Here’s something we’ve come to believe:
There are two kinds of discipline.
The first is fear-based.
It’s rigid, demanding, addicted to control.
It makes you feel like if you miss a workout or skip a cold plunge, you’re falling behind.
The second is rooted in alignment.
It’s steady. Intentional. Calm.
It doesn’t rush, but it also doesn’t drift.
It meets you where you are—and it holds you there long enough to move from clarity.
Both can look the same from the outside.
But they feel very different from the inside.
So how do you tell which one you're living from?
Here’s one signal:
When fear runs the show, you usually end up swinging between extremes.
You train too hard.
Then avoid movement for a week.
You skip recovery altogether.
Then go overboard—chasing healing instead of participating in it.
You push, then collapse.
You commit, then burn out.
Then tell yourself, “I just need to be more disciplined.”
But what you're really doing is mistaking chaos for growth.
And in those swings, you land in a sneaky space we’ve been thinking a lot about:
Mediocrity.
Not the kind that means “average.”
The kind that means: You’re capable of more—but you’re stuck in confusion about what “more” even means.
That’s what this newsletter is about:
Unraveling the discipline split—and learning how to feel the difference between fear and alignment inside your own body.
Because when you’re aligned, discipline stops being a fight.
It becomes something clear.
Clean.
Consistent.
It knows when to push—and when to pause.
It trains hard without gripping.
It recovers with purpose, not panic.
This is exactly what we’re practicing inside The Alignment Lab.
Every movement, every sequence, every breath is about restoring your ability to discern the difference.
So you can stop performing discipline—and start living it from the inside out.
We’re not here to be extreme.
We’re here to be true.
More soon,
Jonny + Jessica Hinds
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