Rethinking Personal Peace

Finding Stillness in the Midst of Battle

If I ask you to conjure up an image of peace, what would picture? Would it be loud or quiet? Stormy or calm? What about colours: light or dark? Is it day or night? 

We often think of peace as quietness, calm, and stillness—a serene escape from the world’s noise and on the inside we probably expect a kind of clarity, where we aren’t tortured by a mind in conflict.

What if peace is something outside of our expectation?

What if peace could be found in other ways that don’t require us to retreat from the chaos but encourage us to develop ways to find clarity and purpose within the chaos? 

In yoga, one of the most fundamental philosophical underpinnings comes from the Bhagavad Gita. It offers a powerful example: it’s a spiritual text, yes, but set on a battlefield... Which becomes clear, is no accident, rather a deliberate allegory, that reveals layers of commentary on the human condition that can only be described as universal. Our protagonist, Arjuna, faces an inner storm of doubt and fear, learns that peace isn’t the absence of struggle: It’s about stepping into the fray with intention, and resilience despite the inner turmoil, in spite of the absence of clarity. 

I thought about this midweek as the world awoke to the election as it unfolded in the U.S. The collective disappointment — dread, fear, panic, exhaustion. The news felt overwhelming and each new headline added a greasy weight in my queasy stomach already struggling to digest the rest. The stakes felt high and uncertainty will pave the road forward once again. It all felt too precarious and too large. Like many, I found myself wondering: What will this mean for us, for the people I care about, for the future of things?

Amidst the noise, though, something beautiful happened. A number of friends and family members reached out, checking in with each other, offering words of support, small reassurances, and even a shared laugh. The election had stirred up a need to connect, to hold each other close in the uncertainty. The kindness and warmth of those exchanges reminded me of something profound: peace is not the absence of turmoil; it’s the presence of love and connection, even when the world feels like it’s falling apart. Even if it is falling apart. 

The Inner Battlefield: Finding Peace Amidst Turmoil

In the Gita, Arjuna’s battlefield is both literal and internal. He grapples with the moral weight of his choices, the pull of his emotions, and the complexity of what he feels is his duty. All of us have our own inner battlefields, places where doubt, fear, and hope collide in the primordial soup which holds the greatest of potential. During these times, election and wider, my own mind often feels like the battlefield—a back-and-forth between worry and the glimmers of hope. The news this week a reminder that peace is rarely about quieting the noise; it’s about learning to stay grounded amidst it. Can we rethinking peace and finding contentment in the midst of or personal battles?

I’ve realised, that finding peace isn’t about turning away from what frightens us. It’s about finding courage to engage, even when it’s hard. We may not be able to control the outer battles, the headlines, or the actions of others and these things will probably always feel hurtful. Can choose how we show up for ourselves, how we support others around us, and how we nurture our own resilience? Can we continue to engage with those around us even when we feel at odds with their own values?

Taking Action Amidst the Noise

It’s a misconception that peace requires passivity, that it’s a softening or withdrawing from life’s demands. On this, the Gita suggests that peace is found in taking action, even when that action feels daunting or imperfect. During this time, I found peace not by avoiding the news or retreating into solitude, but by reaching out—connecting with others, sharing in the hope that, perhaps, this will be the last time we face such uncertainty over one person’s influence. That influence in this instance is constructed through insecurity and as such is just as fragile as anything else. 

It is in these conversations, that I found an unexpected reassurance. A reminder that even in the noise of our collective anxiety, there is beauty in our ability to come together, to hold each other through life’s battles.

I think this is the essence of what the Gita teaches: peace is not a retreat; it’s an active engagement; a process. It’s finding purpose amidst the noise and knowing that our actions, however small, carry influences in ways that are too complex to really unerstand.

Peace as Connection and Hope

Despite the fears, there was something deeply human that emerged from this experience: even if I would have preferred them to show up in a different way. The instinct to reach out, to check in, to hold space for each other was, in itself, a form of peace. In these moments of connection, we find warmth and joy that no headline can take away. This is peace—not as

serenity, but as a fierce, quiet strength that binds us to each other.

Yoga teaches us that peace isn’t a destination or a single, unwavering feeling or even show up in ways we are expecting. Maybe peace, as Yoga teaches, comes as daily does of the resilience we require to keep facing our battles with courage and the willingness to remain connected to each other amidst it.