The world has changed and you are probably feeling de-stabilized and out of alignment. What should you do when the fortune cookie you crack open is negative? Throw this one away and open another fortune cookie. No one lives in reality because you live in your perceptions.

Getting the mind and body in good alignment is a primary step to regain your life balance. The body is made up of approximately seventy percent water. This cues your mind to be less rigid and more fluid in its approach to change: to either flow over that obstacle or go around it. Restructuring and reorganizing could be efficient and effective. For example, combining two elementary schools due to a declining enrollment might seem at first negative and have people picketing, when in actuality there might be great educational benefit to the children; the money saved by closing down one school offers superior enrichment to the new school. The problem is that people tend to make a prediction before the event happens. If you are in a negative state of mind, your prediction will be negative.

Here’s how to improve your mood in five basic steps:

• Shut off the old movie in your head: The “good old days” are over. Don’t keep going back there like the high school quarterback who is now forty and unable to move forward. Whatever you did, however you lived and spent your money, those days are over. It’s time to simplify and let go of the distractions like the Joneses and the labels of the past. Now you can live with a clean slate and make a fresh new beginning – no internal pressure.
• To live in alignment you need to work on yourself from the ground up. Go on and take that “power” walk or “run for your life.” You can be a moving meditation. “I am walking or running to my next accomplishment.” Every day you can go the distance and then a little farther.
• Do balance exercises. Close your eyes and stand on one leg with the other knee lifted. Alternate legs. When your eyes are closed, it is harder to balance, but it can be done. Okay, so you can’t see the future, but you can work on your balance. If you can maintain balance in an unstable medium, you can achieve balance in any environment. Your mind will follow because you need internal focus to balance.
• Know your triggers which unleash anxiety, anger and a stress response. When a body of water is turbulent, it is difficult to swim. Is your trigger the negative, scary news programs on TV? Is it a friend or family member comforting you with well-meaning toxicity? Prepare and practice for those triggers. For example, the next time someone cuts you off on the road, or steals your parking spot, patiently and calmly drive away. You will have achieved a major victory in getting yourself into good alignment! Build on this achievement to continue to change for the better.
• Every day speak to yourself like a loving coach and act like a loving coach to others. There is great power in a word. You can create your world and the world of those who interact with you. Lift the spirit of those who are sad and help them to swim to safety. You will be amazed how much happier you will feel and how your assumptions will change for the better.

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For more information on managing your stress and reclaiming your life read my book, Addicted to Stress: A Woman's 7 Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life. To listen to archived radio shows with guest experts visit Turn On Your Inner Light Radio Show