With all of the noise in the air these days anxiety and stress have become the norm and connecting to the peace and strength within can become a huge challenge.  All of the news, gossip, traffic, construction and other noises from the outside world can distract us in our efforts to connect to the inside world.

So how do we release the anxiety and stress, reconnect to stillness, and find our way inside to serenity, calmness,  and peace.  
A common theme that I hear in therapy is that people feel they have to block things out to feel peaceful.  Perhaps, instead of working so hard to block things out, we need to become more adept at integrating all of that external hullabaloo (my spell check loved that one) as a way to connect to an inner quiet place. 

The more we try to block out the external world, the louder and more demanding it becomes, ripping away our feeling of contentment and injecting doubt and fear in it's place. 

One method that can effectively integrate this external stimuli is to stop and actually listen to it.  Notice all of the different sounds that are surrounding you, how they make you feel, and how they bounce off of one another. You may be surprised at how musical it will all become.

When we learn to integrate the rhythm of the world around us into our awareness we can quickly access a peaceful quiet energy and the world around will respond to that sense of peace and begin to lessen it's demands on our attention.