The Peace That You Want in the World Is an Inside Job

We explore why a 2,300-mile peace walk moved so many people and what it teaches about embodied calm, nervous system safety, and the daily work of inner peace. We challenge the gap between wanting peace and practicing it, and we offer simple, somatic steps to start.

• the monks’ walk as embodied peace
• performance versus true inner regulation
• somatic view of safety and state shifts
• processing anger, fear and grief without harm
• humility, accountability and shadow work
• forgiveness as self-freedom, not approval
• daily practices that build calm and choice
• ripple effects from personal change to community

If this episode moves you, share it with someone who says they want peace because the work always begins within

Transcript

A Walk For Peace Captivates Millions

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, it's Dr. Donna, and welcome to another episode of my podcast, Soul Talk and Psychic Advice. Today I want to talk about something that deeply moved me. I remember a couple of weeks ago I was on TikTok and they were talking about the monks who were walking from from Dallas Fort Worth area to DC. And as you know, they've completed their walk. And they walked with a dog that I I think most of us fell in love with the dog also. So this group of monks walked 2,300 miles for peace, beginning in Forth Worth, at 2,300 miles on foot. Through cities, highways, small towns and heat, cold, snow, through discomfort, they did this. And some of them were barefoot. You know, they didn't do it for fame, applause, or money, but for peace. And what struck me wasn't just the walk, it was how deeply people were touched. And you know, this was all through the south. And you know, so the people through the south I considered lucky because at one point some of the people walked with them, some of the people bowed to them, washed their feet, you know, all these wonderful things, and I would read comments saying, Well, you know, people do want peace, that's all people want in this world. And I was thinking, Really? Because I read a lot of comments on social media, and some of them are nice and some aren't. And, you know, one minute people, I will follow someone and they're talking one way about love and kindness, and you know, even us in the love and kindness world will tell someone off if it's appropriate, but you see something very nasty towards people that could be racist or are very hateful. And I've been very shocked, and just some of the comments from people, so I asked, do we really want peace in this world? And I think that people want it, but they don't know the price that it costs to have peace, you know, and that's what people don't understand. So as we watch the strangers cry and the drivers pull over and communities gather and they bring food, and you know, they're hosted at different churches and different places to rest, and you know, people folding their hands and bowing, there was something about witnessing this level of devotion that softened people instantly. And and today I want to explore something important about this. Why were people so moved? And if we claim we want peace, why don't we practice it inside ourselves? Because remember, everything starts inside of us before it can happen outside of us. And these monks, they didn't just walk for peace, they lived this way. And they they were even respectful to people on the walk who was trying to tell them that their religion was wrong and what they were doing is wrong, and and this walk was not about religion, although monks were doing the walk. This walk was about connection and wanting peace for all of us, and so what I want to discuss is the hard truth, that peace always is an inside job. And I'm sure you've seen those quotes that says, if you want to fix the world, start with yourself. And I know a lot of people don't like that because a lot of us will think, Well, I'm not a bad person. I haven't shot or killed anybody or or harmed anybody, you know, I've been a victim, but I am not a bad person. A lot of people will think that, but we don't understand. It's even though we're not hurting other people like some people are, still you've got to have peace within yourself. And I could tell you from doing this work, it seems to be the biggest struggle as a human is to find inner peace. We want to change other people, change the world, change everything outside of us instead of going inward. And I have to admit, through my 25 years, I was always shocked at how many people said they don't like themselves. I'm like, how could you not like yourself? I don't care how bad you think you are or how imperfect you think you are, how can you not like themselves? So when we see these monks walking for peace, something in us remembers their ropes, their silence, their slow, steady steps. They weren't rushing, they weren't arguing, they weren't reacting to people who were against them, they were embodying something. And in the Buddhist philosophy, peace isn't something you demand from the world. Actually, you don't demand peace from the world, although it may look like that's what they're doing with the walk, is something that you cultivate in your own nervous system. So the way that I've seen it, they weren't walking to demand peace, what they're saying, look what we're embodying. Don't you want this for yourself? And then if we all do this, the world will have it. And so it is something important to remember. We embody peace, and they were not forcing peace on us because you cannot legislate peace, you cannot protest your way into inner stillness, you cannot shout your way into harmony. Peace begins in the body, and that's what struck me most. They weren't just talking about peace, they were walking it, breathing it, living it. That's embodiment, and the dog was doing it too. You know how many how many of us dog owners have dogs that could behave like that? I don't. So let's talk about why people were so touched. People were emotional because it wasn't just admiration, it was recognition that we are exhausted. Look at the state of the world. Our nervous system is fried. Our nervous systems are fried. We live in a culture of outrage. We scroll anger every day, we argue in the comment sections, we hold tension in our shoulders, we clench our jaws at night, we're mad at people that we claim to love. We're frustrated with ourselves, and then we see monks walking quietly for peace. And something inside of us says, Oh, that's what calm feels like. Their presence regulated people. A lot of people were regulated by them. You could feel it. They weren't trying to convert anyone, they weren't. They weren't preaching, they weren't condemning. They were walking with discipline and provoking devotion. That's it. And discipline is attractive, stillness is magnetic, and calm is powerful. People crave peace, they want it within themselves. I do believe that people want it within themselves, they just don't understand the price. But here's an uncomfortable truth. People don't want to do the inner work required to embody it because we're gonna have to give up our stories, or we're gonna have to see our stories differently. Our pain, our hurt, how someone hurt us, betrayed us. You know, I've had awful things happen to me, and I'm sure a lot of you have had awful things happen to you. And we have to let go of a lot of shit, you know, that inner war that people have, the frustration. So, you know, let's talk about peace versus performance. We say we want peace, but we gossip. We do. I used to do it. We criticize ourselves and other people. We judge. You know, people leave nasty comments for people online, and they do it to their loved ones. We explode at our partners. We carry resentment for years. We replay arguments in our heads. We attack people online, we shame ourselves internally. That isn't peace. That's an unregulated nervous system. That is not pass peace is not passive, peace is not weakness, peace is not avoidance, but peace does require self-awareness, emotional regulation, discipline, shadow work. You cannot have peace without doing shadow work, and if you don't want to do shadow work, you're not going to have peace. And I will stand ten toes down on that. Peace also requires humility and accountability, and people don't like these things. There's a lot of blaming that goes on now in the world, right? No one wants to be accountable when they mess up or make mistakes because they take it as you're wrong, your bad. And so part of having peace is humility, being humble about who you are and your imperfections and not needing to be perfect or get it right all the time. These monks didn't wake up peaceful one day. They didn't. They trained, they meditated, they practiced restraint, they study, they observe their thoughts, they interrupt reactivity. Peace is cultivated. And you know, the leader, I can't think of his name offhand, but the one who was leading the peace walk, you know, up to age forty, he worked at Motorola. And then, you know, all of a sudden he's like, I want to be fulfilled, and he became a monk. So he didn't start off at a young age as a monk. He started off around age forty, you know, he immigrated to Texas from Vietnam and you know, made his life there, and you you know, worked in Motorola and then eventually became a monk. He's a human who had to shed a lot of emotional stuff, right? To be a monk, to be able to sit in sometimes they're quiet, right? To be able to sit in silence. How many people can sit in silence? Some people can't stand to be alone or sit in the silence, and so that's what it takes. You know, it takes a lot to really have peace. And the part I want to gently say is you cannot walk twenty-three hundred miles for peace externally while raging internally. I'm gonna say that again. You can't walk twenty-three hundred miles for peace externally while raging internally. So those monks, they were already in a place of peace. When they started, you know, this walk, they were already there and they were showing us what it looked like. So peace must be embodied. So let's talk from a somatic ex uh perspective. From a somatic lens, and you know this is important to me. Peace is nervous system safety. And it's something that we have to work at daily. I do the work daily. When your body feels unsafe, it reacts. You're either going to be in a fight phase, a flight, freeze, or a fawn phase. Anger isn't the problem. Fear isn't the problem. Grief isn't the problem. But if we never process them, they become agitations. So it's okay to have anger. You know, I've done a podcast on anger. I'm writing a book about the anger that I felt with losing my son, but you have to do the work to get past those things. You have to use anger, fear, grief, sadness, all of it as signs that there's a message for you to get here so that you can heal and get to the other side. And so if we don't process these emotions, they become agitation. And agitated people cannot create peaceful homes. You know, I hear from clients who said they had a parent who was so angry and walked on eggshells and you know, just they had to walk on eggshells because that parent was so angry, so frustrated, so you know, they grew up to have anxiety and have to do twice as much as much work to find their peace. So agitated people cannot create peaceful communities, and agitated people cannot create peaceful nations. So agitated people can't be peaceful within themselves, their homes won't be, their communities won't be, and their nations won't be peaceful, and the world won't be peaceful. Peace begins when you can sit with your discomfort without exploding. That's some deep shit. You know, to be able to sit with your discomfort. A lot of people are avoiding that. There's this crazy goal of wanting to be unbothered. Being unbothered is not human, it's not real, it's not spiritual, it's not authentic, it's not anything, but that seems to be the goal. Um, peace begins when you can feel anger without weaponizing it. Yes, anger is a real valid emotion. You just can't use it as a weapon to hurt yourself or anyone else. Peace begins when you regulate your breath instead of escalating your voice. When you can sit and ground. You know, we've kind of lost our way, and you you know, I'm just a small pee in this whole online world. And I listen to a lot of therapists and online and and coaches, and you know, we have this battle with forgiveness. Should you, should she not? And I tell you, there are people who I forgive, they don't know that I've forgiven them. They don't know. It was never for them to know, it was for me to have peace within myself, and I think that's what we're forgetting about forgiveness, and and it's being used as if I forgive, I'm making it okay what has happened. And actually, forgiveness is saying, I don't want to be at war with myself because of something that somebody did to me. I want that freedom, and that's part of having peace. It really is, and it may be the hard part, the uncomfortable part, and I've never pressured a client into forgiveness, but when they couldn't, I just asked, what is it costing you? Is it worth holding on to? Because you're not resting, your cortisol levels are high. What is it costing you? So I will get back on track here. So the monks they weren't denying suffering, they were demonstrating self-mastery, and self-mastery is inner peace. And that's when you can sit with yourself. They sit with themselves, they sit with their pain, their traumas, their hurts. Who knows their background, what they went through growing up? Who knows? You know, I think the Dalai Lama was the only one taken away when he was two years old to, you know, um feed the Dalai Lama. But, you know, the monks and you know, they have a life that they walked away from and they have a history, but they have mastered inner peace. And they may have to practice it daily, but they are there. So what the 2300 miles really represents that walk was symbolic. Twenty-three hundred miles is not just distance, it represents devotion, consistency, endurance, repetition, and inner peace requires the same thing. You don't meditate once and become peaceful. And even if you hear thoughts, just keep meditating, it gets easier. You don't forgive once and become enlightened. You don't sometimes you have to forgive daily. You don't take one breath and heal a lifetime of trauma. You don't. It isn't one somatic session or one session with the therapist or you know, one reiki healing. It's not. You walk it daily, quietly, without applause, without anybody, you know, cheering you on, right? So you notice your triggers, you soften your tone. You repair after conflict, you breathe before reacting. You choose kindness when ego wants to win. And that is your twenty-three hundred mile walk. And I'm gonna say this. I think this is important. You say you want peace, but do you want it enough to start loving yourself? Do you want peace enough to know your worth? Do you want peace enough to stop needing to be perfect? Do you want peace enough to stop criticizing yourself? Do you want peace enough to let go of some of the things that have hurt you? Do you want peace enough to go to therapy and heal? Do you want peace enough to just feel like safe in your body? Do you want peace enough to accept yourself for who you are, no matter who you think you should be? Do you want peace enough to stop caring about what other people think? Do you want peace enough to let go of you know, wanting to fix somebody, wanting somebody to change? Do you want peace enough? Do you want peace enough to commit to yourself? Do you want peace enough to say I will do that shadow work although it's uncomfortable? And shadow work is very uncomfortable. I do it, and you know, but the more you do it it gets easier and it becomes a breath of fresh air. Do you want peace enough to stop worrying about how you look on the outside and start focusing on how you feel on the inside? Do you want peace enough to stop censoring your voice when you know you need to speak up? Do you want peace enough to be able to let your partner know what you need? Do you want peace enough? I could go on for days, to just be who you know you're supposed to be, to be authentic. Because in order to be authentic, you have to be willing to do the work to get to the place of inner peace. Because if you can do that and you can be peaceful within yourself, that energy will be shown to people in your life, and they will too be inspired to be peaceful, to do the work. Because when they see you change and get lighter and more joyful and more peaceful, and you have emotions, but you can always come back and regulate, right? We're not avoiding emotions by being peaceful, we just don't get destroyed by our emotions. That's what peace is. So when you can do that, you know, you can help other people, and then guess what? They will help people, and we have this ripple effect where it is your family, it is your friends, it is your workplace, it is your community, it is your city, it is your state, your country, and the world, because that's how it works. It starts from within. You can't not have peace within yourself and expect peace outward. It doesn't work. So I'm gonna close this out. I honor those monks, but I also want to challenge us gently. Don't just admire peace, practice it. And it's gonna take giving up some stuff that you wanted to hold on to. Trust me, I know. We all have that. It's gonna take doing things differently to truly have peace. Don't just post about peace, embody it. And it takes a lot of work to get there. Don't just say the world needs peace. Ask yourself where am I still at war with inside of me? What are you still frustrated with or mad at or worried about within yourself? You you know, what are your inner struggles? And can you be happy with yourself? Ask yourself, where am I holding resentment? You know, are you an overgive or people pleaser? Are you giving too much and not receiving? What's going on? Unhealed trauma? What's going on? Where am I reactive? Where am I unhealed? Where am I avoiding my own shadow? You know I should do a podcast on shadow work. Peace is not something we demand from others. The monks didn't demand peace from us. That's wasn't what they were doing. Peace is something we discipline ourselves into one day at a time. The monks walked 2300 miles. Maybe your walk today is taking three conscious breaths. Not responding to that triggering text. Or breathing first before you do. Choosing softness in your voice, forgiving yourself, turning off the outrage cycle. Stop being so upset, so angry, so frustrated, so hurt, so disappointed. You know? Stop having expectations of others. Stop expecting you from other people. And love yourself more. Peace starts in the body, it starts in the nervous system. Peace starts with you. You can't avoid you and expect peace in the world. And when enough people do the inner work, outer peace stops being symbolic and it starts becoming real. That's how we do this. We just can't say the world is crap. Because if it's crap, we're contributing to it being crap. Do you want to be that person who's contributing to the crap of the world? No. And with some of the things happening now in our society, we've had to see communities come together and really unite, you know, against, you know, some of the horrors going on. And you know, it's when we allow for connection within ourselves we can have connection with other people, and that also brings about the peace. So if this episode moves you, share it with someone who says they want peace because the work always begins within. So thank you for listening and have a great day.