Align + Flow

Explore the concept of radical discontinuity and how being the experiment can lead you to more fulfilling alignment in your life. Tuning in and noticing how you are aligning with your now allows you to cultivate the flow state in your daily life.

Transcript

Hello,

Awesome ones,

It's Krista.

I'm here with some musings.

We have shared some thoughts about the idea of being the experiment.

The idea of being the experiment and radical discontinuity,

Changing things up on a regular basis just to see how it feels and to see what emerges is a practice that I use constantly.

And although I find myself in routine occasionally,

And that routine works,

I would also offer that when we start to notice that routine isn't working for us,

That it starts to feel more like like a box we've put ourselves in or a structure that is bossing us around,

It's important to notice that we've really taken our own power away by giving power over to that structure.

So what I'd love to talk about is that idea of aligning and flowing when it comes to radical discontinuity.

So the idea of radical discontinuity is truly just changing up what it is you're doing on a regular basis,

Whether it's changing up the order or changing where you're driving or frankly just even rearranging the apps on your phone to keep yourself fresh,

To keep yourself thinking,

To keep yourself from going into autopilot.

The idea of living awake is to avoid going on autopilot.

And oftentimes I hear from clients this concept that they're just they're just doing the routine,

They're just going through the motions or doing the same things but feeling stuck.

And what I would offer is that is important to notice when you tune in to your own routine.

To notice again,

Is it bossing you around?

Who's the boss of who here?

Really examining when a routine that may have been created with deep intention,

It may have been created out of a clear path forward at the time,

And yet we're constantly evolving.

And so when we are in that space of constant evolution,

A routine or a focus,

An exercise,

A journaling habit,

Whatever it is,

If it starts to feel more again,

Like it is pushing you around,

Then the power that you instilled in that practice is disempowering you.

And so the idea of examining,

Am I still aligned with this practice?

Am I still aligned?

And we can take this deeper.

Am I still aligned with my job?

Am I still aligned in my relationship?

Obviously those are deeper,

More complex circumstances to examine.

Yet what I would offer is it's the same process of tuning in after noticing that there's dissonance or there's static,

That things don't feel aligned.

And even if they did feel aligned for a long time,

Even if you did have an exercise situation,

Whatever your regimen is that you enjoy,

And all of a sudden it's just not working for your body anymore,

Or something as simple as you drink your coffee every morning and your coffee all of a sudden is not agreeing with you,

It's making you feel too jittery or full of anxiety or just doesn't sit well in your body,

Just because you're a coffee drinker doesn't mean you're a coffee drinker every day from now on.

And just because you are a person who runs every single day doesn't always mean that you're a runner for the rest of your life.

You may be.

And if you are,

Fantastic.

The important part is that you're checking in on a regular basis.

You're putting your finger on the pulse of your evolution to decide,

Does this align with me today?

And what you notice in that static or dissonance,

If it's not aligning,

Is it will feel forced.

It will feel like there's not flow.

And so thus the wisdom of the pairing of aligning and flowing.

Do I feel aligned in this practice?

Do I feel aligned in my life and my relationship,

In my job?

Because when I am aligned,

When I am tuning into what I know works for me,

What I know sustains me,

Feeds me,

Gives me power,

Gives me energy,

That's my path.

And we feel that flow when we say things like,

Gosh,

It just feels too easy.

Or I can't believe all of these different pieces of the puzzle that have aligned right in front of me to bring me to this point to say yes to something new.

And we can actively do that with radical discontinuity of changing things up to keep things fresh,

To really live awake.

And we can also do that from the perspective of a contemplative noticing of,

Does this align with who I am and what I seek to accomplish or what I seek to create or what my vision looks like for me now?

Not what my vision looks like for me six months ago,

But today.

I feel as though those intentional visioning practices or goal setting practices very much can misdirect us.

Because oftentimes when we're thinking about and those wants,

Those needs,

Those desires,

That we get really specific,

Which is fantastic.

It's good to envision what it is that you know will bring you fulfillment.

And yet at the same time,

We tend to box ourselves in again with,

This is exactly how I want it to go.

This is exactly how I want it to manifest.

And you may not know,

You can't know often the generosity of the universe.

And so when it comes to thinking through what it is you want to flow into or what feels aligned,

Notice that it keeps saying the word feel.

We're talking here not necessarily about a cognitive exercise,

But a heart centered exercise.

We're talking about an energy centered exercise.

We're listening to these other sources of wisdom that are beyond our mind,

Beyond our brain.

We're listening to what our body's telling us.

We're listening to what our heart is telling us or our noticing of that joy and that bliss when we are in flow.

When we do that practice of tuning in to what aligns with us and accept it,

We can move into that flow.

And yet that's not always a cognitive focus.

We can start there.

We can say,

Gosh,

You know,

I think I want these things.

I think I want this job.

I think I want to step into this relationship.

And yet that is only partial wisdom.

When we slow down and breathe into how do I want to feel in this relationship?

How do I want to feel in this job?

What do I want my energy to feel like when I wake up in the morning and hop in the shower or get out on the road for my run or whatever that is?

How do I want to feel when I'm doing those things?

Do I want to feel like,

Well,

It's time to make the donuts,

So I'm going to go out for my run or I'm going to head to this job?

Or do I want to feel that energetic flow?

And ultimately I would offer,

Most of us would say,

I want to feel that flow and fantastic.

I'm so grateful you want to feel that flow.

What it takes though is the slowing down to notice,

Am I aligned with my now?

And am I aligned with my now in every now?

And so again,

That blueprint that you may have put together,

Even that vision board,

It's probably too reductive.

It's probably forcing these energies into these very specific visions.

And frankly,

I will offer,

We've probably heard in the past from goal setting practices that you want to be really specific.

You want to set down a deadline,

A timeline,

Action steps.

You want to do it just to the letter.

And what I would offer is a lot of those habit patterns can really lend themselves to the work ethic that it takes to move in the direction that we want.

And yet at the same time,

There's this whole other realm of attunement,

This whole other realm of wisdom that we accidentally push aside by creating those vision boards,

By creating those very specific goals with very specific timelines.

We don't leave space for the possibility that what we are aligning with is greater than even what our imagination could allow for.

And so thus aligning with the generous universe in that way.

So ultimately what I would love for you awesome ones to muse upon is noticing where and when you can slow down when you're feeling that static or dissonance and tune in to what is it that I really want and we can we can focus on the cognitive and I want you to tune into your heart.

I want you to tune into your energy.

I want you to tune into your body.

I want you to listen to all of the wisdom available to you through this beautiful earth school vessel that we've been gifted.

And when you tune in then notice and be an acceptance of what that wisdom brings.

Because sometimes it's not pleasant.

Sometimes it's not what you want to hear.

Sometimes it's not what you want what you want to hear that that this job just isn't for you or this long-term relationship is no longer aligned with you.

Does that necessarily mean you have to make a job change or that you have to have a breakup or find a different partner?

Not necessarily.

What that means is there's there's work and practice to be focused upon to bring yourself into greater alignment.

And sometimes that can mean some more specific changes within the framework that's already there.

But sometimes that static and dissonance is so loud and so pronounced and just is so persistent that even those small changes are not getting us where we want to go.

And that's where it becomes tricky.

And yet at the same time that static,

That dissonance,

That discomfort is there to remind us that we aren't aligned.

And the flow doesn't come unless we within our power,

Owning our power,

Choose our alignment.

And that brings me back full circle to these practices.

Whether it's shaking the snow globe and embracing radical discontinuity in a playful way or whether that's noticing the static and dissonance that's happening simply in your typical routine and then say,

Okay now I'm gonna change it up.

So whether you're changing it up spontaneously or whether you're changing it up in response to the noticings while you tune in,

Either way the most important part is that light playful noticing of being the experiment and accepting the information,

The wisdom that you're getting from all sources of wisdom and then saying to yourself,

Okay what do I want to do with this information now?

How do I want to move forward and aligning fully with what it is that I want,

Wish,

Desire that brings me my greatest excitement?

And then comes the flow.

So I'd love to leave you with a couple of musings for your own exploration with there's never pressure or homework.

It's always playful but really noticing where are you feeling some friction or static or dissonance in your life from the tiniest most mundane choices of coffee or tea or running or walking or a blue sweater or a red sweater.

It can be that simple.

Those choices in alignment with our pleasure,

With our excitement,

Bring us closer to flow.

Or is it the bigger life questions,

The more complex life questions about professional work or relationships or relationship with yourself or relationship with your body or relationship with your family?

Those can certainly be bigger and more complex and yet I offer that that pause to tune in to really listen to your own inner wisdom doesn't necessarily mean that a massive change is afoot.

It means that you can slowly and surely bring yourself into alignment with choices all the way along that are deeply impactful but maybe aren't completely overhauling your life.

Because remember you're always in control.

You're always in your own power.

And when I say always in control I mean in control of your choices not in control of what's happening around you.

We all know that we live with uncertainty and when we join in that and bring a bit of playfulness,

Bring a bit of radical discontinuity,

Offer ourselves up as the experiment,

Then we have a greater chance of experiencing that flow state.

So that brings me to my next question.

Notice when you are in flow.

When are you in flow?

What makes you feel like you're energetically flying?

That you are high on life?

What helps you feel like time passes in a blink or stretches time to this long luxurious experience of flow?

I'm guessing that there are some of those experiences here in your life and I often notice that with clients those are experiences they tend to ration.

They tend to feel some pleasure aversion,

Some flow aversion.

So again a question where might you notice in your life that when you are in flow you're shrinking from that.

You're not inviting that.

Lastly I would offer consider what it is in your life that you can give yourself permission to ask these big questions.

Ask yourself what's keeping you from that practice and oftentimes my own lived experience and with clients I would offer is that's not valuing this kind of self exploration.

It's not valuing this kind of being the experiment.

That we find ourselves allowing those practices that feel like they're pushing us around to push us around even further.

So I invite you into the practice of taking back your power,

Of owning your power,

Of tuning into your values in terms of how you allot your energetic exploration of self.

That is something that you do have complete control over.

Every choice you make shapes the world,

Awesome ones.

And with that I wish you happy exploration,

Big love and rock on.

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