Introduction: Where can I find peace and mind?

Since making meditation a daily habit, I’ve found it easier to return to a calm and centered place.
Just five quiet minutes in the morning, and a few still moments before bed.
Listening to the sounds in the Gassho app has helped me connect with a deep sense of stillness inside.

And yet, there are still days when waves of anxiety come crashing in.
I scroll through social media and feel restless. I rush through my schedule and lose all sense of spaciousness.
Even with time set aside for quiet, my mind refuses to settle.
I think many of us know what that feels like.

Peace and mind aren’t a destination you arrive at once and for all.
They’re something we return to—over and over again—in the middle of our ordinary lives.
That’s what I’ve come to believe.

In this post, I’d like to share three simple practices that help me gently come back to peace and mind.

 A Midday Reset: One Minute to Recenter Your Mindset

Even if the morning feels calm, the rest of the day often pulls us in all directions—
especially when we’re caught in the flood of social media and appointments.
When that happens, my heart starts drifting toward other people’s pace instead of my own.

So I take a conscious one-minute pause.
Just a minute—to reset my mindset.

(By “mindset,” I mean the way I view things—my mental and emotional stance.
As I wrote in a previous post, it’s a way of reconnecting with your own center.)

Here’s how I do it:

・Open the Gassho app and play a sound—chanting, nature sounds, or anything that feels calming.
・Close your eyes and focus on the sound.
・Don’t worry about your breath. Just listen.

That one minute gently brings your scattered thoughts back to a softer, more grounded perspective.
It helps you return to your own inner rhythm.
Even a minute can shift the mood of the entire afternoon.

Gentle Self-Talk: Cultivating Peace and Mind with Words

I used to be so sensitive to what others said—
but completely unaware of how I talked to myself.
“You’re not doing enough.” “You need to work harder.”
One day, I realized I was repeating these harsh inner lines without even noticing.

So I began changing the way I spoke to myself.

For example:

・“I’m moving at my own pace.”
・“There’s nothing wrong with how I am right now.”
・“I don’t need to be perfect. Let me appreciate what I have done.”

No one taught me these phrases.
They just came to me naturally during my morning and evening meditations.
When I made space for silence, I started hearing a softer voice from within.

When I speak those words to myself, I feel my shoulders relax.
And little by little, I begin to feel, “I’m okay.”
Peace and mind are nurtured by the way we talk to ourselves—with kindness and compassion.

Letting Go at Night: A Meditation to Embrace and Release Your Emotions

Each night, I sit in quiet meditation,
listening to the gentle sounds on the Gassho app—chanting, nature, or the soft-spoken voice of the head monk.
It’s my way of wrapping up the day and coming back to myself.

But even in stillness, thoughts and emotions from the day often continue to spin in my head.

So I do something simple:
I name just one feeling from the day.

For example:

・“I tried too hard to please others.”
・“I was harder on myself than I realized.”
・“I gave it my all, but it didn’t quite land.”

Instead of judging the feeling, I just acknowledge it gently:
“Oh, so that’s how today was.”
Then, as I listen to the sound, I quietly let it go.

Just this small act of emotional reflection changes how I wake up the next morning.
My heart feels lighter. Quieter.
It’s as if I was able to set down a heavy bag I didn’t even know I was carrying.

For me, the sounds in Gassho are gentle companions on the path of letting go—
and coming back to peace and mind.

Peace and Mind Are Found in the Everyday

I used to think “peace of mind” meant a perfect life—
no worries, everything going smoothly, smiling every day.
If life didn’t look like that, I thought I wasn’t at peace.

But now I see it differently.
Peace and mind are not about being perfect.
They’re about having a place to return to, no matter how we feel.
Even if we’re tired, overwhelmed, or discouraged,
we can come back to our quiet selves through small, steady habits.

That ability to return—that is what peace and mind mean to me now.

Closing: What’s Your Way of Returning?

On anxious days, or on nights when tears feel close,
there’s always a seed of peace and mind waiting quietly inside us.

To notice it, all we need is a little time to pause.
Listening to sound. Feeling your breath. Speaking kindly to yourself.
Simple practices—but ones that can shift everything.

If your heart feels unsettled today,
let the Gassho app guide you back.
Let the chanting, the nature sounds, and the monk’s gentle voice lead you home—
to peace and mind within.

A Small Step You Can Take Today

・Close your eyes and listen to a nature sound for one minute.
・Whisper to yourself, “I’m okay just as I am.”
・Gently name one feeling you experienced today.

Even that small act can create a quiet space for peace and mind to return.

In the next post, I’ll introduce a breathing method based on Susokukan,
a traditional practice taught by the head monk featured in the Gassho app.
Are you going through life with shallow breaths?
By deepening your breath, you can shift your mental and emotional state.
I’ll share more soon—gently and slowly—so I hope you’ll come read it again.

Team Gassho – Yuka