When something is out of alignment with its environment, friction and conflict are usually the result. If a wheel is out of alignment, it will cause vibration and serious problems to the vehicle. If you are out of alignment with the hallway you are walking down, you will bump into the walls and hurt yourself.

When we are struggling with personal problems, usually many things are out of alignment: our physical health, our emotions, our thinking, our relationships, our finances, our living situation, and our career. Friction and conflict - within ourselves and with others - create tension and drain our energy.

In the section on the theory of Primal Integration, I propose that, "In their natural state, human beings function as an integrated whole - in balanced communication and interaction within themselves and with the world at large." I am referring to a state of alignment. It is the natural state of all living things.

Childhood abuse and neglect often create traumas that interrupt the natural state of alignment. Once this neurotic condition is set into place, this misalignment begins to create dysfunction in many aspects of our lives.

When people engage in deep-feeling work, it is often because their personal misalignment is making life impossible. The symptoms of misalignment - friction and conflict - overwhelm their lives. The energy of the conflict pours out in sadness, anger, and anxiety.

What people aren't usually told in this society is that expressing their upsetting feelings is helpful. Expression is the healing process of alignment in action. It is only when we really feel the pain of banging our heads against the wall that we may pay attention - and walk down the middle of the hallway.

In the midst of the messy tangle of our lives, the one appropriate thing to do is to be upset. We may not know what to do about our blinding headaches, our frightening phobias, our twisted thinking, our irate spouses, our overdue bills, the neighbour's dogs, or our malevolent bosses - but we know that all of it makes us want to cry and scream.

When it rains for weeks on end, the lake overflows, and the excess water drains off. Similarly, by allowing our upsetting feelings to overflow (in a safe and supportive environment) we simply begin to come into line with what we are at that moment - upset. Strangely enough, that is the very thing we need.

This is how the natural process of re-alignment starts. Eventually the process will bring balance into all the other tangled aspects of our life.

How brilliant nature is.

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