What is tranquility? There are countless possible answers to this question. The answer that a dictionary usually gives is this one. Tranquility is a state of the body, after exertion or a state in which there is no activity.
In itself also logical, because these are the moments where people think to experience peace and tranquillity. This definition mainly looks at the physical meaning of tranquillity. Literally not burning calories through work or effort. Of course, there is a core of truth in it if you take it very literally. Physically, if you don’t do anything, you have a moment of relaxation. At the same time you can still be very restless in your head. So the tranquility you experience is relative.
Tranquility is more than just doing nothing
So the deeper meaning of tranquillity, means tranquillity in your head. Getting this peace of mind in your head is very difficult for many people. Think of people who are overworked, have had a burn-out, are in a depression. You can recover very well from physical exertion by sleeping. Recovery from a burn-out or depression takes months and for some people even years. So these 2 forms of rest are very different. Tranquillity in your life is a combination of mental and physical tranquillity. But what if you can no longer take that physical rest due to, for example, stress.
The good news is that actually everyone can reach that spiritual tranquility in his/her head. Many people who have recovered from a burn-out have begun to live differently and are no longer or much less troubled by it. This is not just something you quickly ‘fix’. A feeling of tranquillity is not something you achieve by doing things, but by letting things go. The more you literally look for tranquility, the less you will experience or find it.
Buddhist masters from India also experience things they would rather avoid. Earthquakes are of all times. The trick is to deal with them and keep your tranquility. That is an art that these masters have learned. An art that you can learn as well, to stay calm. If that’s what you really want deep inside of yourself.
Meditate to experience tranquility
Meditating can be a first step to experiencing a sense of tranquility. Meditating is not difficult and you don’t have to study for it. Just start and step by step you will be better and able to experience tranquility during your meditation. There are many forms and interpretations of meditation. A Zen master from India once told us. The most important meditation is to stop the thoughts in your head. Literally stillness in your head. Not thinking about anything at all. No thoughts, feelings or emotions in your head that makes you restless.
However, many people are completely absorbed by thoughts in their head. Sometimes those emotions and thoughts go that far that you are not even aware of other people or the environment anymore. Thoughts about that annoying colleague at work, outrage about a girlfriend who has more thumbs up on social media, and so on. Reduce the amount of thoughts in your head and get rid of them. Doing this is going to give you a lot of peace and tranquillity.
Stay alert
Sometimes you’re not quite in control. Take the people around you who are constantly looking for attention or confirmation. Before you know it, you go along with it and there are even many more thoughts in your head. Do you think this skirt looks good on me? What do you think of my new car? Or people who like to whine all day. Whining about all kinds of problems, but don’t want a solution. You can’t whine about a solved problem anymore and that means less attention. So make sure you don’t get dragged into the negativity of such people.
Materialism often leads to restlessness
Materialism is an important source of stress and lot’s of unrest. That colleague showing you his new car. Before you know it, you want a car like that yourself. Or even worse, I won’t be happy until I have a car like that. No more tranquillity in your life until you have that car. Has everyone seen that I’m important because I have a big car? A derivative of that often applies to families with young children. My children have to be the best at the sports club, at music class, at school, just anywhere. There are only 3 runners on the podium at the finish of a marathon. If you are only happy when you are on the podium, you can calculate for yourself how much impatience you can expect. Only one can win, and the majority of the participants will never be in his/her footsteps.
The ideal picture doesn’t excist
Another major source of much unrest in your life. You don’t fit the ideal picture. There aren’t that many women with “the ideal body” in the Western world. In short, a lot of unrest if you don’t have one. By the way, most men prefer to see beautiful curves. Very few men have a muscular body with a ‘six pack’. Most women would rather prefer an arm around them than a partner with the ideal body shape.
In short, how realistic is all this unrest. Have peace with who you are and what you look like: self-acceptance and self-compassion are the key words. Are you going to be happy with what you have, or unhappy about what you don’t have? You can make that choice yourself.
Not more, but less
So the basis for tranquillity in your head is to stop doing a lot of things. Satisfaction with who and what you are and with what you have. Not letting others distract you from your goals. That also means quitting to do a lot of things. Making time for relaxation still means a full agenda. After all, you only need to make time for relaxation when something is full. Don’t mind doing nothing for one or more evenings a week. It doesn’t make you less important, but it does give you more tranquillity. Your (real) friends still like you. The moments you are with them, you are more energetic and therefore more likely to have fun with them!
Through relaxation in your head, your body will also be able to relax more and you will sleep better. This will improve the processes in your body such as your digestion. But also your overall condition will improve. If there is tranquillity in your head, there is also space for new things. Because you don’t think all day long anymore, you usually become more creative and will make fewer mistakes. There is also space in your head for new initiatives. You will get the feeling that you are alive and kicking and not being lived anymore.
The feeling of tranquillity
Ultimately, tranquillity is a feeling, a flow of energy that accesses you. That feeling of tranquility requires practice and a willingness to achieve it. Compare it with professional caregivers, such as trauma doctors. They are practiced and trained to keep their peace in case of, for example, a serious accident. They don’t panic and do the right things to give casualties the best care. It is precisely by maintaining this peace and tranquillity that they are much more effective in their work.
The sensation of real tranquility, is feeling your body to the very core of who you are. There is no more stress and you are able to relax into every fibre of your body. YOU CAN LEARN THAT AS WELL…
When tranquillity is there, you will also be able to take the next steps towards confidence, strength and insight. Together they are the basic ingredients for a different lifestyle. If your tranquillity is not powerful enough, the foundation on which the rest is built won’t be solid either. If it”s really there, you will be able to have confidence in life.
From tranquillity to confidence
Trust that life brings the right things to your path. Some bad things can still happen and not everything will go well. However, from tranquility, the way you deal with it, has changed fundamentally. You accept what is and what happens and let things go. there can still be things that touch us deeply, for example the loss of a loved one. However, you are now able to deal with that sadness, instead of the sadness is determining how you deal with it.
Confidence is the next step if you have gained enough tranquility.