Episode 2- How to find alignment with meditation

In today’s episode, we explore a powerful and often misunderstood concept: alignment — what it truly means and how to find it within yourself.

If you’ve ever felt out of balance, disconnected, or unsure of your place in life, this conversation will guide you back to center.

I’m joined by meditation coach and author Thaisa Clapham, and together we go deep into the inner journey—from anxiety, overthinking, and emotional ups and downs… to clarity, awareness, and living in true alignment.

In this episode, we explore:
✨ What alignment really is (beyond the surface-level meaning)
✨ How to move from overthinking to a more disciplined and peaceful mind
✨ The concept of the “monkey mind” and why your thoughts feel so restless
✨ How to detach from thoughts, emotions, and external expectations
✨ The power of mantras and simple practices to return to the present moment
✨ Why true fulfillment comes from within—not from external achievements

We also talk about what it means to live in coherence—when your thoughts, actions, and truth are all aligned—and how this creates a deeper sense of peace, clarity, and authenticity in your life.

This episode is a reminder that alignment is not something you find outside of you…
It’s something you uncover by letting go of everything that is not truly you.

If this resonated with you, consider sharing it with someone who may need this message 💛
And if you have questions about alignment, meditation, or anything you’d like us to explore, leave them in the comments—we’d love to include them in future episodes!

Remember:
This journey is not about becoming someone new…
It’s about returning to who you truly are.

✨ Stay present. Stay aware. Trust your process.

Disclaimer: The conversations shared on this podcast are intended for educational and reflective purposes only. We encourage everyone to follow their own inner guidance, use personal discernment, and seek support from qualified medical or mental health professionals for any health-related concerns. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Path to Holeness, your journey back to the true self. Here, we explore meditation, energy, and awareness to help you live with more clarity, alignment, and well-being. In today's episode, we are talking about alignment, what it really means, and how to find it in your life. This is a topic that can feel a little bit abstract, but at its core, alignment is about coming back to who you truly are. In this conversation with Aisa Clappman, Meditation Coach and Author, we go deeper into the inner journey, from anxiety overthinking and feeling disconnected to developing a more disciplined mind and learning how to detach from thoughts, emotions, and external expectations. We talk about the concept of the monkey mind and how our thoughts constantly move between the past and the future, and how practices like meditation, mantras, and awareness help us bring back into the present moment. We also explore the difference between seeking fulfillment outside of us and discovering that true peace, harmony, and wholeness come from within. And ultimately, what it really means is live in a lightning where your thoughts, your actions, and your truth are all incoherent. So you've been feeling out of balance, disconnected, or searching for clarity, this episode will help you come back to center. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Namasti. Namaste. I'm here with Angelica, and we've been in this journey together. I would say it's the path toward wholeness. Yes. And I'd like to for you to say to us, what was your path? What was your experience coming to class, coming to meditate with me and creating this beautiful life that unfolded for you?

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Oh, it's been an amazing change for me. I think that taking in everything that I have learned from you on understanding meditation has changed my life. I started the journey as someone that had a lot of anxiety, a lot of overthinking, a lot of issues with relationships. And I didn't really understand where my place was in life. And being able to master my mind, it's been a change. Understanding that meditation helps you control, not control, massine. Yes, discipline.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

There is a saying, an uncontrolled mind creates problems, and a controlled mind creates solution. But I prefer the word discipline. So a disciplined mind creates solution.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

And an undisciplined mind creates trouble. So you learn how to discipline your mind.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Exactly. And I think that that's the reason why we want to do this for the people that are watching these videos, because it really works. I say this from my heart that what you have put together on the system that you have developed and the way you do these meditations, it really, really, really can change your life. So to me, talking about this and getting the word out about what you do, it's just precious. And that's why we're here. We're trying to communicate this to people, trying to teach people to be able to change their lives and get to a place where they can find inner peace and harmony because we stop asking about things in life. We ask for inner change, you know, inner peace, harmony.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

So it's it's learning that. So how was for you, Angelica, the process of detaching yourself from any identification with your thoughts, with sensations in our bodies, with emotions? Because usually we are so confused and so mixed in. We confuse ourselves, we identify with our thoughts. And thoughts we want, we create an attraction. Oh, I like this, I want this. And thoughts we don't want, we create a rejection. Oh, I don't like this. And we are constant in this fluctuation. I I usually joke that we're on a roller coaster of this, I want this, don't want that. And what Buddha taught us running away from pain toward pleasure. So we are the moment we enjoy something, for example, an ice cream, I love this ice cream, I create attachment to I want this, I'm craving, I'm already suffering because it's gonna end. So the Buddha also taught us that everything is impermanent. And so to have this new view of how to detach ourselves, to be free from thoughts, from feelings, and how is that experience from doing the practice?

SPEAKER_02 5:11

Yeah, I think that one of the best things that I was able to learn from the class that I was able to apply was the mantras.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

The I I think mantras they bring your mind to neutral. So then you can change the thought to something positive. You know, I and I think in psychology they talk about like, oh, take the negative thought and make it into a positive. But sometimes they miss that part of like, how do you get out of when you're depressed or you're about to have a panic attack? Like, how do you actually come from that into something different? So I started using the mantras, then the repeating, you know, I used to do a peaceful, restful mind. So when I have the feelings when because the the thoughts give you the feelings, right? And then you go into fear, yeah. So with the mantras, I will start repeating that that you everybody can use their own mantras, but though that was the one that I was using, peaceful, restful mind. And it really took me out because exactly that.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

It's perfect. Um, mantra means month comes from mind and try instruments, so it's instrument of your mind. So your mind is restless, it's like a jumping monk monkey jumping from one branch to another branch. Our minds are just the same. It jumps from one thought to another thought, one emotion to another emotion, and we keep going back and forth. And so the mantra, what it does, it brings you back to here and now. Because usually our minds are in the past or the future, ruminating about the past or anxious about the future. And we create all these catastrophic scenarios about the future, and then we have anxieties. And we are the only species that can create a reality by thought alone. So, a mantra, what it does, and brings your mind from out there, traveling time, traveling or the past or the future, to here and now. And you're right, Angelica, you can create the mantra, the affirmation. If you don't like mantra, you think it's too out there. How about affirmation? So create an affirmation, a word that resonates with you, that brings you back to here now. And you can even say, I'm here now. The time is now, and the location is here. Because usually we are here, but our minds are someplace else. We are doing the supermarket list, we are doing the meeting tomorrow, all in our minds. And so we are autopilot, we are not truly living our minds and our lives, we are not truly living our lives. We are in our minds. And so I always have a question: if we are not here, if we are either in the past or the future, who is living our lives? Yeah, the autopilot. And I joke about it, and that we have a monkey mind, and then we're living our lives, the monkey.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

Yeah, and now we always talk about the monkey mind. Why don't you tell me, really, really, because we we always go back and forth with this. What is the monkey mind? Where does it come from?

SPEAKER_00 8:20

It I'm gonna get you the book. Yes, thank you. So this is a book, of course, it's in Portuguese, but Angelica speaks Spanish. She's capable of also understanding Portuguese, right? So hopefully she'll understand the book, and her mind is not gonna be as restless. So, who is talking in my head? It's about the Buddhist analogy that compares our minds as this restless monkey that jumps from one thought to another thought, one branch to another branch, past, future, passions, desires, and it's always spinning stories out of control. So this is the famous monkey mind. And it I like it because it creates a visual of this crazy monkey jumping from one place to another, because usually that's a misconception that we have, that a lot of people have, about meditation. I cannot meditate because my mind is out there. And one of the stages of meditation is just become aware of your thoughts, becoming aware of your emotions and just noticing without any judgment. Judgment is something that needs to be out of the meditation practice because our minds are always judging, criticizing, analyzing. But we want to leave this out and we're just gonna observe our minds. Oh, my mind now is a memory in the past. So bring your mind back to where your body is through a mantra, through a breath. A breath can be a powerful because the breath is always in the present moment. Your breath is not in the past and the future. So bringing your you back to you. That's what meditation is all about. Bring you back to you. And it's observing. It's become, it's detaching, it's like detaching from grasping, clinging, wanting. And it's just going to that space of the observer, the silent witness observer. You're just there observing. You don't want anything, you don't cling for anything, you don't want to change anything because we're constantly doing that all the time in our lives. We're never happy. We get the car, we want another car. We get the house, we wanna. If our our happiness is measured by achievements out there, you're never gonna be happy because once you achieve, you're gonna what's next? What's next?

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

No wonder there are so many successful people. They're broken inside. Because the the path is within. And I think it's Jung that's the human beings that can create routes to go to the moon, outer planets, but they don't they could don't go inside themselves. They don't go, they don't do the journey inward because that's the only journey that will truly fulfill you and bring you peace, harma, and wholeness.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

Yeah, and I think that that's one of the things that I feel that all these things that you see online about manifestation, and it's always tied to something material.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

And they have used the right tools for the wrong reasons, I feel. So it this is kind of like the same concept, but with the real reason that should be behind it, like the inner state.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Yeah, you know, like looking for that change inside of you because what's inside is outside, the law of correspondence, as above, so below, as inside, as outside. So we are the microcosmos of the macro. So we want to create, we wanna, I don't even think it's create, it's take the layers of Maya, illusion, and all these scripts that we have of how life should be. And we are missing the opportunity to just truly be here and allow life to unfold. But we create the time, we play God, we want this, how, when, and it's just and we create this state of unhappiness because we're never happy. So I don't feel like it's it's finding anything, it's just it's it's just shredding the layers of illusion of who you truly not, and the things that you feel like there's truly important in in your that you cannot live without. And to just go within and just discover your two true identity. That's why the all the ancient knowledge, they they ask the self-inquire path, who am I, who am I, who am I? For you to keep asking yourself, who am I beyond being Angelica, the mother of your daughter, the wife, the Reiki master, whatever roles we have, and who am I beyond all the roles I play? So we want to do that. So go back to the source of who we truly are, because that's our divine essence. Yeah. So, and what we want through the path of meditation, or any path you choose, to for you to bring more your spirit back to your personality and to live in alignment. Because what we have what happens is we come from the unmanifesta, that's how I see, to the manifestor form, and then we get entangled. Exactly. And then we get mixed up, we get identity, and then we forget. So for me, meditation and all this path of inner self-inquire to go within is just more like a remembrance. And it's just remember who we truly are, where we came from. Of course, I'm not talking uh like, oh, okay, let's not like we have our basic needs. That's why we have several chakras. It goes from the root to the ground. And exactly like the lotus flower, we blossom, we blossom from the mud, the root, from earth, and we go on this path, truly finding who until we we expand our awareness. So it's from ignorance to wisdom. That's the true path. And we all ignorance in a way. I'm full of ignorance, like Socrates said, and I know nothing. All I know is that I know nothing. So there's so much to uncover, to rediscover. But for me, this path is just truly take the layers of illusion of who we truly are not. And of course, we are here, we need shelter, we need all the things to have a prosperous life. We I want to bond us, you want to bond us, but it has to come as a reflection of truly inside out. Yeah. So that's a true manifestation.

SPEAKER_02 15:14

We're truly happy, in alignment, complete, whole, and that comes from within to and I think that you mentioned something important that I try to live by every day and it's alignment.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Why don't you explain a little bit about like what it takes to be in alignment?

SPEAKER_00 15:32

The inner journey, the the question of who am I, and the inscription of the Greek temple in Delphos, uh know thyself and know you as the microcosmos. And through you, through knowing your true identity, you know the whole entire universe because we are the micro of the macro as above, so below. So for me, alignment is to truly shred the layers of Maya illusion of who we truly are not, and and live more in our hearts, and in our hearts, not as the center of crazy emotions, like passion, not that, as the seat of the soul, as as your spark of divinity, and and the more and it's your center. And actually, if you consider the chakras, is it the heart is the bridge between the lower chakras and the uh. So it's actually what connects us to from above and from earth, from the heaven, heavenly energy to earth. So and it's a training. You I'm I'm trained. So for me, it's it's training, just like you go to the gym. Some people go to the gym and they they're they work out and they have all the muscle toning. I feel it's the same. How is to live in your heart for you?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Well, that's that was one of the things that I wanted to touch because I I'm very fond of the seven laws of the universe. I think that we have talked about that before. And I I feel like it helps me to find that alignment in in trying to have a guide into my actions and my thoughts. I always I always said that if I'm thinking something that is not in alignment, that's not for me. It's something that it's it's it's out of it, and it's something that I don't, I don't, it's not my thought, basically. So I think that guides me too in knowing that if it's something negative, that it doesn't apply to those laws, it it's out of of who I need to be. And I think I I I work with that a lot. Is that something that you think is applied to for me?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Uh for me, yes. Living an alignment is to really truly your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings, and your manifestations, they're all in coherence. So that's coherence inside out. So what I truly talk speaking to you, it's my truth. So if you're being kind to somebody, it's uh outer expression of the kindness that is already within you. So it's transparency. So that's truly what I think alignment is is to be in coherence, in harmony with truly who you are and act on it and manifest because I you truly are the product of what you practice. So it doesn't matter if I want to say to you, oh, I am a kind person, but I I walk out of here and I'm gonna yell with the person out there, I'm gonna you know be angry at somebody in traffic. So what you do every day in it creates a force of action of who you truly are. My my words mean nothing if my actions are not in alignment. So alignment is truly that to be in uh oneness of what you think, what you do, who you are, and that's for me what alignment means.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

It's been a pleasure talking to you today, as always. We're gonna be doing a series of videos talking about all these topics. You know, we have so many things that we want to talk about. So please follow us and like the videos, and then we will be posting what if a couple of videos a week, and then just teaching you guys about my experience and the knowledge, the beautiful knowledge. Wisdom, I think wisdom is better than bringing to us. So thank you so much for watching. Namaste.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Namaste.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

And that is today's episode. We hope this gave you a deeper understanding of what alignment really means. Not as something you find outside of you, but as something you uncover within. Because alignment is not about perfection, it's about coherence, it's about your thoughts, your actions, and your truth. Moving into the same direction. And as you continue this journey, you begin to let go of the layers that are not truly you, the expectations, the conditionings, the illusions, and come back to your natural state of peace and clarity. If this resonated with you, feel free to share with someone who might need this message. And if you have questions about alignment, meditation, or anything you would like for us to talk about, leave them in the comments. We would love to include them in future episodes. Thank you for being here with us on Path to Holeness. Remember, this journey is not about becoming someone new, it's about returning to who you truly are. Take what resonated, integrate it into your life, and trust your own process. We will see you in the next episode.