Expectations of what life will look like on the outside, keep us fixed on the externals. This fixation outsources our happiness based on results, that which is material. Yet the materiality of this reality is in an endless flux. The economy changes. Career paths change. The social norms change. Families change. The government changes. The weather changes hour by hour. We are walking through physical changes, always. Yet we stay fixated on these very same externals to provide us some sense of validation, pride, identity, or leadership. Why?

This is the ultimate plague of the human spirit. We know that we can no longer can feel the depths of who we be when we base every decision of our life based on what we think the externals will say. In this way, we truly do outsource our happiness. To break this pattern, we must face what is for many the greatest challenge:

Overcoming our fear of being inherently worthy.

The reality as it truly is is not as humans often perceive it. With a Universal Intelligence that is cosmically beyond all limited beliefs of the human mind, we do not have it all figured out. If we had, everyone would feel fulfilled, nourished, and worthy. Yet, in this results-driven society that is quick to seek instant gratification, this is far from the case.

High school suicide rates soar. Depression and anxiety seem to reach an all-time high with each new year. People still turn to cigarettes and alcohol as body-poisoning coping patterns, leading to addictions and a limitation of their true potential. These tendencies and entrenched behaviors do not appear to be getting any better. Why?

We live in a world that is driven from the outside-in. Most look to the externals such as our grades or our job performance to validate who we are. Some may even fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others, especially with the predominant misuses of social media. In this paradigm we are left feeling drained, unfulfilled, and stuck in a constant state of trying to do all the things with no end in sight. . .

What if we decided to live from the inside-out?

It’s a simple decision really, one that requires the work to slow down, shut up and listen.

Listen. To the space between the inhale and exhale. Listen. To the stillness of your home in the early hours of the day. Listen. To the constant, pumping, rhythmic vibrations of your heart. It needs no permission to continuously refill your body with life force and nutrients.

In chiropractic philosophy we use the term “Innate Intelligence” to describe an aspect of Universal Intelligence that is confined to a living organism. Simply put, our Innate is the bigness of life that is inside of us. It is the cosmic force of nature that we get to connect with and utilize. We don’t even have to reach for it, this is simply an inherent part of who we be from the inside-out.

By allowing ourselves time and space to go within, we can decide to make space for a more evolved state of consciousness, where our Innate intuition can rise up to the surface of who we are, moment by moment. In this way, we can create the intentional decision to look within to lead our life. However, this simply does not happen overnight. We have to do the work to heal ourselves and our nervous system.

We begin to slow down and unwind. Ways to slow down and unwind include:

• Chiropractic care: Nervous system-specific care to enable the spinal cord to unwind

and decompress to open up “nerve flow,” allowing the brain-body connection to become

more balanced and coherent.

• Acupuncture: Chinese medicine which enables parasympathetic stimulation while

  opening the flow of energetic meridians.

• Massage & Bodywork: A variety of modalities and forms to receive honoring touch to

  get the tissues and energy flowing in the body.

• Meditation & Breathwork: Discover hidden aspects of oneself through practices to

  unwind the brain and nervous system to more peaceful and integrated states of

  consciousness.

• Counseling & Therapy: Professional mental-emotional processing services to enable a

  client to work through past traumas.

• Conversations with Emotional Depth: Trusted friendships that enable

  mental-emotional processing with a level of clarity and accountability so that one can

  process past events from a place of empowerment.

• Journaling & Expressive Integration: Utilizing expressive outputs for the left (writing &

  language) or right brain (painting, drawing, artistic expressions) to process life

  experiences.

• Be Outside in Nature: Decrease stimulus from artificial screens and lighting to immerse

  oneself in the harmony of sunlight, plants, other animals, water, and grounded terrain.

  Hiking on uneven terrain provides profound proprioceptive input to the ankles and feet!

• Presence with Family: Simplicity at its finest. Creating more time to be fully there and

  undistracted with our family or loved ones.

Though it is “work” to break ourselves away from our patterns, this list should actually feel quite

fun. If anything we are doing to heal feels wrong or forced after the first few experiences, it

is likely your Innate telling you that this is not the appropriate step at the time. Try another!

We can make a silent commitment to ourselves to listen to our intuition in this way, allowing the

ego to fade into the passenger seat as decisions become more in flow with the greater harmony

of a Universal Intelligence. Life begins to become a dynamic conversation.

Which new adventure will you choose next?

How will you create time and space for your nervous system to unwind today?

What are the activities that fill us up from the inside-out?

Always, in all ways, the Universe wants us to succeed. Not in the ways we think we need to, but

in all the ways of us allowing ourselves to simply be what we really are. We are cosmic beings.

We are life catalyzed into form, each carrying our unique spark of Creation. We walk forward

through the seeming chaos that is life on this earth in order to discover just what we are:

We are imperfect perfection from the inside-out.

In chiropractic philosophy, we say that the Innate Intelligence of any living organism is always

100% perfect. However, the expression of this Intelligence is not. Innate’s expression is limited

by the distortions and disillusions of the material world and a material body. Thus, when our

nervous systems become locked in certain patterns and perspectives that see ourselves as less

then, we limit our expression. In this way, we subconsciously limit this bigger Intelligence that

wants to flow through us. Yet, the Universe wants to lead us to a grander, more wonderful

perspective. It is up to each of us to consciously pick up the reigns of our life to make the

decision to live from the inside-out.

This decision is one that will lead to continuous exploration and discovery, one that is innately

you! Every moment of every day stands an opportunity to determine just what makes you tick.

Our Innate beckons us home in this way, to embrace our inherent worthiness.

Here is a little Grace mantra to repeat when we are setting the intention to remember our inherent worth:

I AM imperfectly Perfect

I AM abundantly Whole

I AM my own home

I AM worthy of Grace

Always and in all ways,

I AM imperfectly Perfect.

Or even more simply, as my friend Brandon likes to affirm (Brandon’s Mantra):

I AM Happy

I AM Healthy

I AM Wealthy

I AM Whole

These I AM statements are powerful. We have the power to consciously lead our life by

choosing the inside-out perspective. In doing so, we can affirm and thus attract the internal

experiences that we want to have. We have to do the work alongside these affirmations as well,

to fully re-create our lives by each conscious decision.

Perhaps we begin to ferment our own foods to creatively inspire healthy gut microbiota. Maybe

we decide to limit our caffeine intake to feel more at peace internally. Most of us would benefit

from the decision to limit television and screen time to make space for more active presence

with those around us. By being real and authentic with ourselves, we can all make the decisions

to let go of the habits that are distractions in order to make space for more proactive, self

compassion. This is the practice, and it is a practice.

We are imperfect in this physical expression of life, which is sort of the point. We get to make

mistakes, fall and bop our head. We also get to get back up and proceed perhaps a little

differently. We experientially learn and then re-learn the bigness of who we are. Sometimes we

must walk down the wrong path to discover that which we are not. Yet, nothing that we will ever

do will take away this spark of Innate that is within us. Yet, the decisions we make can either

facilitate or limit this expression.

Truly, from the inside-out, we are imperfectly Perfect. Abundance is an inside-out thing, if we

want to experience it in our external world, we must first feel and perceive it internally. We must

feel worthy and whole and inherently loved. From this sense of deep peace and harmony, our

body welcomes us home as we ground Grace. We do our best in a life that is imperfectly

Perfect. This is the path of an inside-out paradigm, should you consciously create this decision.

You have the power. You have the authority. You are inherently worthy. The decision is yours.