Meet Alexandra Diamond, Cst

We were lucky to catch up with Alexandra Diamond, Cst recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alexandra, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

To find one’s purpose has become a buzzy, competitive hook for selling workshops, books, organizational systems, and really anything that has to do with personal development. As if through a simple, ten-step protocol for $555 we could find a golden egg which carries the answers to all of life’s questions.

Having purpose is a state of being, not a job or an action or a skill. Purpose drives us over the bumpiest roads, through the roughest weather, and onward toward a destination we don’t yet know but feel deeply called to reach.

As Michael Meade talks about in his book Fate and Destiny, ancient myths suggest that when we are born into this world, our soul makes two agreements: one bound to a destiny of authentic self expression and the other bound to the distinctions and limits of the context of our reality (time, place, country of origin, family, physical body, etc). Our purpose is to reconcile these two agreements, which is a lifelong experiment and negotiation. We are here to find our most authentic and harmonious expression with the world around us.

When I was young, I wanted to be an actor. I was moved to share stories in engaging ways, to show the range of human expression, and the drama of our fallibility. Despite an optimistic and precocious attitude, a history of childhood trauma deeply affected my mental and emotional health throughout my teens. I thought I could smile and act my way through it, until I lost all control and had to be hospitalized. After a couple of weeks of inpatient treatment, I crawled out of the hospital dazed and directionless. I felt like a box of puzzle pieces dumped out on the floor.

I spent my 20’s trying to collect all the tiny parts, to put them together in an organized fashion like something I had seen before. But certain pieces didn’t fit, no matter how hard I tried to press them together. So, I’d switch them out for something else. I worked on a ranch in California, lived out of my car on the beach in Mexico, studied at a prestigious acting school in Los Angeles, found a family and a second career in New Orleans. I was an entertainer, a friend, a vamp, a collaborator, an instigator, a servant, an artist, a student, a therapist, a wife, and throughout it all hoping that I was going to stumble upon my *true purpose* and be okay.

It wasn’t until I restarted my life again at age 30, divorced but finally happy with myself, that I found my soul settled and secure. I didn’t find my purpose, I unwrapped it. I tore away the impermanent trappings of personhood— jobs, resources, looks, people, place, things—knowing from the last twenty years of experience that no matter how hard I clung to any of them, eventually they would change or go away. And I knew that purpose had to be something lasting, but I didn’t know how consistently it had been with me the whole time.

My purpose is to be authentically myself within the constraints and limitations of reality. My purpose is to be accountable to those I love, as well as those I’ve wronged. My purpose is to trust myself and lead by example. My purpose is to learn and engage with the wide and sometimes terrifying world around me. I can do almost anything as long as I am motivated by this purpose.

I love being a CranioSacral Therapist and helping folks learn the language of their body in order to unlock their own truth, but CranioSacral Therapy isn’t my purpose. It’s how I express my purpose most effectively. You can be a chimney sweep, a tax accountant, or a customer service representative, and still live by your purpose. You can change careers, move to a new city, or hunker down in your old hometown, and still live by your purpose. Life will inevitably change you, as it transforms all natural things, but your purpose is the current in which you find peace.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a transformational guide, a growth steward, a metamorphosis doula.
I’m also a certified CranioSacral Therapist, Licensed Massage Therapist, Human Design coach, teacher, writer, artist, and collaborator. I currently run my own business: a private practice for CranioSacral Therapy, helping patients to reduce or eliminate physical pain and liberate their creative self-expression. I am also the executive director of the Northwest Stewards of Olde, a non-profit with a focus on restoring and revitalizing historically significant buildings as community spaces.

Growing up in the forests, fields, and barns of the unceded land of the Abenaki, Penacook, Wabanaki, and Nipmuc, later colonized as New England, I was deeply tied to my ancestral roots there and in old Europe. At a young age, I began exploring my visionary gifts through pagan animism, folkcraft, and performance as storytelling. And over the next 25 years, I would find myself in dark psychosis, euphoric consciousness, and everywhere in between. Through a variety of life experiences, I gained profound insight into the ancient sciences and mastered tools that I am honored to share. I also saw how deeply individuals were affected by the wound of belonging, exacerbated by the hyper-individualistic mentality bred through consumerist lifestyles. Because we’ve lost a sense of connection to place, each other, and by proxy ourselves, we desperately try to fill the void with “things.” However, when we prioritize community traditions, skill-sharing, and collaboration, we find that we have access to far more resources and are empowered to build systems that support collective growth as well as individual success.

Building bridges has become my life’s work, whether it’s helping folks come into deeper relationship with their body, connecting individuals and organizations, or weaving a story for teaching purposes. Each facet of my life reflecting this through-line of connection, like links in a chain.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Integrity, Patience, and A Soft Seat

Develop integrity through practice and self-compassion. You must hold yourself accountable, and be able to be your own best friend. Integrity isn’t about acting on base instinct, or without consideration of others. It’s about showing up with the security to say “I know what I know, and I’m also available to learn.” We get so caught up on “not being wrong” we often miss ripe opportunities to really grow.

Patience is a virtue, they say. But I say it is the pace that suits the beat of your own drum. Comparing yourself, your journey, or your successes to others doesn’t take into account that they might have a different tune to which they are marching. And frankly, you’ll never march to someone else’s tune in integrity. So, you might as well find your own rhythm and give yourself the grace to be in your own time.

When you learn to ride a horse, a good instructor will remind you to have a “soft seat.” They say this for the same reason that Viking boat builders made grooves between the boat planks so that they could slide by each other and move with the undulations of the ocean waves. By keeping a soft seat and flexibility during choppy water, you reduce the likelihood of being knocked off course or worse, broken by impact. In physics, kinetic energy moves more easily through objects that are less dense. When we brace and become rigid in our ways, we set ourselves up for eventual failure. Life will always throw a curveball at you, but if you can’t catch it, you can always duck!

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Simplify, simplify, simplify.
When I have overcommitted myself, I will notice that I am more easily dehydrated, my temper gets shorter and I even start to notice neck pain from shallow breathing. These little bio-markers tell me that it’s time to slow down and simplify. As a recovering people-pleaser and high-performer, it has been incredibly liberating to learn that I can ask for help or reschedule plans and the whole world won’t actually burn down! Especially when I lead with integrity, knowing who I am and setting clear expectations, I can maintain healthy boundaries and find great success in my personal and professional relationships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.honoredbody.com
• Instagram: @honoredbody
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