6 Ways To Alignment For A Healthy Life
I have always been interested in finding more alignment in my life.
I love to search for purpose & meaning in all things.
But I have always wanted to create a life with less stress & more ease.
I never resonated with the way we have been brought up to live life.
I wanted more gentle, less "hard" work.
I remember when I was in my first year of Osteopathic School and one of my teachers said,
Through this next 5 years you're going to learn a lot to help people. But you're also going to go through a big personal transformation as well.
It's one of my most vivid memories from school.
And he was right.
The changes I have made in my life since the beginning of that program 8 years ago - I don't even know if I could go back to that version of me.
Through the pandemic I was forced to slow down, like most of us. My in-class schooling was delayed, hockey was shut down & I wasn't able to work for the first 3 months.
This opened up my eyes on how much I was doing and how burnt out I was.
Not to mention, spending time with family & friends that would required even MORE time from me.
So when I went back to work that summer, I decided I wasn't going to go back "full time".
I decided that 3 days of treating clients was enough for me.
The main reason was that I knew I mentally, physically and emotionally I wouldn't be able to handle 5 days a week. The full week like I used to.
I realized I needed more time and space than other people.
I also realized that I gave WAY better treatments to my clients when I was part time. I was able to focus on them better because my own cup was full.
This was a change I know I needed to make. My time, space & health was more important than my income.
I was blessed with the opportunity to do this of course. As most people aren't always in that situation.
We don't have control over other people or situations in our lives.
This is one of the main reasons why people think their life is stuck
& will be this way forever.
Their afraid to lose things in their life.
But from experience, I've noticed that yes, you may lost things but so many better things come along your path. Better relationships, better jobs & a better life.
There is no point staying stuck in things that don't feel good or bring joy & abundance to your life.
We put so much emphasis on material gains, when so many people are lacking spiritual gains.
"The better you feel, the more in alignment you are. The worse you feel the more out of alignment you are". - Abraham hicks
Our health depends on our alignment in life.
Thats what I do for my job, help people get back into alignment physically.
Helping their body reach homeostasis.
We want to be healthier but we have all these external things influencing us. Adding stress & creating temptations.
If we dont have our own personal health in alignment, it makes it hard for the rest of our lives to be in alignment.
You know how it is.
You wake up tired because you didn't go to be at a decent time.
Then you spill your coffee on your shirt, have a stressful day at work and now you're in a bad mood.
Then on the way home someone cuts you off and your kids are all over the place.
Unless you have tools you can use to recenter yourself, that is a tough place to live & be.
"If you are not in alignment with the moment, life is a struggle. Really, all you have to do is take responsibility for your inner alignment with now". - Eckhart Tolle
Another block that some people face is
"Well most people don't live their life this way" or,
"People will think [blank] if I do that".
Who freaking cares.
Live your life the way you want. It's the only way you will find your health & peace.
You might have a weird routine, or your job/career is different than others. But if it works for you and it makes you feel good, WHO CARES?
Release the blocks around what people will think & create YOUR life.
Your health will benefit from this. I believe one of the major contributors to our decline in health is stress & trapped emotions.
The happier and less stressed you are, the healthier you are.
"A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe". - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Your life is uniquely your own. Live it the way you want.
This doesn't mean without responsibility. It means doing the things that bring you joy & being responsible to that.
Wake up, work towards the life you want, go to sleep, repeat.
How To Create More Alignment In Your Life
1. Make choices that support the life you want
Ever day we wake up and make the choice to go to that job, live in that city, date that person, etc.
You can always choose something different. But fear usually holds us back from making different or bigger changes in our lives.
Most people would do something different in their life "if they could".
Why can't you choose something different?
Why can't you work towards making a change in your career? It might not happen overnight but in 3-5 years it could happen.
When we make better choices for ourselves it also supports the other people in our life too. We will be happier and more enjoyable to be around.
2. Have tools to help regulate
Having tools like
- mediation,
- breath work,
- hobbies,
- even space in our day,
will help tremendously to get in alignment.
You won't always have a perfect day or life. This is where the tools come in to help regulate.
You can use these tools at any time during the day. I usually like to have a morning or evening routine but you can also use tools in the middle of your day.
Having tools gives you the control back over how you're feeling. We can't always control our environments but we can always control our reactions.
3. Clear unhealed emotions
This is one that might be a little different for some.
Emotions can get trapped in our bodies after life experiences. If we don't resolve this we can experience pain in the body or we can notice a shift in our mood.
It can show up as a multitude of symptoms so it is important to work through the emotions.
There are different techniques to be able to clear emotions from the body.
You can work through this on your own how you feel comfortable. However, I also suggest working with a professional who can help.
4. Have gratitude
Having gratitude in our life, even for the small things can dramatically shift how we see things.
You could think you had the worst day. If you sit down, think about 3 positive things in your day you will feel better.
Once this becomes a habit, you will notice the small positive things more frequently. This will shift your mindset to a more positive one!
Try listing 3 things you're grateful for every day and see how you shift.
On the tough days where it might be hard to find things, it could be coffee, or you saw a dog.
It doesn't have to be some big extravagant thing that you're grateful for.
5. Create healthy boundaries in your life (work & people)
Man this one. This one is HUGE!
When we don't hold our boundaries in life, we can very easily feel our life is out of alignment.
I can't tell you the amount of times I have cancelled on a plan because I just did not feel like going. Holy, I felt so much better immediately when I did that for myself.
When you say 'yes' when you really want to say 'no' you are setting yourself up to feel frustrated & bitter.
If you don't want to do something, or it is outside your work hours - you can say no.
The world won't fall apart if you do.
This is something that takes practice. But once you start doing it you will notice immediately how good it feels.
Boundaries are also important to make sure we aren't burning out or doing too much because we feel we should. If you are over giving to people or situations you will feel depleted very quickly.
Take the 'should' out of your life and just say no.
Don't be a doormat.
6. Create a goal & work towards it
When we create goals and work towards them, we feel good.
Now in order to get the dopamine hit from this, we need to make sure the goal is attainable but also challenging.
In other words, it needs to not be too stressful and daunting to complete.
If the goal is too challenging it won't give us that feel good effect and we will probably not stick to it. This will have us feeling the opposite.
Think of a big goal in your life that you want to achieve. What steps will it take to get there?
Create a small goal towards it that you can stick to.
Do this every day and you will start to see progress. This gives us that dopamine response which we all crave.
"The happiest people spend much time in a state of flow - the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it". - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Living life in alignment doesnt mean you can control the circumstances in your life.
Yes, you can make decisions that control the environments & people you allow into your life. But you can't control the day to day.
You can only control yourself. Take care of yourself. Do things that are healthy and supportive for you and you will find alignment.
Alignment will bring ease & will feel good.
You won't have to question if you're in alignment because you can feel it.
That is all for today's journal. I hope you found it helpful in some way.
Have a wonderful long weekend!
All the best on your journey.
- Jo
If you're needing support along your health journey, here's how you can work with me.
1:1 Manual Osteopathic Treatment (in person): We will go through an assessment and treatment based on your needs & goals.
