Alignment

Introduction to Gratitude

0:00Hello and welcome to the Art of Gratitude with Margaret Alvarez. That's me, Margaret Alvarez. I am a creativity coach, artist, and art teacher teaching people how to start and continue a creative gratitude practice or any gratitude practice for that matter. I am so excited about having you here with me today. I know it's been a while. Well, the holidays are upon us and I am super busy and just trying to hold it all together.

0:31I'm sure I'm not alone on this. I am happy to be here and I'm very excited about this topic that I have for us today.

What is Alignment

0:43Okay, so let's get into it. Today's topic is alignment. I know that last episode I talked a little bit about manifestations, manifesting, and gratitude. And that is like one of my favorite topics because I just feel like manifesting is so fun and if you get the hang of it, it can be so powerful. I love the topic of manifesting because it's one of the reasons I really started with gratitude.

1:15One of the reasons. The main reason was this, what we're going to talk about today, which is alignment. What is alignment? Well, alignment is when you are on track, when you're in the flow, when things are happening and good things are coming and going and you're just feeling good. And alignment is important because we have to kind of stay on track and when we're not on track, we all know it. We know when things aren't going our way. We know when alignment is off because of what's happening around us.

1:49So let's talk about that a little bit. So gratitude and alignment for me, kind of, they work together. Gratitude was really, for me, it started 10 years ago because I started my gratitude art journals. And so when I started that, it was with the intention of always being able to go back to a place where I can find my alignment. And by doing the gratitude and the creativity and just keeping that practice going, I'm able to realign.

2:21So if I am having a day where I'm off or if I am feeling like I need to get things off my chest or I need to reflect, the gratitude art journal is what keeps me aligned. I just go back to that. And when I can't do that, there's a lot of other things you can do. So how do I know I'm in alignment? How do I know that I'm in a good place in my life? Let's see. My mood. If I'm in a kind of funky mood, I know that I'm off a little bit.

2:53We all have those days. I know that the people around me, the people that love me the most, when they see me in a mood, they recognize it. And if they lovingly let me know that, you know, or ask me, hey, what's going on? Sometimes that is a trigger for me to, or not a trigger. It's a kind of an eye opener, like, oh, like I'm off today. I'm so sorry, you know, and let me get it back together. And so that's my, my mood is always going to be kind of a signal.

3:25My feelings. Feelings are huge. I always use feelings in my topics. When I talk and teach workshops, feelings are a huge subject for me because your feeling is, is the indicator of where you are. How are you feeling right now? If you're feeling bad, you know, how do you lift yourself back up? Feelings are kind of like our radar. And so feelings are a really big way of figuring out whether you're aligned or not. Um, what's happening around me? I've talked to the, about this in the past.

3:58What's happening? Is everything going wrong around me? Are things off? You know, for me, it's the people around me. If, if there's mood swings or, you know, my son being eight years old, he has, you know, if, if I'm in a mood, if I'm not in alignment, it literally turns everything around. Think about it like a storm. You know, you, if you're, if you're not well and you're not in alignment, everything around you is going to reflect whatever, um, is happening. I just kind of, in my head, I visualize like a,

4:31being on a boat and there's like a storm around you. I don't know if that's good. That's not a really good analogy. I think it's more, you know, you're a reflection. The things around you are a reflection of what is happening inside of you. And so if things are just going being, it's a funky day and things are just not going your way, boom, you know, you're not in alignment. How can you change that? Right?

4:54Synchronicities are something that I talked about last episode because synchronicities are important. Um, they are kind of signals from the universe telling us that we're in a good place. And I love synchronicities. I mean, they happen. So for me, there's a lot of different ones, but I know when something is happening in front of me or when I see my angel numbers or when I see something that, you know, I don't, you don't see very often, you know, butterflies are really big. Um, for me, butterflies are just like a symbol of like, I'm here, you know, you're good, keep going. Um, that

5:29kind of thing. And I've had butterflies fly right in my face, you know, in a very random moment and a place where butterflies aren't usually hanging around. It's kind of, it's like a nudge, you know, from the universe. And I fully believe that those little signals, those things that we see are really, they're meant for us to, to, to keep going. And, and so synchronicities are huge for me. And they tell me that I'm in alignment. They show me like, keep going. And so I have a little kind of

6:03ritual in my head. When I see a synchronicity or something that is a signal, I just keep going. I take a deep breath and I'm like, it's on its way. You know, it's, it's, we're going to be all right. Or I'm in the flow, like, just keep going. Um, it's kind of nice. It's, you know, when you can think of life from that perspective and you can have control over your feelings and your emotions, um, there's, there's a lot of power in that. And I think that people have a hard time with that. Um, especially if things are really going wrong, you know, and I've, I've had mom, I've had my moments of, you know,

6:41bad days and, and when things aren't happening and I just want to throw all of this out the window and this isn't working. And I have to just, you have to, you got to catch yourself. Um, and so you have to kind of just take a deep breath. And sometimes that means like doing a little quick meditation for me, that's meditation or exercise, like just, you know, get yourself back on track and, and, you know, it's okay to have a bad day. It's okay to just want to wallow in it a little bit. I mean, you know, what the result of that is going to be. You're not going to feel great.

7:15You know, you could be feeling better, but sometimes we just need to cry it out and, and that's okay. Um, I, I am not perfect. Um, and so I have to kind of give myself a little grace sometimes.

Staying in Alignment

7:27And I think we all do. Um, so let's talk about ways to stay in alignment. How do we stay in alignment? Well, hello, it's gratitude. Gratitude is huge. It's huge. That's why I always say a moment of gratitude can change everything because it is so true. The minute you stop and appreciate, you have changed everything. You really have, you've changed your vibration. We've talked about being energetic beings. You know, we have a vibration that we are on. And if we're off,

8:00if we're not having a good day, if we're throwing things and, you know, if we're not having a good day, then gratitude can kind of get us back on track. And I think at times this can be really difficult, especially again, when you're having a really bad day or things are really not going your way. It's hard, but it's also necessary because we have a choice. We have a choice. We can be in a bad mood and, you know, point out every bad thing that's happened to us today. Or we can choose

8:35to look at the things that we appreciate in our day. What did I get out of that bad situation? How did it help me? You know, and, and it's really difficult. It takes so much time to get your brain to think in this way. And it's natural for people to say, well, I can't do that all the time, or this is not going to work. It's really up to you because you have the choice. You have the choice whether you are going to, you know, walk or you're going to skip, right? You have the choice whether you're going to smile or you're just going to like, just keep going. You, everybody has choices. And so gratitude

9:10is just a really fast way to get your, get yourself back on track because, you know, when you're in gratitude, you can't feel negative. You can't, you can't have negative thoughts. And so, and it's science, like this has actually been researched and it's, you know, it's out there. So gratitude, walk outside, take a walk, just be in nature. If you can, you know, not everybody can do that. Um, but if you're at work or something like that, you know, take a walk and just be in the sun,

9:42like let the sun hit your face. That to me has, is always a really quick mood lifter. Um, music, hello. If you can't get out of your office or get out of your house or wherever you are, just, you know, put your earbuds in and listen to some good music, like have a playlist for days like that. You know, I have a happy playlist like that, you know, all the mood lifting music and I have to occasionally, you know, change it out and make another playlist. And it's just, there's so many ways, but music, I think we all forget sometimes that music is so uplifting and it can really,

10:17it can really get you, um, in a better feeling place. And that's what we're looking for. How else can we get in alignment? Uh, creativity, obviously I'm a creativity coach teaching people how to get creative, especially those people who don't always get creative. Like why not buy a few art supplies and just keep them on hand in case you have a moment, you know, where you just need to release. Why not? Um, for me, cleaning is a big one. I know it's, it's crazy. Um, my husband doesn't

10:47understand this cause he, he actually gets mad cause I clean too much and he's like, can you just sit down and like relax? And for me, it just, it, it really gets me feeling like, okay, everything's in its place and I can relax. Um, you know, I just have to have everything in order for me to feel balanced and that's just how I am. And that's how I, I keep myself aligned. Sometimes I just need to do a little cleaning and, um, writing, writing is huge. Um, another creative outlet, um, just getting it on

11:19paper or just, just being able to be with yourself for a moment, um, can really help with alignment. So what are the benefits of being in alignment? What are the benefits of being in a good high vibration, a good feeling place, feeling good? I mean, obviously the feeling good part is, is a benefit. Um, if you are in a high vibration, only good things can come to you. Um, and so that is a

11:50benefit. Um, if you're in alignment, it just, the, everything just flows. Have you ever started your day? Just like, Oh Lord, let me get through this day. Like it's just, it might be like your busiest day at work or, you know, you have a lot to do and you know, you just, you start your day just feeling like, Oh my goodness. Like, all right, here we go. If you're in a high vibration, if you're in a good feeling place, if you are in alignment, most of the time that day is going to go by so fast and you're not even going to know, you know, like it's just going to, it's just going to go by because you're

12:25in such a high vibration that everything just flowed and you just got through it. And it really didn't seem like that busy of a day. Hey, I thought today was going to be worse, but it really wasn't. And that is because you were in a high vibration. You were in alignment. Um, think about alignment of your car. Like why do they align our vehicles? Um, you know, to, to balance them out and to, you know, you've got to change things around so that it can, you can get back on track. And so you just have to think of yourself as this energetic being that needs to be in a certain

12:57vibration. And there are a lot of different ways. I just gave you like a ton of ways to stay aligned, to stay on track. Um, this is why journaling is super important because it almost makes you commit to that practice, to that alignment that we are all seeking. I'm telling you, when I started journaling and using it for gratitude, it was simply an alignment tool. Like I knew I was getting aligned when I would get creative in my journal and I would just express myself in my

13:29journal and use all my materials, but it was another level when I added gratitude to the mix. This is why I want to encourage you to use your journal in this way. Find, you know, find what works for you. If you really love using like Sharpie pens and watercolor all the time, then buy some Sharpie pens and get some watercolor and just keep it on hand. Um, if, if you, you know, love buying all kinds of different pens or, you know, colorful pens or, you know, arts, not art supplies, but like

14:02office supplies are your thing, then get some fun stuff to use with your journal and have it with you like nearby so that you can use it frequently. It's really, it comes down to choices. Like I said before, we have a choice, you know, of how we're going to feel. And if journaling works for you, then make it a part of your practice, make it a part of that way to get in alignment and make it accessible, make it, you know, buy a tiny journal and put it in your purse. I don't know, like whatever is going to work for you. For me, it is taking the time to myself every morning to do the things that

14:40make me feel good, exercise and meditation and gratitude. And then ending the day with some gratitude always helps as well. And if I can get in there sometime in the middle of the day and, and use my journal or do something else that's going to keep me in alignment, just checking in with yourself. Like in the middle of the day, set an alarm. How am I feeling right now? What, what is it that, that I need to do for myself? And just setting that alarm every day just kind of keeps you on

15:14track. It keeps you in on that level that you need to be on. So for your homework today, um, I want you to, first of all, go and explore art materials, just explore, just go see what's out there. And buy one thing that something new to get you more excited about the journaling process. If you've already bought a journal, if you're already kind of doing the thing, awesome. Good for you. Now it is

15:45time to make a little change and try to add some novelty to the situation. Go and find something that, that seems like it would be fun to use. There's so many things out there. Let me tell you, um, so many like fun stickers and, you know, different kinds of watercolor. I mean, you are going to, it'll, it'll blow your mind. There's so many things. So buy something new that you can use in your journal. And I want you to make a list of ways that you stay in alignment yourself. I mentioned to you that I use cleaning as an alignment tool for myself. Surely that is not what

16:16everybody does, but that's my personal opinion. I love cleaning. I just, it balances me out. So find your list of things that you do. And maybe there are things that you aren't even aware of, you know, like maybe it's like, Oh, I just, you know, I love coming home to cook dinner for my family. And, you know, I love creating in that way in the kitchen. Okay. Maybe that's one of your ways to stay in alignment, whatever the case may be, make a list. This is going to bring more awareness to what you're doing to stay in alignment. Um, and it'll help. It will help you to kind of just stay

16:51on track. We have to be more aware of ourselves and, and the things that help us to keep us sane.

Practicing Self Awareness

17:00We have to, we just have to figure it out. Right. And this is a really good way of doing it. And then using your journal in a way to kind of reflect on that is going to help solidify this plan for yourself. So do that. That's your homework. I appreciate you. Remember a moment of gratitude can change everything. I am so happy that you're here with me and I hope that you continue to listen and that this helps you to continue your gratitude practice. I will talk to you very soon. Bye.