You cannot buy peace; you must know how to manufacture it within, in the stillness of your daily practices in meditation.
— Paramahansa Yogananda
On this page you will find techniques and guided meditations, drawing from the wisdom-trove of Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings, to help you begin right now to “manufacture” peace within yourself by:
- Relaxing the body (removing tension from the muscles)
- Creating a protective moment of silence for mental relaxation
- Anchoring yourself in calmness
- Diving into longer guided meditations on inner peace
- Absorbing wisdom from Sri Mrinalini Mata for holding on to your peace
You can draw from the contents of this page in whatever order you please. Of course the best course of action would be to apply daily the methods given here or other instructions from Paramahansaji for knowing and sharing peace — as everything you experience will be deepened by regular repetition and practice.
Relax the Body to Invite Peace and Go Within
Paramahansa Yogananda teaches that “a body that is relaxed and calm invites mental peace, which is necessary for meditation, the spiritual art of communion with God.” In his book Inner Peace: How to Be Calmly Active and Actively Calm, he shares the following techniques for relaxing the body (which are simplified instructions based on the science of recharging the body and promoting perfect relaxation that he teaches in full in the Yogoda Satsanga Lessons):
- Tense with will: By command of will, direct the life energy (through the process of tension) to flood the body or any body part. Feel the energy vibrating there, energizing and revitalizing.
- Relax and feel: Relax the tension, and feel the soothing tingle of new life and vitality in the recharged area. Feel that you are not the body; you are that life which sustains the body. Feel the peace, the freedom, the increased awareness that comes with the calmness produced by the practice of this technique.
- Repeat 3 times, at any time you feel weak and nervous:
(a) Inhale, holding the breath.
(b) Gently contract the entire body, all muscles at once.
(c) Hold the contraction for a count of 1 to 20, with deep attention on the entire body.
(d) Exhale, releasing the contraction.
Create a Moment of Spiritualized Silence in Your Busy Day — Mental Relaxation
In this video clip, SRF sannyasini Brahmani Mai shares a very short exercise from Paramahansa Yogananda’s YSS Lessons to induce mental relaxation and create a moment of silence, a protective pause in the midst of our busy daily activities, so we can experience — even for a minute or less — peaceful contact with the Divine that can become a sustaining influence on our mental state and well-being.
Anchor Yourself in Calmness — Guided Meditation (approx. 15 minutes)
Self-Realization Fellowship sannyasini Karuna Mai leads a guided meditation on anchoring oneself in the peace of meditation. This meditation incorporates an affirmation and visualization by Paramahansa Yogananda from Inner Peace: How to Be Calmly Active and Actively Calm.
When you think you have reached the utmost depths of silence and calmness, go deeper still.
— Paramahansa Yogananda
Dive Deep Into Inner Peace — Guided Meditation (approx. 30 minutes)
Self-Realization Fellowship sannyasi Swami Sevananda Giri leads a guided meditation on inner peace, inviting you to experience the depths of peace found in a meditation and affirmation given by Paramahansa Yogananda. As Paramahansaji has said: “Through the intuition of your soul feel the manifestation of God bursting through the clouds of your restlessness as great peace and joy.”
The meditation includes a longer version of the following affirmation, which you can also practise on your own at any time you wish to manifest more peace in your life and the world:
Peace fills my body; peace fills my heart and dwells within my love; peace within, without, everywhere.
Infinite peace surrounds my life and permeates all the moments of my existence.
Peace unto myself; peace unto my family; peace unto my nation; peace unto my world; peace unto my cosmos.
Hold On to Your Peace — And a Way to Bring It Back When You Forget
As we go through life we are often faced with daily challenges that seem to cause us to have to let go of the peace we have gained in meditation, substituting instead feelings of frustration or confusion.
But as Sri Sri Mrinalini Mata, beloved fourth president of YSS/SRF, explains in the following short clip from her satsanga at the 2011 SRF World Convocation, we always have in that moment a powerful choice and way of practising the Divine presence which will allow us to reestablish ourselves in the state of peace whenever it slips away.
You can glimpse from this small toolkit how much peace is available to you, from within, right now. By repeated daily practice a previously hidden and untapped reservoir of peace can become a constant positive and flowing force in your life.
But this toolkit only begins to take you to the fathomless depths of peace that can be experienced by putting Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings into practise. If you wish to go much deeper, we suggest you learn more about and consider enrolling for the Yogoda Satsanga Lessons — Paramahansaji’s complete instructions in meditation techniques and a comprehensive way of life that can lead you directly to the unending fountain of peace and bliss within your soul.
Teach me to find Thy presence on the altar of my constant peace and in the joy that springs from deep meditation.
—Paramahansa Yogananda
