Sri Ishaya - Building Peace inside and out

I’m delighted to welcome my guest today Sri Ishaya. Sri is from Sweden but her work in International Peace and Security has led her to live in various conflict countries around the world including Congo and Mali, where she supports women in their local communities and advocates for women’s rights. And it may come to no surprise to you, that she also happens to be a meditation teacher! Topics mentioned: How her interest and desire to contribute to the world through human rights causes started early on in life. Her interest in meditation started with dance and yoga and she was introduced to meditation by her sister.   “ It was the first experience for me where someone encouraged me to just rest from my thoughts and just allow the thoughts but that I did not have to engage in thoughts or thinking… and it was such a relief for me. That I didn’t have to engage in critical, analytical thinking was like - wow!! It gave me very deep rest. and it made me interested in what meditation could give me. That it could give another quality to life.“   “No matter I’m doing on the outside, of course, I want to live my life from this present moment, to be aware and engaged in whatever I do. That completely changed my life.”   It’s become a joy to be of service to exchange knowledge and experiences with people and see how together we can make the world a better place. How her meditation practice gave her the resilience to stay working and living in remote and difficult areas of The Congo for longer than most peace workers are able to do. Wherever you go, people are all looking for the same thing. Everyone wants to experience joy, more peace, more contentment and inner security. It doesn’t matter if its Congo, or South Sudan, or Spain or London. Sri shares her experience of teaching other peacemakers and aid workers to meditate to help them cope with the stresses of working in the field in conflict zones. So they can help care for themselves. People who were already working for peace on the outside, they felt a huge relief to also start experience peace on the inside. They are stressed out, activists, working for peace day and night, but it comes with stress, trauma, violence in their daily lives. So for them to have a tool to actually rest and have peace inside was huge. To stay in their own peace, even if they had those stressful situations around them. Meditation does have an effect, what we experience on the outside has an immediate effect on our environment around this. We see this, we want to be around people who are happy, joyful and who are calm inside. We are all connected, it becomes so apparent. Lila and Sri discuss how meditation is like a secret weapon, that no one needs to know you’re using but it has an impact on everyone around you. And it helps to keep you anchored, recharged, centred, present. LOVE + CONNECTION - brings Sri both joy and challenges! Greatest Lesson: That everything is here, that there is nothing more to search for. This moment is absolutely perfect and full and rich and abundance of everything you can wish for. And there is nothing on the outside that can compare with that experience. Sri wisdom: Find a practice that resonates with you and commit to it. If you follow the instructions it will change your life. My sincerest thanks to Sri for joining me today. What an incredible first-hand experience she was able to share with us, that no matter who we are or where we are from, we are all looking for the same thing, peace and joy and freedom of stress. She is totally playing big and showing up fully for life and spreading peace not just in a practical and external sense, in areas of the world that need it most, but also in sharing the gift of meditation...