Something I have noticed becoming a buzzword lately is the term ‘alignment’. A word that I do actually think holds tons of value. It’s a super useful guiding word that can help us frame a way to channel our energy and direct our lives in a way that makes the most sense to us.
The problem is when the term becomes such a buzzword that it becomes detached for its true meaning and intention. We can throw around the word alignment as much as we like. But if we are not truly integrating it into our lives, it makes no impact on who we are and how we show up in the world.
Alignment comes up quite a bit with my coaching clients. My practice focuses on core values as a foundational touchstone that grounds us in a place that is true to who we really are. When we operate from a place that honours are core values we tend to find that life flows with ease, the decisions are easier to make, that we are able to focus on staying in our lane. This is what alignment is.
What is alignment?
Alignment is when our thoughts, life-choices, and direction all honour our core values. Alignment is when we listen to our intuition and move through the world embodying our true selves. Alignment is function and action with ease.
Alignment in simple terms is when things just make sense.
Sometimes this happens naturally, something in our life just falls into place. This is usually a time when we our listening to our true self and not all the noise of life, people, society, culture, everything else.
What does alignment look like?
Think of those moments when things just made sense. What was happening? Where was your mind at the time? What were you feeling?
My guess would be that you felt calm. Maybe you didn’t even think about it, you just took action. Maybe you felt at ease. Alignment is usually from a place of calm, a place of knowing, a place when things just make sense.
Rarely does alignment come from a place of fear, anger, frustration, envy, or sadness. Whilst those emotions are so important in our emotional health (I truly believe we should recognise and allow all emotions as they are totally normal) I know that for alignment to work we need to move past them and work from a place of calm. Some people call it a place of contentedness. For others it is a place of clarity. However you describe this place, it’s one where you are not overwhelm, but rather, you feel centred.
And so, in order to find what alignment is for you, it’s important to work through those emotions in a healthy way before finding your centre again.
From a place of centre we can find alignment with our true selves and from there we can operate with ease.
It’s worth noting that operating from a place of ease does not mean you live without stress or ‘life stuff’ won’t happen. It means you can manage those things in a way that works best for you.
It’s unlikely we will ever live without moments of stress and upset. But what we can do is deal with those things in a way that aligns with who we truly are. And when we work from a place of alignment we can move towards a life that we want.
