How Holistic Alignment can move you towards your ideal self & life
The inspiration for this article
One of the many amazing things I learned from a book called Existential Kink was a concept in Latin coined “unio mentalis” or “one mind”. It means being in alignment with yourself and making aligned choices. It also means remembering that we are all one; one soul, one mind, and one consciousness at the end of the day. Being in alignment with yourself basically means that you’re making choices that are in alignment with what you want.
What Holistic Alignment is
Being in holistic alignment means being in alignment with yourself and your life in all different life areas.
Examples of being out of alignment
So if you want to have a big saving account or feel financially secure, it would be in alignment with that desire to save money and work towards whatever number you deem would be successful for you. It would be out of alignment if you were to spend a bunch of money, only to be mad at yourself later (guilty).
If you want a loving partner then it would be in alignment to choose someone who shows up for you, meets your needs, and doesn’t pull away (or show signs of avoidant attachment style). It would be out of alignment with that desire to settle for men who mistreat you or act avoidant of you in some form. You might find yourself super confused and frustrated when it doesn’t work out or you find yourself in an unhealthy or unfulfilling relationship.
Maybe the why doesn’t matter
It’s truly so simple if we think about it; about what truly being in alignment means to us in a holistic sense. Maybe the reason we are unhappy with ourselves or our lives could be tied to this concept of being in alignment with ourselves, our desires, and our day-to-day actions and choices. We may say we want something but then we take actions that don’t support that thing that we want. I always love to wonder why. Why do I do things opposite of alignment with what I want? Maybe the why doesn’t matter for now, and the main focus could be shifted to how we can fix it.
Life areas where we can be in or out of alignment
When we think about holistic alignment, we can think about the dimensions of wellness but we can also add in some other life areas that really matter to us. To me, holistic alignment means:
Emotionally
Mentally
Financially
Socially
Environmentally
Spiritually
Self-love & self-worth
Nutritionally
Physically
Intellectually
Vocationally
One small daily action is the key to lasting change
Although this list seems long and maybe even daunting, don’t fret. As the famous Holistic Psychologist, Dr. Nicole LaPera, says in her best-selling book, How to Do the Work, choose one small daily action you want to commit to doing. Do it over time to build up self-trust, then slowly add more things. So don’t feel as if you need to tackle this whole list and become holistically aligned right away! That probably won’t be sustainable. Our brains are not yet wired to correlate change with evolution, so change is extremely hard to put into effect typically. But choose one small thing that you can do daily to work towards holistic alignment.
Journal Prompts & Coaching Questions
Where are you currently in alignment?
List all the ways you’d like to acknowledge yourself for being in alignment in the life areas you feel good about currently.
Where are you currently out of alignment?
Where are you currently in between alignment?
How could you get back to alignment in each life area you feel you are out of alignment with?
What’s the most important life area you feel you want to get back into alignment with?
What would it look and feel like to be in alignment in that life area?
What’s one small daily action you can do to move towards alignment in this one specific life area?
