4-1-26 Gratitude, Peace, and Financial Freedom Practice

It’s time for today’s 4-1-26 Gratitude, Peace, and Financial Freedom Practice!

I’m live everyday on TikTok @yesfinanciallyfree with the daily practice.

Watch the replay now:

What is the Peace Practice?

I started a 64 Day Peace Challenge that ended on 3/28/26 after watching talks by Bante (means Venerable) Pannakara, the lead monk and organizer of the 2,300 mile 112 day Walk For Peace from Fort Worth Texas to Washington DC.

The monks and their dog Aloka started their journey on October 26, 2025 and finished their journey on Valentine’s Day February 14, 2026, when they returned to the leader Bhikkhu (means Monk in the Pali language) Pannakara’s Buddhist Temple Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center.  Three of them walked barefoot!

In November there was an accident that hit 2 monks and 1 volunteer, that left 1 monk, Maha Dam Phommasan, with an amputated leg. He rejoined on the last days in Washington DC in a wheel chair. He is currently in the process of learning to walk with a prosthetic leg.

He gave a talk a couple days ago with another monk who is helping him get around in his wheel chair on how to practice mindfulness. Here is the replay I mentioned today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGpd7BOryvs

He talks about being aware of what is happening in our lives as we are doing everyday activities. He says that we suffer from 8 arrows that we will experience, and we need to be mindful. Do not attach as all are impermanent and we cannot control them.

The eight arrows of suffering are

1) promotion / honor, 2) lose status, 3) gain, 4) loss, 5) praise, 6) criticism, 7) happiness, 8) pain / suffering / sad

It’s really sweet to see these 2 monks teach mindfulness in English, because you can tell that it isn’t easy for them to talk in English. They are really making an effort to teach English speakers, and I am so grateful!

The leader Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara speaks about how to create inner peace and true happiness, regardless of circumstances. He mentioned how we do not have peace of mind because a single word or action can trigger us.

He says it’s often from the people close to us, our family members especially.

I watched this talk in particular that motivated me to create this Daily Peace Practice. Watch it now if you haven’t seen it yet.

I notice that now that I have done the mindfulness practice for 68 days, I understand more of what Venerable Pannakara is saying.

For instance, he says if focus and concentrate on what you are doing now. If you do the mindfulness practice everyday. Then you will succeed.

If you can’t focus and concentrate then you will fail.

Another insight I heard was he said if we do the actual practice, without any expectations, issues of stress, anxiety and confusion will disappear naturally. Our life will be better.

I used to get sad every now and then for no reason that I could tell. I fell behind in my work, because I would go out and do something that would make me happy instead of working, like call a friend on the phone.

I also joined a walking club, joined a Taichi class, took archery and a swimming class.

I was looking for happiness outside of myself, and I did not realize that until Day 63 of the peace challenge! I also didn’t know how to create happiness from the inside.

Since doing this challenge I have not been sad like that. Not even once!!!!!!!!

And I caught up with my work, and am doing better quality work.

This new happiness and peace of mind is so valuable to me.

Bante Pannakara is right. You need to practice without expectation and your life will change. It will naturally get much much better.

I didn’t realize that the reason for my sadness was that I was chasing all of those thoughts. All I have to do is train my mind to stay focused regardless of thoughts, feelings or anything else.

My 12 year old son Jordan has decided to do the practice too. He writes his sentence most mornings and he practices mindfulness breathing on his own everyday. I notice that he is getting is getting better at controlling his reactions and recovering from emotions, just like me.

We have been working on his schedule as well. We agreed that he would wake up every morning at 6am no matter what, then he can do the peace practice with me in the evening and fall asleep easier.

I include an explanation of the peace practice in this post. If you want to join me, I’m live on TikTok everyday at 5am HST / 11am EST.

What is the Peace Practice?

Here are the steps Venerable Pannakara recommends for mindfulness, peace, compassion and loving kindness.

Step #1 Write Today is Going to Be My Peaceful Day

First, everyday in the morning write “Today is going to be my peaceful day. ”

Then read the sentence a few times in your mind, and then say it out loud.

Decide for yourself that today is going to be your peaceful day. Then no one can take that away from you. No matter what anyone else does or says, if we don’t take it in, then it isn’t ours.

It’s important to write it down with a pen and paper, don’t use an electrical device.  This pairs your intention to your body.

Then reading it in your mind pairs your mind to the intention.

Finally, saying it out loud declares it to the Universe, and makes your voice pair with your intention.

He mentions a morning routine. Wake up and do not look at your phone. Go to the bathroom and make your bed. Brush you teeth, clean the bathroom mirror.

Then write, read and say out loud “Today is Going to Be My Peaceful Day.”

Then do the mindfulness breathing (Step #2), then exercise, then eat breakfast, then you it’s ok to look at your phone (if you have to look at it).

Step #2 Mindfulness: Listening to Your Breathing or Heartbeat

Then we practice being aware of our breathing or heartbeat. Today we counted our breaths in our mind.

We counted “1” when we breathed in and “1” when we breathed out.  Then we counted “2” for in and “2” for out and so on until we count to “5”.

After you get to “5”, you start at “1” again and go to “6”. Do the same for “7”, “8”, “9” and “10”. Then start over counting from “1” to “5”.

If you get distracted, start over and focus on your breath. Be nice to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for being distracted.

When thoughts come up to distract us, just say “thought, thought” and then return to our breath. We acknowledge the thought but we then leave it alone. The same is true for feelings. If you feel numb, or tired or pain or itchy – acknowledge the feeling by saying “feeling, feeling”, and then go back to your breath.

The same is true if we hear a sound. Acknowledge the sound, say in your head “sound, sound, sound” and then go back to your breath.

In one talk, he says it’s ok if it feels boring in the beginning, or if we keep falling asleep.

As long as we keep practicing we will get better.

We might have a 1 hour meditation practice and we fall asleep for 59 minutes and focus on our breathing for only 1 minute. He says that’s ok, as long as we keep coming back to our breath. Eventually, we will master our mind, and we will naturally rise up, like a sunflower does to the sun.

Here is Day 28 of their Walk For Peace, where Bante Pannakara also said you can start your mindfulness practice be first closing your eyes and scanning your body from head to toe. Then take three deep breaths.

Then after that start the breathing practice. When you breath in say “in” and when you breathe out say “out”. He said when you are a master you don’t have to say anything, but since we are beginners it makes it easier.

Here is the video if you want to watch his talk.

Step #3 Practice Mindfulness During the Day

The Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara suggests we practice this everyday for 64 days to create the habit, and then keep doing it after to stay peaceful.

We can do our mindfulness breathing for 1-3 minutes out of every hour that we are working.  During lunch hour, instead of talking with our friends about the world or social media we can focus on our breathing or heartbeat.

The Venerable Pannakara suggests doing only one thing at a time, since the mind can only focus on one thing at a time. He says to put away our cell phones when we are studying, cooking and doing other things.

Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara also says not to talk, listen to music or watch anything when eating!

As I mentioned, I have already seen results in my life.

I notice the thoughts, imaginings/delusions and feelings that I have, good and bad, when I’m driving, eating, cooking, cleaning, brushing my teeth. I do my best to acknowledge the thought and come back to my breathing and the present moment.

I’m enjoying my life more and I am reacting less. When I react, I forgive myself quicker, and find ways to apologize and remedy the situation faster.

Though I started with focusing on eating my meals without talking, I also do the same when eating snacks, like popcorn. I take the time to focus on eating the snack, then I go back to work.

Venerable Pannakara says the key is to slow down. Take the middle road. What is supposed to come to us, will come to us, no matter what. If we slow down and stay focused, it will come faster.

If we are too stressed out about our work, trying to stay up all night and force it, then we will not do good work. If that is the case, it is better to take a break.

Bante Pannakara says with practice we build our focus and concentration.

I still have an urge to hop on Facebook or Youtube and see what the monks are doing or look up another talk, especially when I’m tired or need a break. However, Venerable Pannakara said the monks aren’t a parade or a concert. So I set aside time after I complete my work to do so.

In many of his talks he mentioned that when they walked, and people sometimes cursed at them. He would react by wishing them peace, love and a life full of kindness, and he would really mean it in his heart.

He mentioned that he still has feelings like anger and so on. However, since he practice mindfulness constantly, it is easier to manage his feelings. He can get over the anger quicker.

He shares that he talks to the wind, and asks the wind to take away his anger or sadness, etc. The wind is always coming and going, no matter what.

If people give us anger, harsh words, or praise, we can accept it or refuse to accept it. If we refuse the gift, then they keep it all to themselves. We can keep our peace of mind no matter what the outside circumstances are.

In the talk from day 28, he said if our husband yells at us, we can offer a cup of water very nicely. He will probably hit it and knock it on the floor.

Then we just do it again, and nicely offer a cup of water. This is how we practice patience.

He says the other person might be out of their mind, going crazy.

Then he goes off and drinks with his friends and you’re at home crying. He says there is no need to suffer like that.

This advice has made mine and my son’s life so much more peaceful and happy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Step #4 Practice Mindfulness and Forgiveness 1 Hour Before Bed

He also suggests we put away our cell phones 1 hour before we go to bed at night.  He says this is the time where we love ourselves.

During the day we are serving others, so this is the time when we take time for ourselves.

During that time we do our mindfulness breathing, and also take time to review our day. If we did something wrong, ask for forgiveness. Forgive ourselves and promise to never do it again. Plan to make it right the next day.

If someone did something wrong to us, forgive them.

This is not easy for me to do sometimes. I noticed it was hard for me to forgive my husband for getting so angry, and yelling at me or Jordan.

However, I think about when I have gotten angry and Jordan has gotten angry. I think about the advice from Rinpoche from the International Kadhampa Buddhist Association at our Buddhism 101 clas.

She said that people get angry because they lack wisdom. They don’t understand cause and effect. If they did, they wouldn’t behave that way.

If we understand this, then it’s easy to forgive them and understand their behavior.

I also get angry sometimes, I just don’t yell at people, though I might say something that’s not so nice. I have been focusing on gaining wisdom and changing my own behavior, which is the only person that I can control.

Venerable Pannakara says that if you can be at peace without any conditions, then you are at peace. Peace starts from inside ourselves. Only we can create peace in our lives, only we can take it away.

What Is The Gratitude and Financial Freedom Practice?

Before doing our Peace Practice, I did one minute of saying Thank You. This is a practice that I started in 2025 when I did the 10,000 Thank You Challenge. It was inspired by the book Happy Money by Ken Honda.

You can find out more about that story and the 10,000 Thank You Challenge by clicking here. I am continuing the practice since it makes me feel good, and is effective in creating true wealth in my life.

After the Peace Practice, I do Financial Freedom affirmations and visualization.  This is our financial freedom practice that I’ve developed over the years to create the results I have financially.

The Financial Freedom Affirmations are reading out loud or repeating sentences and questions that promote financial freedom.

The Financial Freedom Visualization is imagining that you are already financially free. The more detailed your visualization the better. It’s also important to feel the feelings of being financially free.

You can do these practices in less than 20 minutes everyday, and then just go on with your day.

I learned all these strategies from other mentors who have taught me the skills to get out of debt and not have to work the job I was working for a living.

I am a full time mom, part time blogger, coach, teacher, investor, wife, daughter, board member and so many other roles. I am also none of these roles, and growing and evolving constantly.

I exercise daily.  I have time for a spiritual practice. I volunteer and am in service in the community here in Honolulu and on the internet.

Recently I added this Peace Practice and I already mentioned how valuable it is to me!

This is why I still do these practices today and I am sharing them with you.