Joey Hulin

0:00Hello and welcome to Happy Place. I'm Fern Cotton and this is the place you can come to figure out what it is you want out of life. Today, I'm chatting to Joey Hewlin. We are always manifesting. We're in a constant state of manifesting in a way because what manifesting is, is the alignment of our thoughts, our feelings, our beliefs, our actions, and that produces a result. So all day, every day, we are manifesting. We are manifesting our reality by going about things. Now, a manifesting practice is consciously choosing what we bring to life. Joey is a meditation teacher, retreat leader and author.

0:38She travelled all the way from her home in beautiful Cornwall to come for a chat at mine a few weeks ago because we've just published her latest book on Happy Place Books. It's called Your Manifesting Year and it's the most joyful look at how we can really embody our desires and ultimately change our lives through manifesting practices. it's this really beautiful marrying of science and mysticism and I think that's the thing Joey and I were keen to explore that the practice of manifesting isn't necessarily what you might think from what you've seen on social media all right let's do it here's the show

1:41Joey, thank you so much for being on Happy Place. We are delighted to be publishing your book, Your Manifesting Year, on Happy Place Books. It's so exciting to be here. I know. It's happening. Look at this gorgeous book. I love it. Do you love it? I really do, yeah. Yeah, it's like the scariest moment when a book comes through the door for the first time. You've seen it flat, as you'll know. And when it comes through and you love it, it's the best feeling ever. It's a great cover. Covers are really hard to get right as well. I'm really picky when I'm doing covers for my books to the point where I know I'm annoying people a bit about it.

2:16But it's really important. And I love that it's just clear and gorgeous with shiny bits. Yeah, the shiny bits all the way. We love the shiny bits. So your manifesting year. Let's talk about manifesting because I am forever intrigued, interested, sometimes still confused about manifesting. And I'm sure most people feel the same because if manifesting was super easy, we'd all be doing it all the time and all completing all goals and dreams. Would you say it's easy once you know how it works? And I completely agree. And, you know, there's a lot of my friends who will roll their eyes at manifesting.

2:55you know so there's I'm surrounded by people going oh what a load of nonsense so in my experience manifesting definitely works but it's not a quick fix it's not something that you know once you've kind of figured out some sort of formula that all of a sudden you know life becomes so easy and everyone just you know adheres to your way of being and you just get what you want all the time because I personally think that it's the inner work so we all have kind of limitations we all have blocks within us and manifesting is about really taking a look at ourselves really getting to know ourselves to then kind of allow ourselves to step forward into what we want and you know for some for some things that might be a lifetime you know there's there's certain certain areas of my life that you know that I keep getting stuck stuck stuck stuck and it's actually when I get stuck it's not to kind of think oh it's all a load of rubbish or it's all my fault or you know back to just kind of look sort of a little bit more closer with a bit more curiosity thing you know what is going on there what is the energy that I'm giving off what is the filter that I'm seeing the world through you know what what can I do to kind of you know to to soothe or to heal those inner parts of myself and then the outer world seems to kind of fit in around so I think there's some things that might take a lifetime unfortunately or fortunately because you know we're always evolving but there's those little things that I think perhaps when you do kind of you know when you do the inner healing that they do come a little bit quicker yeah do you think talking of blocks do you think that everybody has a lesson that they're here to learn because I think with age I've certainly gone okay I think my thing's boundaries that I'm not very good at them and I'm not very good at setting them I'm confused by them I often feel guilt and shame when I'm trying to set one I think most people I mean there is obviously sort of more minute detail with each of those things with storytelling and what's happened and circumstance but do you think most people have a lesson that they're trying to sort of I guess get through to unblock themselves yeah I think so because you know if we think of ourselves as individuals we've got our own you know experiences or life lessons that have shaped us to be the way that we are that's just the natural state for every human to kind of you know as we're learning as children we you know we learn some healthy habits and some you know unhealthy habits or things that are helpful and things that are unhelpful.

5:18So as individuals, we're kind of always on this, this path of evolution. But then as a collective as well, you know, there's so much that affects us as individuals from, from the collective, you know, there's glass ceilings that keep some people, you know, down, there's opportunities are different for other people. So, you know, there's, there's this collective element too. So I think the more we can kind of take time to tend to our own healing, we are also affecting the collective so that in years to come, you know, people, our grandchildren will benefit from the work that we're doing. You know, so I think it's it always will be there.

5:54I think that's just part of human evolution. But it's just kind of taking a bit of tenderness and compassion to ourselves and seeing as like a lifelong journey of evolution rather than a destination to get fixed. You know, like, oh, I'm fixed now, you know, I'm great now. We're never going to be fixed, are we? And it's such a shame when you do the inner work and you get there, first of all, and you're like, I feel great. This is amazing. And then you realise there's another layer and you're like, oh, God. Or something happens in life and you're like, oh, no, I'm still the flawed human that I was last month.

6:26So do you think before we even get to the manifesting bit, which we'll talk about in a moment, you have to either be already doing that inner work or willing to dive into that? Yeah, I think it's I think it is completely intertwined with manifesting. I think you can't I don't think you can necessarily do one without the other. I think in, you know, the popular view of manifesting, this is where my friends do that eye rolling. And, you know, is the is the view that it is about materialism, you know, that it's about these material things. And in my experience, it takes energy, it takes time, it takes perseverance to kind of to manifest things.

7:03so if we took something material or kind of you know the the insta version of manifesting is being on a yacht and you know having a lovely time no thanks i would not be manifest i got seasick for a start but i would not want to manifest that stay right on land but you know if if that is the view of manifesting you think what's the point you know how lovely you could manifest a holiday to you know bali and like although i would love a holiday to bali but you know you could you could manifest but then life is still the same yeah so when we look at manifesting in a slightly different way that kind of like a bit more of a holistic view of manifesting it's kind of like how can this practice help me heal how can this practice help me build stronger relationships how can it help me live my purpose how can it help me you know support my community and live more in connection to the planet so it's kind of looking at manifesting with a slightly different way and then all of a sudden you're like yeah like yes please like I want those things yeah sold the yacht but I want those things yeah we don't want yachts we just want to feel all right we just want to feel a bit of peace in our heads and feel okay so in the book you say that manifesting is where science meets mysticism talk to me about that how do we marry science and mysticism so i love this area i love it because i love the woo but i i don't sit fully in in in the woo yeah i have to in the woo i have one foot on the earth and one foot you know fully in the woo like fully in the woo i love it sounds a bit odd but hey i get it i hear you you've got one foot is in like a sensible shoe and the other is in a sort of hessian flip-flop type shoe yeah or barefoot yeah loads of like bracelet bracelets no anklets I can visualize this I've got it so that so that idea so anything kind of woo that comes up in my life I'm like oh that's fascinating and then I'm kind of like what is there has there been some research on it or like you know is there is there kind of well how does that work or you know and there's some things that will remain a mystery I think forever and ever ever and you've got to get comfortable with that.

9:14But things like meditation, so meditation, for me, is where science and mysticism meet, you know, science is proving all these amazing benefits for us. Yet, there is this deeply spiritual side to it, where we, you know, where we do, if we allow ourselves, we kind of connect into the kind of the universal consciousness, you know, and, and that's essentially where the healing takes place. And the same for manifesting for me. So there's this very kind of, you know, if we think about it from a neuroscientific point of view, kind of, We think about affirmations, the way our mind works and the fact that we see the world because of the filters that we personally have.

9:50So we can look at it from that view. But we also have this amazing super woo, you know, spiritual aspect to manifesting too. And it's kind of that marriage of the two for me gets me excited. You know, it's kind of as a space of transpersonal psychology, they call it, where, you know, it's that it's that understanding that kind of looking at the the both, you know, and kind of in equal parts, not saying one's against the other. Or you have to if you're super spiritual, you can't believe in science. And if you're scientific, it's kind of just bringing it together. And I get excited by that. Well, like you say, even with affirmation, that if you've actually sort of deconstructed how that works in the brain, that's just neuroplasticity and showing that if you keep with repetition and discipline, that you will create new neural pathways.

10:38And but then you still reap the benefits of having some sort of connected experience. so it's it's so fascinating in the book like quite early on in the book you give some there's threaded throughout lovely anecdotes of people that have you've worked with or people that have shared their stories with you and there's a great story that I think will resonate with many where this young girl has this really incredible sort of coincidental experience where she sees Mumford and Sons and there's a message in the song for her that links to something else etc and many of us will have had an experience like that where it feels inexplicable what how did that happen why was that song playing or why did this person show up or why did I just see that signpost at that time what can we boil that down to what is that showing us and how is that is that just pure mysticism and coincidence so um I would look at that as a as a synchronicity you know so kind of a meaningful happening, kind of a meaningful coincidence.

11:37And I think if we lean into the spiritual side, you know, synchronicity is kind of these breadcrumbs that are kind of laid out along our path that kind of help us know that we are on the right track. And it requires trust because, you know, can you put, you know, something like that under the microscope and prove it? Not really. So then I go to what, how does it feel for me? So how does it feel to me to believe and trust in something like synchronicity that there is this this divine plan that is to feel how it feels and actually if it feels good and it feels comforting and it feels reassuring to believe in this stuff then I'm like okay yeah that's for me you know that that's that's that's what I'm gonna lean into but yeah the the those little synchronistic moments are magic aren't they they're just so amazing when they happen they feel so good why wouldn't we like this is how massively dysfunctional we are as a society that we would think someone not necessarily but some might say leaning into synchronicities or coincidences oh that is a load of woo-woo nonsense or how ridiculous yet we forget the concepts that we fully believe and they're man-made like money that's just an agreed concept oh yeah we believe in money and the power of money we believe in status and this is all man-made stuff it's not something that is inherently associated with being a human this is man-made systems and we believe in it all and that's how the world works in often terrible ways so why wouldn't we go I believe in that meaningful moment it's so weird how it's just skewed that you should see it as fanciful or mystic and weird it's like that you know mysticism has just been completely wiped from our western way of living you know it's not completely wiped obviously because there are there are new waves coming back through but you know if we look to like tribes around the world and we look to to um to places that are people that are living in harmony with the earth there is this it's massively spiritual and mystic you know there is this total trust in the divine plan of everything and for us i think how wonderful if we could all start to lean into that and lean into that trust.

13:55Like without it, it's all down to you. It's all down to me to make things happen. And the responsibilities are made. It weighs so heavily on so many people. It's too much. But if we have this wider view and there is something to trust and lean into, like, God, it feels so supportive and good. Like, why would we not? Why would we not? I think we need it now more than ever. People are obviously very much struggling in the mental health capacity. it's kind of a fever pitch and if we can find joy and like you say comfort and also just a bit of magic I think we're missing a bit of magic and why not welcome that into your life and I guess this is again the the almost the initiation of manifesting into your life is you've got to be willing you've got to be willing that it could happen you've got to be willing to see some synchronicities or to experience something that feels slightly otherworldly it's not going to be a case of I want this to happen but I don't actually believe it's going to happen anyway that's not the place to start self-fulfilling prophecy yeah it won't then yeah yeah so that's so that's really important and to have that I'm imagining you need to have a level of again this is quite tricky for for many of us to have self-acceptance self-love if I dare say those words you've got to like yourself because then from that place of self-compassion you believe you deserve it I think that's the thing stopping so many people and it stopped me so much over the years in certain areas of my life I don't deserve for that to go well I don't deserve to experience the joy or whatever it might be and you have to kind of excavate that I guess first yeah definitely and there's a chapter on self-acceptance because it is I think such a huge part of everything it's a huge part of well-being it's it's you know boundaries as we talked about earlier and you know everything it's kind of it all seems to come back to worth at the end of the day it all trails back there somehow and and it's such a such a good point that you know if we one of the biggest questions i think we have to get clear on in manifesting is is asking ourselves what do we want you know that simple question what do we want and then actually what we find is people will go well i would want that but you know but and then all of a sudden the lids come down you know and And it keeps that that want that desire down.

16:12And, you know, so if we practice that asking ourselves, what do we want? Lift the lid on that keeps that want. You know, what truly what do you want? What do you want? What if you don't know what you want? Yeah, and I think a lot of people don't. Then I think that is almost the bit to start on. I mean, you know, all the practices that are evolved in manifesting and that are explored throughout the book are essentially about feeling good. That's all it is. It's about feeling good in the moment, you know, because here, exactly here is where life happens. This is where life happens. It's not in the future, you know.

16:47So if we can feel good in the moment, then that's like putting a conscious step towards this desire, this future, this want. So I'd say start there. Just start to do the practices that help you to feel good in the moment. And then spend that time just in quiet reflection and tuning into the body, noticing how the body responds to the world. And then just for me, journaling is the biggest practice. I don't think I'd know who I am if I didn't do if I didn't have a journaling practice. And so, you know, just take the questions of the page, like let yourself explore what it is that you want. And, you know, and I think it can be so overwhelming sometimes because which direction do you look in?

17:31Where do you what do you start manifesting? But just kind of just come back to the present moment, come back to yourself and start to gently explore, you know, that that question. What do I want? And you might find it leads you to a relationship. it might lead you to work it might you know and just and start there so like you just said you the the foundation is you've got to feel good and you say in the book you can't manifest in a state of anxiety for an example if you're highly stressed whatever that's not the place to be to manifest and there'll be many people listening to this who feel like absolute shit or are properly stressed out of their brains at the moment what are the practices that can help with that so you can even start this process because if you know that feeling crap is not going to be the best starting place there's a whole ton of work to do to even get to feel okay so what would you suggest and that I think also brings in another area of manifesting which I think can be really harmful actually and that is the idea that you know it's it is all your thoughts or something because when you're in the grips of depression you know or if and if and if you hear that narrative often a big layer of guilt will get dolloped on top of that you know or blair you think there's something wrong with you you know it's not about that at all it's it's it's we can remove that that layer of guilt and kind of and blame and just be self-compassionate for where we are you know because even even if as we said if we're manifesting all this stuff we're not actually manifesting perfection we're not manifesting this constant state of joy and you know calm and peace where everything is, you know, going our way and we're skipping along, you know, that's not, that's never going to happen because life doesn't work that way.

19:15I think what a manifesting practice and the practices that we explore in the book, so journaling, mindfulness, meditation, meditation is massive for me too. And those sorts of practices is actually helping us to become okay with where we are, you know, and there's a, there's a brilliant example. I can't remember the name of the book now but um by esther hicks where she talks about a scale of emotion and you know i think when we pick up this sort of stuff we think oh i want to feel happy you know it's like from where we are so you know from naught to 100 and sometimes it's just about just gently like dialing up the scale like you would on a radio just just gently dialing just so if you're feeling if you are in the grips of you know depression or anxiety or you feel utterly shit like you know just put your hand in your heart and say, it's okay, it's okay to feel this way, it's completely okay to feel this way and you can start notching up slightly so, you know, in that moment what will bring you comfort, you know, what will bring you a sense of delight, like, you know, just slowly, just step by step, just inch by inch, helping yourself kind of to feel good in the moment and it takes time and we need support and all sorts of things so it isn't a quick fix but it's definitely 100 possible for everyone that's something I truly truly believe so if you are in the depths of it right now it is possible and through the practice of manifesting it's almost like lighting a beacon of hope and hope is so important lighting that beacon of hope in the future so that you know you do have you can slowly start to allow yourself to kind of move towards it but just going super gentle with yourself yeah it's so important because I think you know even if I think to moments where I well quite recently have felt like so stressed out or you know because it's the beginning of the year I felt drastically antisocial and I want to just hide I don't want to see anyone and my first thought or reaction to that thought is there's something wrong with me I'm a freak what the hell why aren't I more social when I want to see people and I'm not compassionate to myself but then I also know equally you know finding that thing is so important if you like to say whether it's journaling or whatever it might be some mindful activity I do this thing and I think I only really recently realized it was sort of manifesting is I go in the park near where I live and I put my headphones in and I listen to like at the moment it's a lot of Shania Twain okay I'm listening to a lot of Shania Twain oh it's really loud on you both I love giddy up it's amazing yes and I'll have it on really loud and I'm walking and I feel like myself getting buoyed up and I feel this weird it's almost hard to articulate it but like sort of um buzzy feeling of expansion and I'm like beaming something somewhere and I don't know what it is and it just I could just do half an hour of that and I'm probably 60 70 percent happier than all like not even happier like more connected and more self-compassionate after doing that so So you don't have to meditate.

22:25You can listen to Shania Twain, I think is the point of me stating that. Because she always cheers me up. She's the absolute best. And I guess also, I imagine it's very important to trust yourself. Because when we look at, say you're doing these practices and you're trying to work out what it is that you want. You have no clue. And then you get a bit of an idea like, you know what? I want a different job or I want a partner. Just as examples. they might not be the best thing for you we don't actually know so I think that's where I tie myself in not so I might go I want a happy place to be the biggest thing it can be to reach as many people as possible to help loads of people and then in my head I go yeah but what if that's to the detriment of your mental health what if you don't want to do that and then I go oh I don't know what I want to manifest then so how do we follow what we is it what we trust is going to be good for us and we just have to go with that?

23:21So I think it can be helpful sometimes to realise or to know that we are always manifesting, you know, we're in a constant state of manifesting in a way, because what manifesting is, is, you know, the alignment of our thoughts, our feelings, our beliefs, our actions, and that produces a result, which is, you know, the formula of manifesting in some sense. So all day, every day, we are manifesting, we are manifesting our reality by going about things. Now, a manifesting practice is consciously choosing what we bring to life. So we're kind of we're looking at the patterns in our lives, or we're looking at, you know, what it is that we want to change.

23:57And we're putting in, you know, these practices to help us move towards something that we do desire. Otherwise, we do just kind of get ourselves in a bit of a, you know, a cycle or a rut. And it can feel like I think we don't kind of like that beacon of hope in the future, we can sort of circle around and dig ourselves a little bit deeper and deeper. But that element of of trust is so important and like all things spiritual that is there's always a paradox which can be totally frustrating but actually you know it's it's getting comfortable with that with that kind of with the paradox that you know it is about the actions we take and the beliefs and the work but it is this big whole side of trusting in the unfolding and there's a analogy that I feel in my own life at a certain point where I felt like you know I was trying to you know, and actually it was writing.

24:41It was, you know, I really wanted to write books. I really want to write books. And, you know, and I really want my business to go well. And I, you know, I wanted all these things. So I was working really, really, really, really, really hard. But it felt like I was swimming upstream to like get these things, you know, going and, you know, and then as always, you know, life will put the brakes on somehow, you know, for me, it was it was a it was a physical brake that was put on. And, you know, and so my body needed some rest. and I, you know, put the brakes on and I went into surrender mode, complete surrender mode.

25:13And I just, it was a cellular surrender. So did you have a health issue that stopped you in your tracks? Yeah. So I had stage one cervical cancer. So it was very luckily caught in the early stages and it was treated very quickly and easily, much like abnormal cells are treated on the cervix. But, you know, to kind of be sat opposite that, you know, diagnosis and, you know, the other sort of issues that my body had gone through that you kind of, you know, it was sobering. And it was just that moment of just like, OK, stop now. Just just you've got to just chill. You've got to just let it's really hard.

25:47So hard. But in that surrender, guess what happened? You know, the first book deal came in like that. It was all these things just just just landed. And I was like, OK, I get it. Like, OK, I get it. But you can't you can't sit there and be like, you know, say to the universe I'm surrendering now you know like where's the treats surrendered for five minutes yeah it has to be a full body thing and annoyingly like for a lot of people myself included it's sometimes these these big things or you know these things that happen that kind of make us do snap out of our swimming upstream and when you let go to the flow of life this flow that's carrying you you're like oh here you know here's the magic here's the beauty here are the things that I've wanted, they're all down the path of least resistance, not, you know, not swimming upstream.

26:37Yeah, and when we're swimming upstream, we're kind of rushing as well, so we're missing a lot of the stuff that is there as either a signpost or a bit of lesson learning or just a bit of joy. We're kind of blind to it because we're going, no, my goal's over here, I haven't got time for this. I mean, I'm very much talking about how I live all the time, that I'm just sprinting through things to kind of tick things off a list or achieve things or I still get an immense amount of pleasure and joy from what I do. But I think I could be getting so much more if I did that mental surrender and really just observed what was going on around me a lot more than I do.

27:14This is a really brilliant subject that you've sort of had a dive into in the book that's tricky often to talk about. and that is luck, the concept of luck. And that we, you know, we've probably all said to someone else or been on the receiving end of, oh, you lucky bugger, or it's all right for you, or my luck's down at the moment, everything's going wrong. And I think we've probably all been in that spiral of everything's going wrong. It feels like life's sort of disintegrating at times with things just like exploding all around you and you're like, what is going on? Can you talk to us a bit more about the concept of luck?

27:49Yes. And I think this is where trust really comes in, you know, trusting in the path that's unfolding, because we can think about luck from those two sides again, from kind of a psychological side and from a spiritual side. And, you know, for some luck is just something that happens to us. It's just fate. We've got no control over it. But for others, you know, actually, if we think about what actually what actually is luck and perhaps it's an interpretation. So, you know, something happens to you where you might say, oh, I'm so unlucky. But that's a label that we've put on an experience. But what happens if we're privy to the like the whole the bigger picture?

28:26And perhaps that, you know, missed bus, that situation that felt unlucky is actually leading us on a path to something even greater. So it's kind of a lot of interpretation. And I reference Sliding Doors in the book, which is obviously a fantastic film. And, you know, that idea of, you know, she misses the train and then the film watches her, you know, the two storylines that are so different. And he kind of and every time I get myself in a situation where it could be seen as bad luck, you know, I like to remember that and think, you know, this could be a sliding doors moment. This could be a moment of pure luck, even though it feels terrible.

29:04not I remember not getting a job and I just moved to London fresh-faced and ready to go and I didn't get this job that I really wanted I really really really really wanted it and I did all the work I possibly could and I didn't get it and I was devastated and you know I felt so unlucky and I you know just felt so awful and then I don't know it was a month or so later I ended up getting another job which just turned out to be the best thing ever like I've still got really good friends from that time even as long the best manager I've ever worked with hands down that I've learned so much from you know it's one of those things that for the time it felt like bad luck but just trusting trusting in the unfolding kind of stepping back so what is luck you know it's it's that interpretation so there's that element of of control in terms of how am I how am I viewing this situation but just that leaning into the trust of the unfolding and so you can see everything is lucky.

29:59Yeah, I know, because we're, we're definitely not taught that one. I think, you know, especially with how the media works, and there's a lot of negativity daily that we're, we're sort of on the receiving end of and we can definitely get in that mindset of everything's going to shit, like in a very global sense. And I guess like you say, there's always opportunity to go, right, well, how can I be part of something that either helps with these situations that are going on, or which path can this lead me down to be of service or whatever it might be. There are opportunities within the bad luck or the circumstance.

30:37I can certainly see in my own life how things that I really did not want to happen have led to some huge discoveries, actually. Like, huge discoveries I would not have had if I hadn't been through some horrific things. So I can totally see that one. And I think people find it difficult to talk about or to hear the concept of it, especially when you're going through treacherous times. It's really rough. And again, it goes back to self-compassion, I guess, doesn't it? And going, you know, it's okay for me to be having these thoughts and feelings and to be struggling at this time, et cetera. So within the book, there's lots of different practices, as you say, and there are spells and ceremonies because it goes through the months of the year.

31:21Most will think of sort of Harry Potter and a wand when they hear the word spells. what is the interpretation of a spell? How might we do one? I love that. I love a spell. Oh, me too. So essentially, a spell for me is just a really focused intention. So a meditation tends to always be part of performing a spell. So we're getting really grounded and present. And we're actually just really evoking the feeling. So, you know, if we think about what feelings are, you know, energy, emotion, emotion, We think that they belong or something outside of us are responsible for our feelings. But actually, they're always in there.

32:01Any feeling can be conjured up by the use of imagination, you know, or perhaps engaging something like the news. You know, it will bring up that. But I like to think of them. They're all in there, you know. And so a spell is about conjuring up a feeling that we want to feel. And, you know, if we if you think if I, you know, I've met the man of my dreams and I'm completely in love and I dot about the, you know, the day, you know, being completely in love. People would say, oh, you know, you look happy or you're radiant or whatever it may. We kind of we radiate this this feeling that is going on inside of us.

32:37So what if in a spell we sat down and we conjured up that feeling? You know, we felt the feeling of being completely in love and then, you know, completed the spell and went about our day. you know which kind of energy you think is more attractive to our desires you know that that feeling we've conjured up and we're we're embodying or you know that kind of you know well the opposite you know so how might you do that what might a spell entail especially i like this love one how do we do that um so it's chapter two on love there's a spell in there and it is it is essentially what i've what i've just described so you light a candle like for you know that holding sacred space lighting something to signify it's time now to to step out of everyday life and to spend this time in meditation um to light the candle to sit and just really um you know it can be helpful to kind of remember what that feels like from the past um but just kind of just play in your meditation with with visualizations or you know it could be imagining like bradley cooper just sweeping you off your feet bradley just spun to mine there quite quickly you know here he is where have you been Bradley just you know whatever it might be but just really allowing yourself so sitting in that meditation and coming out of the meditation when you feel in love and it's it's surprisingly easy to do I think you know um try it in a meditation like or whatever it is that you want to feel close your eyes and just see if you can conjure that feeling up and and when you're there just you know stub the candle out or you can wait until the um in spells often in pagan spells it's when the candles burnt completely out then the spell is cast whether that is part of your practice or not is totally up to you as a practitioner but once you've kind of stub the candle out or the candle's gone go about your day keeping that feeling that good feeling and i think you know when when you're in the pit you know of despair when like even doing meditations like this or visualizations like this just helps us to get out because our body believes what's going on in our minds.

34:38So if we visualise this yummy, joyful, you know, playful feeling, it's easier to kind of embody it as we move, you know, throughout our days. But it's very nice to do something, if it is a ceremony as well, that is quite tangible, like having a candle or if you're using anything else in your meditation or your ceremony to sort of mark that moment. Because I think we're really missing that in the modern world. Again, we race through our day. We've all got a ton of stuff on a list that we're trying to tick off or things that we need to do. And very rarely do we stop to have that moment of here's the time and the space that I'm giving myself to bring these bits and bobs together, whatever it might be, and to just focus on this feeling.

35:21And it's a really simple thing to do. But we just we've neglected that. And also, every time I do a dive into this sort of work, I think, why don't I know more about what sort of practices were going on in the UK hundreds and hundreds of years ago? I want to know more about witches. I want to learn more about this subject matter because there's so much. Because I think, again, we tend to look to other parts of the world for our practices. and if that's done appropriately then it can be a beautiful thing that we all benefit from and we spread the joy and love around the globe etc if it's done with respect and that we've done the learning on the traditions but there's so much from the UK that we just totally don't know about that we should be really bringing back for the greater good of everyone totally and there's so much that's lost as well which is you know I kind of got into a space a couple of years ago where I was exactly the same with that.

36:18I was feeling like, you know, like I need to know more. And we did an ancestry, you know, when you have your DNA and it tells you where you're from. Oh, I want to do that. England, basically. You were like, oh, I thought it was more exotic than that. Yeah, like, yeah, oh, God, where's that? You know, it was like, how disappointing. But then part of me was like, oh, my God, like my ancestors walked this land, like, and I know nothing about them. And there's a Neolithic hill fort just near to where I live that I walk the dog up to often. And every time I go up there, I just feel like this lost story, and even the story that we're taught in schools, the barbaric hunter-gatherers, and then the Roman Empire came and civilisation came.

37:05And then you start to think about that narrative and you think, really? Were they barbaric tribes or were they just tribes that lived in complete harmony with the earth who had songs, who had ceremonies and rituals and stories that, you know, when that time came, they were just completely wiped out. And it's, you know, there's this like, every time I start to think about that, there's sort of like a longing in me to connect. Because, you know, like you say, there's so much inspiration around the globe. And I think that's why, you know, us in the West, we, we latch onto it so much, we go to India, and we're like, Oh, my God, this is, you know, exactly what I need, because it's that lost part of, And when there's that kind of disconnection, you know, I mean, look, look, look what happens.

37:50Yeah, exactly. When we're obsessed with all the things we know we're obsessed with that are wrong in terms of popular culture and consumerism and everything else. It is, you know, probably due to that lack of us understanding how we can feel more connected. So I think when we look at nature, which is obviously a huge part of the book, but also how you live your life and you living in rural Cornwall and having your daily walks and living much more in tune with nature. it's obviously a lot more challenging to do that in a city but not impossible and I think often people feel lost as to where to even start with that one how do I cultivate more of a connection with the the world around me the nature around me it's a tough one yeah and I think when we think about manifesting too it's kind of we've got to remember it as conscious beings as people who are you know are doing the work you know we've got to remember that our actions have a result you know and there's a bit in the book where I'm like you know the freedoms that I experience as a as a female in this country is thanks to the win the sacrifice the the manifesting the you know the actions the beliefs the stuff that the women who in generations before me did and it's kind of like when we look ahead we're like let's think about you know what world do we want to manifest you know what type of community do we want to live in and you know what actions can I take today that's actually going to have benefit for generations to come and you know and the tension that comes from where you live and how you feel like obviously the environment has an as an impact on you and you know and I spent the time that I lived in London going fucking hate London I think most people do it's too noisy too busy too fast but it's really interesting to you know to live quite the opposite life and you know as I was saying earlier like to come back and to you know the eyes that I'm looking through as I wandered around London today it was like wow there's culture cafes like there's food from all over the world and you know there's there's kind of there is there is that element that um you know we are always bringing our you know just checking in with our perception to think how am I you know what story am I telling about this but I mean London's a beautiful green city isn't it really there's some beautiful parks so in order to get your nature fix you know if you do feel like you want to just go and be immersed in nature there's there's plenty of opportunities in in cities to do that and even I think if we make it as simple as we we can for ourselves so even if it is the birds that say you know in my hotel last night and Paddington just you know there's there's not much well apart from Hyde Park but you know and then the birds woke me up this morning and I was like oh it's just blissful to hear these little little the guys you know waking up singing for you yeah i know it's adorable it's really important what you just said there because often i think manifesting can be presented in you know we we're we're moving in this sort of well-being world and manifesting can often be presented as a very self-serving singular endeavor that i will wish for this thing and this outcome and it will happen but like you've just said this can be a real opportunity to go how do i want my kids to move around the world one day or if you haven't got kids how do I want the people that are going to be there way after me to be walking and moving and experiencing life on planet earth in terms of how we're treating the planet but also each other and it's a real opportunity to do that it hasn't got to be like I need to work out my goal and I'm gonna have this great job and the best in your shoes it doesn't have to go down that route absolutely and and I think the the sort of the pop view of all their like you know the hashtag view of manifesting is it or can be seen as very self-serving you know you know hashtag blessed you know and that's why like i said i've got so many people around me rolling their eyes they see this view of it and they think oh you know and it can be really self-serving but there's again that bit of tension between in order to be a positive change in the world we have to do the work ourselves you know it does start here um but with a view not just for me to improve my life and have a lovely time but actually how can I benefit you know the people around me how can I benefit my community how can I benefit issues that um that matter at the moment and ultimately the earth yeah you know ultimately this beautiful planet are my actions in alignment with that value like you know what differences can I make and not to like beat ourselves up because we can always do more like always but But, you know, am I doing the best I can at serving that value, manifesting a better world?

42:30Yeah, absolutely. And talk to me about dreams, because I know that you encourage everybody to do a dream journal. How can we use an interpretation of our dreams to guide us, teach us about what we're experiencing in life? So the idea is that our dreams will be when and where kind of all that daily doing stuff is processed in our unconscious mind. So we get a little glimpse into our unconscious mind. Obviously, as we move about our days, we're operating in our conscious mind a lot of the time. But you see the iceberg, the 10 % top of the iceberg is visible and that's our conscious mind. And then the rest of the iceberg, this huge part of our experience is our unconscious mind.

43:10And dreams help us kind of look into or kind of get a feel for what's going on in that kind of below the conscious state that we move about in the world. So, you know, it might be that signs or symbols tend to come through in our dreams, but ultimately it's really connecting into how we feel. What's the feeling of the dream? It's not necessarily, it depends who you talk to about this, but for me it's not necessarily about what exactly you see or, you know. So don't like Google spider. Yeah, I mean you could. I'm going to land in, I'm going to get some money from a relative or something, whatever it is, or my teeth are falling out, money issues.

43:47Yeah, and you know, there's lots of different interpretations of dreams and that would totally work for someone. But for me, it's kind of like, what's the feeling? And, and usually I'm like, challenge Annika, or I'm like, you know, like trying to like, in your dreams, my dream, I'm solving something, it's not quite going right, you know, I'm kind of moving through like, and then when I've had a dream like that, and I look at my life, I'm like, huh, now that makes sense. You know, like, I'm so obsessed with dreams. And me and my friend Claire were having this chat the other day. and we have the same reoccurring dream and I've never met anyone that has this same dream because I've talked about it a lot.

44:23I only have one reoccurring dream and I have it, I would say quite frequently, probably a couple of times a year, I will have this exact dream where I'm in a house and it's my, it's not my house, but it's a house that I own, I've moved into and I'm walking around and I discover two or three new rooms that I didn't know were there and they're massive and I'm so excited, She's like, oh, my God, how am I going to decorate it? What's this room going to be? And I'm excited to show people these other rooms. And I wake up so buzzed when I've had that dream. It's my fame. And Claire Bennett has the same dream.

44:58Whatever that is. You know, Jungian dream analysts are probably shouting, like, oh, my God, it means this. But I'd say just reflecting, what does that mean to you? And if it feels good, like, great. That's amazing. Oh, it feels great. Yeah. Look at my wonderful big rooms. I feel like there's some sort of expansion on the horizon, I like to think. You mentioned symbols a minute ago. How do symbols come into this conversation? You ask us to pick a symbol each month. Why is that important? So symbols kind of act as a bit of a communication between the subconscious mind and the conscious mind. So kind of, you know, really the subconscious mind processes symbols and patterns and, you know, it really learns from the patterns rather than the conscious things that we're looking at with our conscious mind.

45:47So symbols can act as a bit of a communication tool between those two parts of the self. But also, I feel like a symbol will really help us to embed an intention. And we can play with it. And it's so fun to play with it. Let's say you choose the number three, for example, or something. And you're manifesting something. You're working on manifesting something. And you use that symbol of the number three as your kind of anchor for your manifesting practice. And then as you go about your daily life, you know, just notice when that number three, when that sign or symbol comes up. And it's so fun. So fun.

46:22I love it too. And I love those little bits that kind of come through. And it's always for me. So mine, you know, it's a bit cliche, but a heart shape is just one of mine. And it will always show up when I need it. It will always show up when I need it. I love that. I can't think of who it was who came on the podcast. It might have been Mel Robbins, who says to look for hearts in nature. And then you do really start to see them bloody everywhere, like rocks or twigs or leaves or whatever, to give you that nod. Yeah, and then there's the, you know, there's science and mysticism meets, so that could be confirmation bias.

46:57You know, psychologists might say, well, you know, we filter information based on what we have in the forefront of our mind, which is also why manifesting, you know, works. But so, you know, if we have this symbol consciously in our mind, we'll filter information to see it more. But then on that kind of spiritual level, you know, like it's knowing that it's all there. It's all there for us to see. And you feel it and you feel good. So why not bloody do it? Yeah. Frankly, I feel like and I don't think we've ever done this on an episode, but I feel like I need a sort of summary to tie up everything we've talked about.

47:29So for people listening to this who are like, oh, bloody hell, I need to start manifesting something. just talk us through what someone could do right after they've listened to this episode what are they going to do I think first of all it's kind of if you are feeling like oh bloody hell I've got to do this bloody another bloody thing no I mean it in a way like bloody hell I need this oh yeah I need this not like oh no no no another practice no no not at all I think we just we need this one yeah I think it's like let's just take a step back I think first of all really set yourself up why don't you do do your own little private ritual or ceremony light a candle make it delicious make it smell yummy have some delicious music playing make it just carved out sacred space for you just to reconnect and maybe just spend time in meditation maybe jot your thoughts down maybe go for a walk and listen to jenna twain or you know my personal favorite is turning music about so loud and just dancing around the kitchen i love it so much and i feel great for it but do something that kind of that will help you connect with yourself and and just really answer the question what do I want you know and not it doesn't have to come straight away maybe you can ask the universe for support and guidance and and notice the signs and symbols as you go about the day there's no time limit to this stuff there's no pressure take the pressure off see it as fun see it as exciting and an enjoyable little journey that you can go on but just start to get a little bit clear on what it is that you want and then you know we have to start taking action we have to um do the inner work to kind of realize the blocks we have to do the practices that help us feel really good in the moment and just someone said to me once you are the researcher of your own experience and I was like oh I like that a lot you know so rather than being in this stuff all the time be the reason oh how interesting curious yeah oh this made me feel like this oh that made me feel oh that worked that didn't you know just just kind of really see it as like an explorative play and a bit of fun.

49:25Just feeling good, tuning up, turning up that volume, just like to feeling good. I love it. I love it. Well, thank you. And I'm very happy to be publishing your brilliant book, Your Manifesting Year, on Happy Place Books. It's a beautiful book, even just to look at with a gorgeous cover. But I think it's going to help a lot of people. So thank you for writing it. And thank you for chatting today. Thank you so much. I've loved it. Thank you.

49:53Oh, Joey, thank you so much for your time. And I just love that sweet spot between science and magic. You know what I really want to do is do some spells. Oh, my God. When Joey was talking about spells, I was like, tell me everything right up my alley. I'm definitely going to be giving that a go. And I must say, Joey also brought with her to the house some sweet Cornish treats. Oh my God, a little home for solitary bees. Because did you know 90 % of bees are solitary bees and they don't make honey and they don't live in a hive and they don't have a gang. So they need a little home. That was a cute present.

50:33Anyway, I digress. Your manifesting year is out now. And as I said, I'm incredibly proud that Happy Place Books is publishing it. Oh, by the way, if like for me, listening to Shania Twain's music is a sacred ritual, you'll love the episode with her from just a couple of weeks ago. You'll find that with just a tiny scroll back in your podcast feed. And while you're still here, make sure you're following Happy Place so you always know when new episodes are available. You can do it on your podcast app of choice and also on Instagram to hear all of our Happy Place news. OK, until next time, huge thanks again to Joey, to the producer Anushka Tate at Rethink Audio and to you.

51:15Cheerio.

51:19Thank you.