The Beauty of Alignment

John Friend as SuperOM

“The future is about responding in alignment” - John Friend 9-11-10

Daily life is an ever-shifting process of aligning and realigning. You wake up and realize it’s raining or that you forgot to buy food for breakfast. Maybe you check your email and see a message that adds a layer of complication to your day or one that makes you excited about how your day will unfold. Perhaps you make the most perfect breakfast and the coffee has never tasted so delicious, or instead you forgot to pick up milk and feel vaguely disappointed. You imagined this, but now you have to readjust to that. Every moment of your day instigates a series of tiny shifts and adjustments. Each adjustment is a point of departure from which your actions and choices ripple outward, affecting your life and the lives of the people around you. So the essential question becomes: how do you align with those incremental shifts and changes - with what was, with what is and with what might be?

As my teacher John Friend reminded us this past weekend in Boston, everything is microcosm-macrocosm. The shifts of our bodies and minds mirror the processes of the world around us. If we deny those processes, we become misaligned. If our knee suddenly feels tweaked and we decide to run 5 miles or sit in lotus position for an hour, that’s a misaligned decision that will result in injury. If we decide to address that unexpected shift with rest or a theraputic physical practice, we have responded intelligently, realigning with what is, and setting a positive path for what might be.

The more aligned we are as individuals, the more skillfully we align with those around us. We become proficient at navigating the vicissitudes of life, which enables us to more positively affect our world. We are less likely to lash out in anger when provoked, less likely to be devastated by sadness. If we can align with the small shifts, we can better address the life-changing ones.

So try this:

First, notice some small unexpected shift in your plans or expectations.

Then observe: How is this change affecting my thinking & mood?

Then ask yourself: How, at this moment, can I best align with what I’ve been given so that I can move forward in a positive way?