I've been interested in the teachings of Buddhism for many years, but my latest read, "Being Peace" has really gotten me hooked. It is written by world-renowned Vietnamese monk, peace activist, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Thich Nhat Hanh. He explains that Buddhism is simply made up of words of wisdom that can be used by anyone and everyone in order to maintain a peaceful life and community.

I am no peace expert, nor is my life stress-free, but as a young woman that has felt the extremes of anxiety and depression, I am more than thankful to have gained the wisdom to control those negative feelings and focus on living a happy, and less stressful life.

I wanted to talk about the three main teachings that have helped me take control of my own mental health.

The phrase that I repeat most to myself (and even have tattooed on my inner arm) is "We are here, and it's now". It is the idea that the present moment is the only moment of importance or concern. When I was able to stop repeating the past over and over in my head, as well as stop putting too much emphasis on what is to come, I decreased how much time I spent worrying about things that did not exist, and was able to focus more on the things in front of me. That is not to say that I ignore feelings about the past or future events, but rather, that I acknowledge my feelings, do something about them if I can, and then move on. When I am feeling down, I ask myself, "why do you feel this way?" and "Is it helping my situation?". When I am down, I try to rise as soon as possible in order to not waste my time on negativity. The present moment, of course, is not the cure-all for anxiety, but boy, does it help.

"Do not maintain anger or hatred," as Thich Nhat Hanh says, is essential to a peaceful life. An acquaintance recently asked me, "When you get customers that piss you off, do you go home and draw pictures of bad things happening to them?" and that question blew me away. If I carried a customer's bad energy with me throughout my day, all the way home, and into my studio where I focused all of my energy on harming them, I would be one angry customer service employee. Honestly, once I can resolve a problem with anyone, I let that go and try to move on.

The third most meaningful teaching for me (although there are many many meaningful teachings) is the concept of not mistreating your body. It is such an easy idea in theory, but in practice, it is one of the toughest. Self-harm (in all of its various forms) is, unfortunately, an all too common practice among my peers and people of my age. Learning to restrain myself from punishing myself for my actions or feelings has not only improved my happiness level but by teaching myself to love and accept myself has helped me to grow into a more confident woman. It also has taught me that self-harm should not be used as a release from stress but rather, it caused me to find more constructive ways of coping (such as mindful breathing)� with those overwhelming feelings.

Another factor that I have incorporated into the idea of not mistreating my body, is being conscience of the food I am putting into my body. This change is by far the most recent but is just as important. Today's society surrounds us with unhealthy foods disguised as good foods. But making the switch from processed, boxed foods to a more produce and organic, no-meat inspired diet has made my body feel better and my conscience feels better about my choices; which, although small, do affect the world at large.

Bringing inner peace into my life has thus far been a three-year long journey, with many shortcomings and start over's. But I still remember the moment of epiphany when I realized the present moment is the only moment worth my energy. I remember deciding that the ridiculous requests that customers ask me, and the brash comments made to me as a server were not entirely enraging, but rather amazing and hilarious. And I remember when my best friend took me out to dinner for being 2 months free of self-harm. These moments that have been leading me towards inner peace have all come from truly embodying the teachings I mentioned above.

Everything is easier said than done, but you'll never know if you can achieve progress until you try.