Alignment: Identifying Your Essential Values

In my yoga classes, I often ask, “What are your essential values?” It is not a trick question, but it does require deep thought and introspection. Essential values are the fundamental building blocks that make up your core beliefs. The core beliefs that are free from limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are thoughts and feelings that were placed on us by family, society, friends, jobs, or other external people or groups. 

• Have you ever wondered if your essential values are free from limiting beliefs?

• Are your essential values really yours to hold?

• Maybe you absorbed the values from external sources without truly believing in them? 

Yoga and meditation can help you gain clarity to identify your essential values and remove the shackles that limiting beliefs can impart. Once you know your essential values, I encourage you to write them down. Writing them down brings an internal world out into the physical world. Having your values out in the world can make them feel more real. Bringing them into the physical world can also make it easier to cross them out from your list when you realize it is not a true essential value.

While true essential values are difficult to change, it may take some time to find out what yours are. In other words, you may first believe that you have identified your essential values, but with more self-study you realize that it was not truly an essential value.

You will know when you’ve discovered your true essential values because your life falls into alignment. Alignment occurs when you wake up every day with a surreal feeling that you’ve dreamed the life you’re currently living. It's not that life is perfect, but it feels harmonious. When you are living in alignment, there is an undeniable flow to your life. I will give you an example from my own life.

Example: Learning as My Essential Value

Learning is one of my essential values. I made the discovery while completing my 200-hour yoga teacher training several years back. During my teacher training, part of my homework was to reflect on my essential values.

I found my yoga journal from my yoga teacher training and found this annotation.

While reflecting, I realized that I have always valued learning in a formal and informal way. In my mind, a traditional learning path via an institution or certification is formal, and reading for fun is an example of informal learning. I have always enjoyed reading and languages. I believe that language is the key that opens locked doors. Last year, I used my Spanish to unlock an entire country’s education system. I decided to move to Mexico and enroll in a Master of Science program that focuses on public health and epidemiology at the National Institute of Public Health.

Now, as I begin the second, and final, year of my graduate school career, I reflect on where I was a year ago, and it truly blows my mind. A year ago, I was two months into living in Mexico; I had no permanent residence, a local bank account, proof of address, local ID, or anything that you can think of that someone would need to live a real life, not to mention that I also began the process of purchasing an apartment without having all my ducks in a row.

Right from the beginning, I could tell that I jumped into the deep end of an oversaturated school schedule. I immediately felt lost and overwhelmed. The demanding workload included several presentations I had to give on a near-weekly basis. As the weeks moved along, I began to dread the presentations and almost felt a sense of embarrassment for my Spanish. But one day, as I was preparing to give yet another presentation, I remembered my intention and essential value: learning. Learning and absorbing everything I could as I transitioned into my new environment. Here, I had this wonderful opportunity to present academic topics in front of very smart people and receive feedback. The final grade did not matter; looking stupid did not matter. What mattered was that I kept learning something, even if it seemed minor. It was at this time that I decided to keep going. If I failed or got kicked out, I failed and got kicked out, but at least I tried my best and stayed true to my essential value.

A year later, I am so grateful that I stuck with it. Sticking around despite the challenge has fueled me. Fuel that feeds my fire to keep learning. After my first year at the Institute, I even enrolled in some summer continuing education courses. Funny enough, both of them were taught in English. One class was “Scientific Writing in Public Health,” taught by a visiting professor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the second course was “Randomised Controlled Trials: How to Design and Analyze Studies to Evaluate Interventions,” taught by a visiting professor from the Netherlands. Thankfully, that class was not in Dutch.

A soon-to-be 38-year-old starting a new semester.

Living in Alignment

This past Sunday I woke up in the apartment that I own. I prepared delicious Mexican coffee in my French press, listened to street dogs bark at the church bells, and sat down at my table to admire the view for a moment. As I sat there, I was filled with overwhelming gratitude. Gratitude for all the support I received from family, friends, clients, and my partner over the past year. As I sipped my coffee, I glanced at my Google calendar: a virtual session with a client followed by my virtual yoga class, my gym time after class, then some time blocked off to work on my thesis later that day. To have the ability to work for myself doing something I am passionate about, plus fill my days with activities that support my essential values is nothing short of a dream come true. Years ago, when I was writing down my essential values in my yoga teacher training, I did not know they would manifest in this way exactly. I did not have all of the details worked out, but since then I allowed my essential values to guide my decisions. Every choice I make, I make with intention, and I stay true to what I value. Sitting in my new apartment, I felt like there was magic surrounding me. I believe that magic is harmonious alignment with the essence of who and what I am.

I put down my Google Calendar and opened La Peste by Albert Camus. I have a little time to struggle through the French before my first virtual client.

When I moved into my new apartment, there wasn’t even a refrigerator included. I do not take for granted that I can now sit in peace and enjoy a cup of coffee in my very own apartment.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Identifying your essential values is not easy.

• First, you must remove the limiting beliefs that muddy the waters. Once you see them clearly, write them down.

• Second, stay true to your essential values, even when it's challenging. All the while, remember to maintain a healthy detachment from the outcome. Keep in mind that you may need some time to figure out what they truly are.

• Third, you will feel an eerie sense of harmonious alignment.

• Fourth, when you feel that sense of alignment, express gratitude to everyone and everything that helped you stay true to your essential values, because you definitely did not do it alone.

• Finally, show yourself gratitude for what you have done.

• Bonus step once you live in alignment: Decentralize yourself and ask yourself, “How can I stay true to my essential values AND support my neighbor, my community, my worst enemy?”

Come to class to move your body, meditate, and learn more yogic principles. See you soon!