How to Maintain Inner Peace (While Still Taking Action) When the World is in Chaos

Let’s talk about how to maintain inner peace in a chaotic world.

Be it a worldwide pandemic, war, climate disasters, pollution, poverty, starvation, or unemployment, tragedies are always present somewhere in the world. While you lie safely and comfortably in bed reading about mental health, someone else is lying on a street, cold and hungry. And while you suffer from a stressful job, someone else is suffering from a stressful war (like with bombs, blood, and battles; not greedy bosses or steep deadlines).

Despite the inequality and incomparability of global issues, all feelings involved are valid. Disruption of peace arises within everyone touched by any kind of tragedy or chaos. Perspective is everything when it comes to how world events affect your mental health. For example, a privileged, wealthy individual with a stressful job could be more unhappy than the person who is cold and hungry on the street. It depends on how people view their situation. To find peace inside yourself, you have to shift your view to a more positive and (obviously) peaceful one. There are many ways to do this, and we’ll get to that soon!

Pain & Peace

A chaotic world. Finding inner peace. Even though these two topics are big, complex grayscales, I want to try to simplify this article’s prompt by looking at it on two ends of the spectrum. When the world is in chaos and we’re feeling extraordinarily unpeaceful, there are two things we can do, and both are reasonable.

1. We can sit in our emotional pain and let the world’s horrors weigh us down. 

2. We can find peace within the chaotic world. 

Sometimes it’s good to feel pain. 

Before we discover how to lower stress levels amidst the chaos, let’s sit in our pain for one cold moment. Sometimes you should embrace your negative emotions with a big hug. Your feelings are valid, and they are trying to teach you something. 

When the world is in chaos and the news and social media are plaguing your brain with terrifying stories, your heart beats in echoes of hopelessness and anxiety. Even if the hardships are thousands of miles away, they still affect you. You’re sick with worry, heavy with compassion, and frozen in time. Just knowing that people are struggling, fighting, starving, or dying is enough to remove the peace in your life.

And you know, it’s a humane thing that we feel this much. Your negative emotions are teaching you that it’s horribly wrong for the world to be in chaos. It’s good that you feel pain when world events are destroying people’s lives. These negative feelings that arise in response to tragedy will propel you to initiate change, comfort others, learn more about the world, and experience a deeper appreciation for life.

Sit in your emotional pain. Let the world’s horrors weigh you down for a short moment before you shift your perspective to find inner peace.

You deserve to feel peaceful.

The world’s horrors are going to weigh us down if we have a heart that beats for others. But don’t forget this fact. You deserve to feel good even when others are suffering. I’m not suggesting that you should nonchalantly set the world’s problems aside and live safely and ignorantly in your bubble. I’m saying that you deserve to take care of yourself even though other people aren’t being well taken care of.

How will you be able to spark change and help others if you are immobile? Why don’t you deserve to feel moments of peace just as much as the people you’re worried about?

I understand so well the feelings of guilt that arise when you’re living safely and happily while others’ homes are being bombed and families are being separated. But your guilt and immobility aren’t going to help the suffering individuals.

Maintaining inner peace is not only going to improve your mental health (which you so deserve), it’s going to assist you in taking action for others. You deserve to feel calm despite the chaos. Here are 14 ways to calm your mind during turbulent times.

Tips for How to Find Peace Amidst the World’s Chaos

Set boundaries on how you receive news.

Evaluate your news source and determine what works for you. There are news sources with strong biases and sources that simply lay out the facts and let you form your own opinions. There are news sources heavy on world events and sources that prioritize the business, sports, or fashion industries. Make sure you’re hearing from a news source that is right for you.

Additionally, the delivery of your news plays an important role in how you’re going to feel after absorbing the information. If graphic videos cause you great discomfort, try turning off the tv and reading your news via email or listening to the news via podcast.

If it’s any help, I get my news from Morning Brew. They’re heavy on business topics, maintain a fairly unbiased view, always touch on big world events, and have a light, humorous, and occasionally sarcastic tone that I so appreciate. I receive a daily email from them, but I do not read it every day. I take breaks for my mental health and stay informed at my own pace.

Take a break from social media.

You already know what is going on in the world if you read, watch, or listen to the news. You don’t need to hear everyone else’s opinion about it on social media. We all have a love/hate relationship with Instagram, TikTok, and the like, don’t we? Entertaining videos and updates on friends’ lives are great, but the comparison game and mean, opinionated comments are the worst. 

Temporarily deleting your social media apps during chaotic times will turn off the noise and reduce the influence on your decision-making. Without hearing others’ opinions, you’ll feel less conflicted about how to feel and just form your opinions on your own! Embrace the peace that settles in your mind when you break that destructive habit of mindlessly scrolling.

Practice meditation and mindfulness.

To find peace in the moment, get into a habit of practicing mindfulness. This is a mental state that allows you to pay attention to the present. When you’re being mindful, you’re aware of your current surroundings, thoughts, and feelings. 

Meditation is a mindful act of achieving deep focus and thought. From guided meditations to transcendental meditation, there are many ways to achieve this peaceful state of mind. Try listening to an app like Headspace, which guides you to focus on your breath and turn off your thoughts. Be gentle with yourself, as meditation takes a lot of practice before you can successfully quiet that chaotic brain.

Another form of mindfulness that will calm you is taking a walk outside. Pay close attention to your five senses as you stroll through nature. This act will help to stop the cycle of anxiety and other negative emotions. The habit of paying attention to the now, will remind your stressed out brain that you’re actually perfectly safe at the moment.

Immerse yourself in nature.

In my experience, there is nothing more peaceful than immersing myself in nature. When I’m extra stressed and feeling the peace drain from my body, I re-energize by hiking in the woods or strolling along a beach that borders the Pacific Ocean or a big lake. Large bodies of water are healing. Water restores energy and calmness in many people. 

Mountain peaks allow me to view the world from above, reminding me of how small my problems are and how expansive this world and the opportunities within it truly are. Surrounding yourself with trees, wildlife, dirt, and beautiful landscapes is quite literally the most grounding experience.

Mental Health Blog Disclaimer

I am not a medical professional, therapist, or mental healthcare professional. The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only, comes from my own personal experiences, and may be read, interpreted, and practiced at your own risk. Do not rely on this information as a substitute to medical advice or treatment from a healthcare professional.

Exercise, stretch, and stick to a healthy diet.

I’m no doctor, but I’m a human with a lot of practice combating anxiety. When I stick to a healthy diet and exercise schedule for a long time (at least a month), my mental health blossoms like a flower. Seriously, life becomes so much more peaceful. 

Whatever a healthy diet means for you (because we all have different minds and bodies), find the discipline to stick to it! Likewise, find an exercise routine that works for you and commit to at least 30 minutes of moving your body four times per week. Your body and mind will thank you for being healthy during tumultuous times. 

Express your feelings and worries.

No need to bottle up an inevitable explosion. Share your thoughts and feelings with people you trust. Verbally communicate with someone who has good listening skills and feedback. If the world is in chaos, many other people likely feel the same way as you. Sometimes misery loves company, so vent the frustration, worry, and fear off your chest. Or at least open up to yourself. Journaling your thoughts and feelings is also a great way to destress and lighten the load of anxiety that’s sitting on your chest.

List your gratitudes. 

During times of chaos, we dwell on the negative. It’s an unfortunate human trait we’ve all inherited. We forget how abundant we are and how many opportunities exist in our lives when we watch a tragedy unfold in front of us. Take time to write down or verbally express the things you are grateful for. 

I’ve gotten into a beautiful habit of doing this after joining a month-long Gratitude Challenge set up by my absolute sunshine of a friend, Maggie. Recently, I was driving across the desert alone, feeling extra anxious for whatever reason. To combat the irrational negative feelings, I spent one entire hour of my drive talking out loud to myself about everything I could think of that I was grateful for. Magic happened. I went from feeling endangered to feeling abundant with love, peace, and fulfillment!

The more you talk about positivity, the more grateful and peaceful you will feel. From the energizing sip of coffee in the morning to your access to healthcare to your loving support system, you are the luckiest person alive.

Give back to your community and support charitable organizations.

To simultaneously take action and lower your stress levels, spend time giving back to your community or supporting organizations that will help the people suffering. Joining groups of people fighting for the same cause is the perfect way to break you out of your frozen, chaotic mind. This is how you can help! Google search charities near you that are taking action to help the global issue you’re totally freaking out about.

Create something with your hands.

For creative, antsy, or distracted individuals, here’s how to lower stress levels. Get artistic! Use your hands to create something, whether it’s a watercolor painting, live edge wood project, herb garden, cherry pie, or an emotional journal entry. Creating art is a mindful practice that will remove you from the world for a moment and place you in an artistic flow state. Plus, the most beautiful art projects come from feeling big, heavy emotions. 

Explore the art of escapism. 

You deserve a break. To add to the creative stress reducers, escapism can be a very healthy practice when you’re stressed. You deserve to break free from negativity by temporarily escaping into a happier, more interesting world. Read a book, watch a tv show, create art, or travel somewhere new. Getting lost in a different world or getting out of the normal routine are great ways to see a new perspective and view the situation from a different angle. A new environment, whether it’s inside a novel or in the mountains, can be a peaceful distraction.

Surround yourself with people who make you feel safe, warm, and happy.

To conclude this list of peaceful suggestions, surround yourself with peaceful, loving, supportive people. Your family, friends, co-workers, and therapists are here to lift you up, listen to you, and make you feel safe and loved. You are in control of who you spend time with. Choose peaceful people to increase the peacefulness in your life.