Simple Daily Practice for Inner Peace

The One-Line Answer

A simple daily practice for inner peace takes just 10 minutes: sit quietly for 2 minutes of breath awareness, then 5 minutes of self-inquiry (“Who am I?”), then 3 minutes of resting as awareness—plus 10-second pauses throughout the day to ask “Who is aware right now?”—no special equipment, no beliefs required, and you can start today.

In one line: Peace is not found; it is uncovered by stilling the mind and resting as awareness.

Key points:

• You do not need to change your circumstances to find peace
• Peace is your natural state; agitation is the overlay
• Consistency (10 minutes daily) is more important than duration
• Micro-practices throughout the day are as important as sitting practice
• Even one minute of practice protects you from great fear

For practical, science-backed techniques, Dr. Surabhi Solanki’s Find Inner Peace Now offers a complete system for daily peace.

Part 1: Why This Practice Works

Peace Is Your Nature, Not a Goal

You do not need to achieve peace. Peace is what you are beneath the layers of thought, emotion, and identification.

Agitation	Peace
Thoughts	The awareness of thoughts
Emotions	The witness of emotions
The ego	The Self
The mind	Consciousness

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 56) describes the peaceful one:

“One whose mind is undisturbed in the midst of sorrows and who is free from longing amid pleasures — that sage is steady in wisdom.”

“You do not become peaceful. You uncover the peace that has always been there, like the sun emerging from behind clouds.”

Why 10 Minutes Daily?

Duration	Effect
0 minutes	No change
5 minutes	Noticeable difference in stress
10 minutes	Significant reduction in anxiety
20 minutes	Deep states become accessible
30+ minutes	Profound stillness

Start with 10 minutes. Consistency is more important than duration. Ten minutes every day is better than one hour once a week.

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 40) promises:

“In this path, no effort is ever lost, and no obstacle prevails. Even a little practice of this discipline protects one from great fear.”

Part 2: The 10-Minute Morning Practice

Overview

Time	Practice	Purpose
0-2 min	Breath awareness	Settle the body and mind
2-7 min	Self-inquiry (“Who am I?”)	Trace the ego to its source
7-10 min	Rest as awareness	Abide in your natural state

When: Ideally upon waking, before checking phone or email. The mind is freshest in the morning.

Where: A quiet room. A chair or cushion. No special equipment needed.

Phase 1: Breath Awareness (2 minutes)

Step	Action
1	Sit comfortably. Spine straight but not rigid. Close your eyes.
2	Take 3 deep breaths: inhale through nose, exhale through mouth.
3	Let the breath return to normal. Do not control it.
4	Feel the breath entering and leaving your nostrils.
5	When the mind wanders (it will), gently return to the breath.

“The breath is the anchor. The wandering mind is the storm. The anchor holds.”

Tip: Do not try to stop thoughts. Simply return to the breath. Each return is a rep. You are exercising your attention muscle.

Phase 2: Self-Inquiry (5 minutes)

This is the heart of the practice.

Step	Action
1	Ask: “Who am I?” Do not answer with words.
2	Trace the feeling of “I” back to its source.
3	When thoughts arise, ask: “To whom do these thoughts arise?”
4	The answer is “To me.” Ask: “Who is this me?”
5	Return to the source of the “I” feeling.
6	Rest as pure awareness. Do nothing. Simply be.

“Do not look for an intellectual answer. Look for the source. The source is not a location; it is the awareness that is already here.”

Common questions:

Question	Answer
“I don’t feel anything.”	Feeling nothing is fine. Awareness of ‘nothing’ is still awareness.
“My mind wanders.”	Each time you return, you strengthen the practice.
“I don’t know what to trace.”	Trace the sense that you exist. That feeling of “I am.”

Phase 3: Rest as Awareness (3 minutes)

Step	Action
1	Stop inquiring. Stop focusing. Stop doing.
2	Simply rest as the awareness that is already here.
3	Do not try to feel anything. Do not try to achieve anything.
4	If thoughts arise, watch them without engaging.
5	Rest in the peace that is your natural state.

“This is not a practice of doing. It is a practice of undoing. You are not becoming peaceful. You are allowing the peace that is already there to surface.”

Part 3: Micro-Practices (Throughout the Day)

Formal sitting practice is essential. Micro-practices are equally essential. They train you to access peace in daily life.

The 10-Second Pause

Step	Action	Time
1	Pause whatever you are doing.	1 sec
2	Ask: “Who is aware right now?”	1 sec
3	Feel the aware presence. Do not answer with words.	5 sec
4	Rest as that awareness for a few seconds.	3 sec

Do this 10-20 times a day. It takes less than 2 minutes total.

Triggers to remember:

Trigger	Practice
Phone ringing	Before answering, ask “Who is aware?”
Walking through a doorway	Ask “Who is entering?”
Before eating	Ask “Who is eating?”
Red light while driving	Ask “Who is waiting?”
Feeling stressed	Ask “Who is aware of this stress?”
Washing hands	Ask “Who is washing?”
Checking your phone	Before unlocking, ask “Who is about to see?”

The “I Am Aware Of” Formula

When an emotion arises, shift language.

Old Language	New Language
“I am angry”	“I am aware of anger”
“I am stressed”	“I am aware of stress”
“I am overwhelmed”	“I am aware of overwhelm”
“I am anxious”	“I am aware of anxiety”

“You cannot stop emotions by fighting them. But you can witness them. The moment you witness an emotion, you are no longer it.”

Part 4: The Evening Release Practice (5 minutes)

Before sleep, release the day.

Step	Action
1	Lie in bed. Close your eyes.
2	Review the day without judgment. Where did you forget? Where did you remember?
3	Do not analyze. Simply notice.
4	Say silently: “I release the results of today. They are not mine.”
5	Say: “I release the successes. I release the failures.”
6	Say: “I rest as awareness. Tomorrow I will act again.”
7	Let go. Fall asleep as an act of surrender.

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Verse 14) reminds:

“The contacts between the senses and their objects give rise to feelings of heat and cold, pleasure and pain. These come and go. They are temporary. Endure them.”

“Do not carry yesterday into tomorrow. Release the day. Sleep is not a pause from practice—it is the practice of letting go.”

Part 5: Weekly Progression

Do not try to do everything at once. Add one practice per week.

Week	Add This Practice
1	Morning 10-minute sitting (breath awareness only)
2	Add self-inquiry phase (2 min breath + 5 min inquiry + 3 min rest)
3	Add 5 micro-pauses per day
4	Add 5 more micro-pauses (total 10 per day)
5	Add evening release practice (5 min)
6	Combine all practices

By week 6, you will have a complete daily practice. It will take less than 20 minutes total.

Part 6: Common Obstacles and Solutions

Obstacle	Solution
“I have no time”	Start with 5 minutes. Micro-pauses take 10 seconds. You have time.
“I keep forgetting”	Set reminders on your phone. Use triggers (doorways, phone ringing).
“My mind is too busy”	You do not need a quiet mind to practice. The practice quiets the mind.
“I feel nothing”	Feeling nothing is fine. Awareness of “nothing” is still awareness.
“I am not making progress”	Progress is not a feeling. Notice if you suffer less. That is progress.
“I fall asleep”	Sit upright. Practice earlier in the day. Open your eyes slightly.

Part 7: Adaptations for Busy People

If you have no time for 10 minutes, do this:

Time	Practice
Morning (1 min)	Sit. Take 3 deep breaths. Ask “Who am I?” once. Rest.
Throughout day (30 sec x 10)	Pause. Ask “Who is aware?”
Evening (1 min)	Release the day. Say “I release the results.”

Total: ~7 minutes. Enough to transform your life.

“The busier you are, the more you need practice. Not less. A few minutes of stillness can reset an entire day.”

Part 8: The Secret of This Practice

The secret is not in any single technique. The secret is in the shift of identity.

Before Practice	After Practice
“I am the mind”	“I am aware of the mind”
“I am my thoughts”	“I am the witness of thoughts”
“I am the body”	“I am aware of the body”
“I am the ego”	“I am aware of the ego”

“You are not the clouds. You are the sky. The clouds come and go. The sky remains. This practice is remembering that you are the sky.”

The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 6, Verse 19) describes the mind of one who rests as awareness:

“As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker, so is the mind of a yogi, controlled and steady, fixed in meditation on the Self.”

No wind. No flickering. No agitation. Steady peace.

For those who wish to deepen this practice, Dr. Surabhi Solanki’s Awakening Through Vedanta and Find Inner Peace Now provide comprehensive guidance for integrating self-inquiry and witnessing into every aspect of daily life.

One-Line Summary

A simple daily practice for inner peace takes just 10 minutes: sit quietly for 2 minutes of breath awareness, then 5 minutes of self-inquiry (“Who am I?”), then 3 minutes of resting as awareness—plus 10-second pauses throughout the day to ask “Who is aware right now?”—and an evening release practice to let go of the day; peace is not found; it is uncovered by stilling the mind and resting as the awareness you already are, with even a little practice protecting you from great fear.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.