Reflections from a Conversation on the Women Life Leaders Podcast

Some conversations stay with you long after they end.

Not because they were clever or polished, but because something real was spoken. Something honest and that didn’t try to wrap life up in neat answers.

My conversation with Karen Bashford on the Women Life Leaders Podcast was one of those. We weren’t trying to teach or convince. We were simply talking about what we’ve lived, and what we’ve come to understand through experience, burnout, healing, and a great deal of listening.

What emerged was a shared truth that feels important to say out loud.

🌻 Alignment is not about life becoming easy.
🌻 It is about learning to trust yourself when it isn’t.

Listen to the full conversation

If this reflection resonates, you may like to listen to the full conversation on the Women Life Leaders Podcast, hosted by Karen. We explore alignment, burnout, timing, and self-trust in a grounded, honest way, without trying to fix or rush the process.

The myth of alignment

There’s a quiet but powerful myth circulating in spiritual and personal development spaces. The idea that if you’re aligned, life should feel smooth. That things should flow effortlessly. That challenge means you must be doing something wrong.

I’ve never found that to be true.

What I’ve seen, again and again, is that alignment often brings us into clearer contact with life, not away from it. It sharpens our awareness. It asks us to meet ourselves honestly. And sometimes that feels harder, not easier.

🌻 Alignment isn’t comfort.
🌻 It’s clarity.

And clarity can be confronting.

If you’re in this space right now, you can start gently with your FREE Quantum Human Design chart here

Burnout as a signal, not a failure

When I was 29, I experienced what I called a breakdown at the time. Burnout wasn’t really language we used back then, but that’s what it was.

I was working long hours, trying to prove my worth, pushing myself far beyond what my body and nervous system could sustain. I cared deeply. I wanted to do well. I wanted to be valued. And I didn’t know how to stop.

There was a moment when I was walking through the office, and something inside me said, very clearly, “I can’t do this anymore.”

I was signed off work, in tears, exhausted in ways I didn’t yet have words for. And even then, I didn’t fully understand how serious it was. It took years to recover from the impact of that period of my life.

What I see now is that burnout wasn’t a sign that I was weak or incapable. It was a signal that I was profoundly out of alignment with how I was designed to live and work.

🌻 Burnout is not a personal failure. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
🌻 It is often the body telling the truth long before the mind is ready to listen.

Why burnout happens across the board

One of the things Karen and I spoke about is how universal burnout has become. Different people. Different paths. Different circumstances. And yet the same exhaustion.

A big part of this comes down to conditioning.

We live in a culture that rewards pushing, overriding, and forcing. We’re taught to keep going. To try harder. To ignore our bodies. To meet life with effort rather than awareness.

🌻 Misalignment doesn’t discriminate.
🌻 It affects people across all walks of life.

When we live according to expectations that aren’t truly ours, when we try to move at a pace that isn’t sustainable for us, when we measure ourselves against models that don’t fit, something eventually gives.

Often, that something is our energy.

Alignment as relationship, not performance

One of the things I care deeply about in my work is reframing alignment away from performance.

Alignment isn’t something you achieve.
It’s something you relate to.

It’s an ongoing relationship with yourself, your energy, your timing, your body, and your inner authority. It asks you to notice what’s actually true for you, rather than what you think should be true.

And that relationship with self evolves.

🌻 What worked for you five years ago may not work now.
🌻 What supported you at one stage may need to shift at another.

Alignment is alive.

Alignment is in the now

You don’t need to do anything with this right now.

If something here feels familiar, it may be enough to pause and notice where it lands in your body. Awareness itself can be a form of alignment.

Waiting, integration, and the illusion of being stuck

This is where many people struggle.

There are periods in life where things appear to stall. Where outward progress slows. Where nothing seems to be moving. And in a culture obsessed with momentum, these phases are often labelled as failure, stagnation, or lack of motivation.

But very often, they are none of those things.

They are integration.

For example, if we take the Generator Type in Human Design as an illustration, they learn quickly, and then they plateau.

From the outside, this can look like being stuck.
From the inside, it can feel frustrating and confusing. Why won’t things move forward?.

They think they are doing the wrong thing, so they can have a pattern of starting and quitting, starting and quitting, starting and quitting.  They worry about what’s wrong with them.  Why can’t they find the ‘right thing?  This can result in burnout and definitely lots of frustration.

My Generator clients recognise this pattern.

What they didn’t know was that those plateaus are not empty. They are times when the nervous system is integrating what has already been learned. When the body is recalibrating. When something new is being prepared, even if it hasn’t yet taken form.

Frustration, in this context, isn’t a sign you should quit.
It’s often a sign that momentum is building beneath the surface.

The problem is that we’re rarely taught how to recognise this. Instead, we push ourselves to move before integration has completed. That’s what burns them out.

It’s also worth noting that we all have our own way of making decisions - our inner Authority - and we are not taught how to use and trust that.

The pressure to force timing

Another theme that emerged in our conversation was timing.

So many people live with a sense of urgency that isn’t truly theirs. A belief that if they don’t act now, they’ll miss their chance. That rest is something you earn only after everything is done.

But life doesn’t work like a to-do list.

There are moments when waiting is not avoidance, but wisdom. A pause may not be procrastination, but preparation.

Alignment asks a different question.
Not how fast can I move, but is this the right moment?

Learning to trust timing requires a deep level of self-trust. And for many people, that’s unfamiliar territory.

Divine right timing is key.

When “doing the work” still isn’t working

This is another place where people often feel confused and disheartened.

They’ve been to therapy. They’ve done the courses. They’ve journaled, reflected, processed, and healed. And yet something still feels unresolved.

What I’ve come to understand is that not all healing happens by revisiting the past over and over again.

Sometimes, the energy has shifted.

There are approaches that serve us beautifully at one stage of our lives, and then reach their natural limit. Outgrowing a method doesn’t mean it failed. It means you’ve changed and need something different.

There’s also something else that rarely gets spoken about.

🌻 Parts of us don’t heal by force.
🌻 They heal through safety.

🌻 They heal at the perfect right time, unless we avoid them.

Sometimes there are inner aspects that are not yet ready to come forward. Not because they’re resisting growth, but because they don’t feel safe enough to be seen.

In those moments, compassion matters more than technique.

🌻 Healing isn’t about fixing what’s broken.
🌻 It’s about listening to what’s protecting us, working with that part, and integrating it.  

It takes inner work and self-compassion to heal these parts of ourselves.

We don’t have to go on a mission to look for all our ‘broken’ parts (we are never broken, btw) to fast track heal; these things come up at the right time for us to heal them.

Listening, paying attention to your inner world, is key.

Alignment and self-trust under pressure

One of the phrases that stayed with me after the conversation was self-trust under pressure.

Because that’s what alignment often asks of us.

🌻 It’s not about confidence when things are easy.
🌻 Nor clarity when everything is calm.

Self-trust when we don’t yet have certainty. When we’re in the middle of change. When old ways are falling away and new ones haven’t fully arrived.

Alignment doesn’t remove challenges.
It changes how we relate to it.

Instead of meeting challenge with resistance or self-protection, we begin to meet it with honesty. With presence. With a willingness to stay in relationship with ourselves, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Growing into what’s calling you

There’s another subtle but important aspect of alignment that emerged.

Sometimes we’re shown glimpses of what we’re growing into long before we’re ready to step fully into it. 

🌻 Ideas. 

🌻 Visions. 

🌻 Callings. 

🌻 Possibilities.

And if we try to force ourselves into them too quickly, we either burn out or scare ourselves into retreat.

Alignment respects growth.

It understands that becoming takes time. That capacity builds gradually. That you don’t need to be everything at once.

You grow into what’s calling you by honouring where you are now.

A different way of relating to life

If there’s one thing I hope this conversation offers, it’s permission.

🌻 Permission to stop forcing.
🌻 Permission to listen more deeply.
🌻 Permission to trust that not all movement is visible.

Alignment isn’t about perfection.
It’s about your relationship with yourself and all the parts of you.

And when we approach it that way, burnout stops being something to fear or fix, and becomes something we can learn from.

It’s often not pleasant, but it’s honest.

If this conversation resonated with you, I encourage you to listen to the full episode on the Women Life Leaders Podcast, hosted by Karen Bashford. It’s a space where real conversations are welcomed, and where leadership is explored through truth rather than performance.

Exploring alignment more deeply

Much of what I’ve shared here comes from years of lived experience, burnout, healing, and my work supporting others to realign with their energy, timing, and inner authority. 

If you’re beginning to sense that the way you’ve been doing life or work no longer fits, this is the kind of exploration I hold space for.

🌻 No pressure. 

🌻 No urgency. 

🌻 Just an open door.

And if nothing else, let this be a reminder.

🌻 You are not broken.
🌻 You are not behind.
🌻 You may simply be listening more closely now.

3 steps if you’re curious to explore more:

🌻Download your FREE Human Design Chart.  Also on the same page is a FREE 12-page personalised report to give you insights into your chart.

🌻 Explore my 1:1 coaching 

🌻 Why not book a no obligation Complimentary Consultation

With Love Mags 🌻x

Frequently Asked Questions

Is alignment supposed to feel easy?

No. Alignment doesn’t mean life becomes smooth or free of challenge. Often it brings greater honesty and clarity, which can feel uncomfortable at times. Alignment isn’t about avoiding difficulty; it’s about meeting it with more self-trust.

Why do I feel burnt out even though I’ve done so much inner work?

Because growth and healing aren’t linear. Some approaches support us for a time, and then we outgrow them. Burnout is often a signal that something needs to change or realign, not that you’ve failed or haven’t done enough work.

What if I still feel stuck even after doing inner work?

Sometimes feeling stuck is simply that. Something wants your attention, and it’s worth listening rather than trying to move past it too quickly. Checking in with what that stuckness is asking for can be an important part of alignment.

What’s less often spoken about is what can happen after inner work. When something has shifted emotionally or energetically, there can be a period where nothing seems to move outwardly. This isn’t avoidance or failure. It’s often integration. Your body and nervous system are catching up with the change that’s already happened.

Learning to tell the difference between avoiding movement and allowing integration takes honesty and self-trust. Both have a place.

Does alignment mean I won’t experience challenges anymore?

No. Alignment doesn’t remove challenges. It changes how you relate to them. Instead of meeting life from resistance or force, alignment supports you to meet it with more presence and truth.

Why does timing matter so much in alignment?

Because forcing action before something is ready can lead to exhaustion and frustration. Alignment invites you to listen to your own timing rather than external pressure. Waiting isn’t always avoidance. Sometimes it’s wisdom.

What if parts of me don’t feel ready to heal yet?

That’s more common than people realise. Some inner parts need safety before they’re ready to be seen. Healing doesn’t happen through force. It happens through compassion, listening, and right timing.

How can Human Design support alignment without becoming another thing to do?

Human Design isn’t about fixing yourself or following rules. It offers insight into how your energy, decision-making, and timing naturally work, so you can stop pushing against yourself and start working with your design. You can start by downloading your FREE Human Design chart and feel into it from there.