Slowing down to find alignment

It’s hard to avoid the tyranny of busyness in today’s world. There are plenty of tasks and distractions to eat up our time. Being busy isn’t always bad, but sometimes busyness is mistaken for productivity and urgency is mistaken for importance. 

The key is to move forward with purpose and alignment, not just urgency.

Slowing down can be beneficial for finding alignment. Alignment is listening to ourselves and it can be hard to listen and tune in when we’re frantic or constantly on the move.

Things change as well, and you may need to switch gears or reassess your goals or direction. “You’re allowed to outgrow the goals you set when you still thought you had something to prove,” wrote Cory Allen. This is a great point as sometimes we set goals that no longer serve us, or were set based on external expectations or arbitrary deadlines.

Slowing down is an act of self-care. 

You can also take small moments throughout the day to check in. If you’re taking a 5-minute break at work, or stuck in traffic, it might be a good time to use questions to do a little mindful investigating. 

Some questions to ask:

• What does my body need at this moment? 
• What are my needs that aren’t being met? 
• What am I trying to achieve by being busy with ____? 
• How can I incorporate more joy into the day? 
• How can I be kinder to myself right now? 

When you have more time, you can journal with these questions or questions of your own, do a body scan or meditation, and let the space and stillness invite in some genuine and aligned answers.