Getting in Alignment with Your Intuition
Nov 29, 2021
Have you ever heard the phrase “you won’t have to force something that is meant for you?” When you live in alignment with your intuition, life can flow more easily. If you have been aware of your intuition and working to develop it you may notice that making decisions based on intuition can save you a lot of stress and worry. Likewise when you go against your intuition you might find yourself questioning “why didn’t I listen to my gut?”
If you’re not sure when your intuition is talking to you read: How to listen to your intuition when it's talking to you
What is Alignment?
Alignment means to bring into a line or proper position with something else. In the car business, it refers to the part of the vehicle, the suspension, that is responsible for connecting a vehicle to its wheels. The angles of the wheels, the camber, toe, and caster, all need to be adjusted properly so that they make the right contact with the road, allow you to drive straight, and get safely and easily where you need to go. If the alignment is off, you’ll know it because your car will either pull to the right or left. There could be a vibration in the steering wheel, and you’ll have to consistently make an effort to hold your wheel straight. If you’ve ever experienced this, you know that it’s not a pleasant way to drive. Yes, you can get where you’re going. But depending on how off the alignment is, it’s hard to relax or think about anything else besides the fact that your car is pulling to one side of the road. You may find yourself overcorrecting and exhausted. If we drive with a car that’s out of alignment for too long, the tires suffer premature wear and tear and unnecessary damage.
When we talk about alignment in a spiritual sense, we are talking about being in alignment with our spiritual values and true essence. Our conscious and unconscious mind, our physical body, and our breath, need to be aligned with our truth, or we will likely feel a sense of discomfort.
Alignment is based on values.
When you are spiritually aligned with your values, it means that your thoughts and beliefs, and actions are in line with what you desire and this will feel emotionally positive. Think of the children in your life. Most young children live in alignment with their basic needs and emotions. They are the center of their own universe, and are acting on survival instincts. Young children value feeling safe, loved, and comfortable. If you take something away from a child, their favorite toy for example, they might cry or get angry and start to believe that it is their fault.
At some point, as adults, most of us develop a set of values, beliefs, and ideas that help us live in alignment. We begin to form ideas of what is wrong and right, and what it looks like to live a good life. For example, most people believe that they need to work hard and make sacrifices in order to be successful. This is a common and well-meaning thought most of us have. Through our conditioning, in our families, and in society most of us have this thought reinforced throughout our lifetime. When we have a recurring thought, at some point it becomes a belief. By the time we reach adulthood most of us are prepared to suffer and work hard for what we want. While we may value feeling rested and spending time with our family and friends, our belief that we have to work hard to be successful will shape the way we behave and the choices we make. We may, for example, choose a higher paying job with better benefits that requires us to work long hours and sacrifice our health believing that we are making the right choice for our family.
As you begin to understand intuition in the process of developing your values instead of relying on your conditioning, you begin to discover the truth of who you are. Then, what your soul wants to express becomes the basis for this alignment.
Alignment looks different for everyone.
Oftentimes, things may look great on the outside if you are living your life in alignment with your conditioning and not your intuition. You can appear successful, happy, healthy, and financially secure by choosing partners, jobs, and friends based on what you “think” you should have and not at all aligned with what you feel is right for you. While it’s difficult to explain what living a life in alignment with intuition looks like, it's easy to describe what it feels like, and to recognize it once you know.
What does alignment feel like? Listening to your body
Starting to rely on your body as a powerful indicator of your emotional needs can help to guide you in this process. The need to rest, move away from certain people and environments, change behaviors and thinking patterns, will all be felt in the body first. For many clients I work with, the concept of trusting their body feels foreign. Our conditioning tells us that productivity is far better than rest, that we should be unbothered by noise, crowds, fluorescent lights, and the cleaning product that gives us a headache.
Challenges
Many highly sensitive and intuitive people have been living in a state of anxiety or unrest so long that it can be easy to miss cues from the body telling us that we’re not in alignment with our purpose and intuition. Your body is like an antenna for energy and information and is one of the most trust-worthy barometers for alignment. When you are not in alignment, you will feel it in your body. Intuition speaks to you calmly from your center, a place of love, it does not speak from fear, and it will never lie to you.
Signs that you are in alignment:
you feel optimistic
Wanting to be alone or in nature
seeking out opportunities for joy
It is easy to feel happy for other people
You want more time to relax
You feel fulfilled
You feel gratitude and notice beauty in the world around you
At some point in life, everyone will experience feeling out of alignment. Even after you’ve clearly defined your values and made adjustments over time, the feeling of needing to realign will creep up. The key is not to wait until a point of crisis to listen to your intuition and create a life where you have the freedom to make choices that support your well being.
Some Signs that you are not in alignment
You feel unfulfilled
You feel that things keep happening to you
Feeling exhausted and burnt out
You feel a general sense of discomfort
Things that can help you feel aligned
Journaling is a great way to gain clarity around your feelings. If you're not sure where to start, it can help to practice a “brain dump''.” This is when you write down all of your thoughts without censoring yourself. Then you can go back and look over what you’ve written. Oftentimes this can be revealing of your fears and desires.
Meditation is a great way to get to know yourself. Even sitting for a few minutes a day with some calming music can increase your sense of well being and connectedness. Or try this Meditation
Breathwork can help you to feel more connected to yourself. Putting your hand over your heart, taking a nice deep breath, and saying something kind to yourself can help you move through difficult moments. Here are some great breathwork books for beginners
Being in nature can feel grounding and connecting. The earth and its elements are often soothing and can help to put things into perspective.
Talking to a trusted friend. Feeling seen and validated by a friend may be supportive when you are struggling to understand your feelings. Sometimes those who know you best may be able to help you to see the bigger picture. It may also help to imagine what advice you would give yourself if you were your own best friend.
Practice gratitude. Many people find that practicing gratitude in their daily lives can help them to shift their perspective and feeling grounded and centered.
Learning something new can help to connect you to joy and a sense of well being. Remaining open, curious and gentle with yourself as you learn something new can give you a sense of accomplishment and help connect to your inner child.
Seek help if you need it. If you have experienced trauma or struggle with feeling anxious or sad frequently seeking out a therapist to support you can help you to gain clarity, direction and feel supported.
For More:
Try Guided Meditation: Connect to your own energy
Get the free guide Affirmations for Intuitive Development when you sign up for updates about my book Uncovering Intuition (coming soon!)
