To truly understand state alignment, we can look to nature – how our own bodies work.
The Binary Foundation
At the microscopic level, human physiology operates on a principle of absolute commitment. A single muscle fiber functions on an “all-or-none” basis. When a signal reaches the necessary threshold, that individual fiber engages entirely, contracting to its maximum potential. It exists strictly as fully active or completely at rest. The fluid, graded continuum we experience—the ability to perform a delicate gesture or a powerful leap—arises from which fibers activate, and how many of the correct ones join together.
Our Internal Switches
Human beings consist of countless individual components. These operate in alignment with a set intention/dream/goal, or against it. The parts include specific beliefs, our attention, emotions, our biofield and physical body. Aligning all of these into a coherent flow can seem overwhelming, so in the West we tend to focus on one at a time, or one solely.
Let’s say you examine a certain belief with a psychologist. This belief has an emotional component to it that needs to be felt. The energy of it needs physical space to circulate. If you speak, feeling detached from your body, you are missing out on integrating your new-found belief. Furthermore, you may have hundreds of beliefs to examine. This may take a while.
Being specific is beautiful, and fun at times, but know that you are operating inside a container. We are complex beings; the method, though, can still be simple. You see, nature is not only complex, it is also self-regulating. This is something we can lean into.
Nature’s Blueprint
The goal of life can be seen as the continuation of life or biological integrity. This requires a human body to be in homeostasis. All the processes, like thermoregulation, glucose regulation and pH regulation operate in support of that. Let’s use that principle to nurture coherence and flow.
Begin With Presence
Start with awareness. Develop presence. That is your baseline. By that I mean, learn to be with whatever is. This does not mean you won’t change, rather the opposite. It does not mean you have to like every part of yourself. It means being with yourself without resistance – letting the body decide if a component should be activated or not. It’s all there for a reason. Not a deeper meaning. Just that it has been born. You don’t judge a baby for its existence, regardless of how it is. True acceptance will change it, because acceptance contains innate qualities that will affect it. So be with it, and see what it turns into, or direct your focus towards something else you know you want to grow.
Choosing Your Quality
If you want to grow something, set your goal/intention. The way you articulate this to your body is through the quality you hold. A quality can be felt — strength, ease, warmth, courage, and many that are more specific and we don’t have exact language for. Something like a blooming flower bud just before it opens. We can still feel it, and when you activate a quality, you give your countless internal components something clear to organize around.
Muscle fibers aren’t all recruited at once — the ones suited to the movement engage, and the rest stay at rest, with no judgment attached to either role. Your beliefs, feelings, and habits of attention work the same way. The ones aligned with your chosen quality are the ones called on. The ones that would pull you elsewhere simply aren’t needed for this particular movement — nothing to fight, nothing to fix, just not recruited here.
What determines which components answer the call is connection — practiced, repeated attunement to the quality itself. There are many ways to build that connection; it could include holding an image or idea in your mind, listening to a meditation, feeling a body position deeply, or attuning to someone that holds that quality (could be a plant, human, stone or animal). It could be looking for the quality inside you or around you. These are all bridges. The more you return to one, the more readily the right components recruit, and the less effort the whole thing takes. If you can activate a quality by mere decision, you don’t need the bridge. It’s already there. For me, that is always my goal. I play with tools until I have the experience needed to throw them away, or I continue to use them for mere enjoyment. It’s fun to just think a thought and then embody it. It feels very empowering, and it’s quick.
Meeting Thought as Observer
Whenever a challenging thought comes up, you can choose to examine it. If so, do it loosely, and if you get caught into rumination, retract. Do it as a neutral observer, while allowing emotions to move. You are neither. You are the container. These are parts of you. What I would suggest is that you focus on the feeling of the quality; be it, radiate it, and observe what happens around you. What you will find is that people change. Circumstances change. Clarity of thought will come like insights. It is the self-regulating nature of your body at work.
Cultivating Coherence
Coherence emerges when all of us support a unified purpose. We can cultivate this. It doesn’t have to be complex. Choose a focus. Strengthen it. Accept challenges. Continue to stay in your chosen quality. The more of the right components recruit, and the fewer are called to counter them, the more effortless your state becomes. It will get easier with experience. In the end, all the tiny parts of yourself will know if they are to activate or not.
