where that’s OK.
♥ I might make the same mistake myself someday (in fact, I might already have done so several times!) In that case, I hope others will be able to forgive me.
♥ I believe in projection. (If you’re not sure what this is and you’re into personal development, look it up - it’s really exciting!)
♥ And oneness. I believe that we are all connected as one (on a higher level) and I have experienced this in meditation. I wouldn’t resent my own foot if I tripped over; neither should I nurture resentments towards other people.
♥ And karma or the Law of Attraction. I believe, and have experienced many times, that what you focus on grows. As they say, “Energy flows where your attention goes”. Related to this is the concept of personal responsibility - that I am responsible for my own reality and can choose how to see things (though this can often be difficult for many of us.)
♥ Bearing grudges... inner rantings... going over and over your grievances... these things are not good for YOUR health. It just doesn’t improve anything for anyone. Also, in my opinion, pumping out this kind of negativity is not good globally and probably not very good karma for you either.
♥ Forgiving the person and accepting what has gone on and reaching a place of peace about that, does not mean I have to spend more time with her/him. I do not have to endure ongoing pain or discomfort. I can forgive her/him and still walk away if that is what I think is necessary to live a happy and healthy life.
If you have been struggling to find a point to forgiveness, I hope that the above thoughts might help you to commit to it. Unfortunately, in most cases, forgiveness does not ‘just happen’. I think that this is particularly difficult for a lot of spiritual people who are taught that they should be forgiving, but often end up suppressing their true feelings instead. Feelings are an essential part of being a wholly functioning human and they have to be felt; in my opinion, trying to by-pass them can be a recipe for dis-ease.
It would be nice if we could always resolve things directly with the people concerned but this is not always possible. Not everyone is open to discussion, the person may no longer be around or it may actually be ourselves that we really need to forgive. On the other hand, some events can be so painful or hook into us so deeply that normal conversation might not be enough to resolve them. If this is the case, there are many processes which can be helpful, including:
♥ Tie-cutting (you can ask good Healers for help with this). I’ve experienced extremely powerful results using this method. One significant tie-cutting was carried out for me over 10 years ago by Edwin Courtenay. I had been struggling for over a year to recover from a particularly painful trauma, and negative thoughts about this had seemed to ‘take root’ in my mind and had continued to perpetuate painful feelings for me. The tie-cutting changed me over-night to being at peace with the situation. The next day, I was noticeably able to experience joy again and people commented that I seemed like a different person. Quite simply, it freed me. Over 10 years later and I have not had to do any further work on this issue - it is done. Consequently, I consider tie-cutting to be a hugely powerful healing technique. It is possible to do-it-yourself, but if you feel you need specialist help, please contact an experienced healer.
♥ There are many excellent mind processes, including Time Line Therapy®, NLP and The Journey. I have found The Journey to be particularly effective at dealing with really painful, deep-rooted stuff.
♥ The Metta Bhavana - a Buddhist meditation involving developing loving kindness within ourselves. Lovely!
♥ Writing letters to get all your hurt out - you then destroy them (best not to send any until you’re clear.)
♥ Creative projects can be great - I’ve found crafting with home-made dough really helpful. I would not recommend eating anything created out of negative thoughts and feelings though - make it and then destroy it in the knowledge that you are transmuting the negativity.
One last thought...
People often expect unfairly high standards of behaviour from others, particularly those in positions of authority or influence. I came across the following statement years ago and have often found it helpful. (Sorry, I don’t know who said it first - please let me know if you do so I can credit them):
If God waited for everyone to be perfect, nothing would ever get done.
CELEBRATE International Peace Day - Tuesday, 21st September, 2010
It’s not too late! This is still a lovely opportunity to join me in generating more peace on earth. We are all responsible for our world and we can all make a difference! Whatever you do or have done in the name of peace, I’d love to see your photos (nothing rude please!) I will post the best ones here with a view to generating even more peace on earth.
Email your ‘Peace Photos’ to: julia@lovingtheearth.co.uk
Here are some ideas for you:
♥ Plant a Peace Garden (see above.)
♥ Dedicate a Dinner to Peace - a lovely gift for yourself and even better shared with
loved ones.
♥ Light a Candle and imagine peace and love glowing out around the world.
♥ Bake a Peace Cake and share it - you could use heart-shaped moulds, coloured
icing or just some lovely intentions.
♥ Bless a Bath - you can soak in Peace! Petals and leaves (eg. lavender, rose,
chamomile), salt, honey, essential oils and candles can all help to hold you in a peaceful space.
♥ Paint a Peaceful Picture for someone’s fridge.
♥ Smile at strangers.
♥ Make tea for your colleagues. Raise a Mug for Peace!
♥ Arrange a ‘mufti day’ at work - you can even raise money for charity or, if you’d prefer, peace cakes!
♥ Create a screensaver dedicated to Peace using images which represent peace to you.
♥ Walk in nature and savour the natural beauty around you.
♥ Bless your post before you send it - I like to draw a heart shape on the envelope with my finger.
♥ Bless your phone before you call someone - always a good opportunity to clean your handset!
♥ Dedicate your day to Peace in whatever ways feel really good to you and when you go to bed, review your wonderful contribution to the world and appreciate yourself for a job well done!
