Free Pharmacist's Guide: The 10 Most Trusted References for Evidence-Based Herbal Medicine
There’s no shortage of manifestation talk these days. Scroll through social media for five minutes and you’ll find someone teaching you how to “call in” your dream life. Whether you view manifestation as spiritual co-creation with the divine or a purely psychological phenomenon rooted in neuroscience and the reticular activating system, there are key pieces to this practice that can save you from confusion, frustration, and some costly mistakes along the way.
Let me share something most manifestation teachers gloss over—something that changed everything for me as both a pharmacist and an herbalist working at the intersection of science and spirit.
First, let’s talk about the primordial, primitive driver behind manifesting or achieving any goal: we’re all chasing the feeling of “good” by doing “good.” We set our sights on external accomplishments and tell ourselves we’ll feel satisfied only after we achieve them.
Sound familiar?
“I’ll be happy when I finish the degree.”
“I’ll be happy when I get the job.”
“I’ll be happy when I buy the house.”
“I’ll be happy when I have the family.”
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: not only does this conditional happiness place severe limits on our joy, but even when we do accomplish these things, the satisfaction is fleeting. We feel momentarily proud, briefly fulfilled—and then we’re off chasing the next thing, doing more, getting more, hoping that this time it will finally be enough.
It never is. Not because we’re broken, but because we’ve got the sequence backwards.
What if there doesn’t have to be a prerequisite to feeling good?
What if the secret isn’t about doing your way to happiness, but about feeling your way to doing?
And no, this is not spiritual bypassing or toxic positivity. It’s actually a self-perpetuating cycle rooted in both ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience: when you feel good, you do good work. And when you do good work from that elevated state, you feel even better. The cycle reinforces itself.
Think about a toddler throwing a tantrum because he desperately wants something. Sure, sometimes a parent gives in just to make the screaming stop. But trust me when I say—no parent wants to reward that behavior. Good parenting means ignoring the tantrum and the entitled nagging.
However, when that same child is genuinely excited, lit up with passion and curiosity about something? The parent will move mountains to support that interest.
That’s exactly how the universe works.
When it comes to manifesting, those who already hold the frequency of love, gratitude, excitement, and worthiness are the ones ready to receive things that vibrate at the same level. It’s the classic law of attraction at work—if you haven’t explored this yet, “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne is a solid starting point [1].
But here’s where most manifestation teachings fall short: we live in a physical universe. Your thoughts and intentions matter, yes—but the real key to manifesting lies in the embodied experience. You must hold the frequency of belief, alignment, and rightness of your next evolution in your body, not just your mind.
This is ultimately the biggest lesson that my training in the healing arts (conventional as well as holistic, mind-body and somatic modalities) as well as my experience in entrepreneurship have led me to understand. The body keeps the score, as Bessel van der Kolk teaches us [2]. Your nervous system doesn’t respond to what you think—it responds to what you feel and believe at a cellular level.
If your body is stuck in survival mode—cortisol elevated, sympathetic nervous system dominant, heart rate variability low—you can visualize abundance all day long, but your biology is screaming scarcity [3]. The universe (or your subconscious, or your reticular activating system—pick your framework) will match that frequency. Your brain is always looking for proof that our internal beliefs and thoughts are correct, and therefore safe, and this perpetual cycle becomes our perceived reality.
Here’s how to bridge the gap between spiritual intention and embodied reality:
Don’t just write what you want to manifest—describe in vivid detail what it will feel like to live that reality. What does your body feel like when you wake up in that new chapter of life? What sensations arise in your chest, your belly, your shoulders? What does your morning routine look like? How do you move through your day?
Get sensory. Get somatic. Let your nervous system taste it.
This is the slightly “woo-woo” part—and the part backed by neuroscience. Try to inhabit that elevated state as you are right now. Not “someday when.” Right now.
Practice holding the frequency of already having what you desire. Let your body memorize the feeling. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between a vividly imagined experience and a real one—this is how athletes use visualization to improve performance [4] The great Muhammad Ali has been quoted to say, “I never won a fight in the ring; I always won in preparation.” This preparation is key: it’s essentially rewiring your neural pathways to make this future state feel familiar, safe, and inevitable.
Start each morning and end each evening with gratitude for this thing that’s already on its way to you. Speak it in present or past tense: “I’m so grateful for…” not “I will be grateful when…”
And throughout the day? Practice dropping into this state as many times as possible. Set reminders. Use transition moments—before you check your phone, before you eat, before you see a client or patient. Anchor the frequency.
This is different from a “fake it til you make it” mentality. It’s about training your nervous system to hold a new baseline. It’s about looking for evidence of success instead of scarcity, and becoming energetically ready to receive.
As an herbalist, I’d be remiss not to mention that there are plant allies who can support this work. Certain adaptogens and nervines help us stay present, regulate our nervous system, and align with what’s truly meant for us—for the highest good of all [5].
When we work with plants intentionally, it’s not meant to bypass the inner work. We’re allying with them to give our bodies the physiological support to hold higher frequencies more consistently. Herbs like tulsi (holy basil), milky oats, rose, and hawthorn can be powerful companions in this embodied manifestation practice (and many others!).
I believe that when we uplevel intentionally—rooted in integrity, connected to our bodies, and in service to something larger than ourselves—we contribute to the collective consciousness. And when people with integrity “win,” we all win.
I’d love to hear about your experience with manifesting or reaching your goals.
What practices have helped you embody your desires? What obstacles have you encountered? And if you’re curious about which herbal allies might support your unique manifestation journey, I’m opening up some time in my calendar to chat about your first step in stepping into your next evolution.
PS Don’t miss my upcoming workshop diving deeper into the world of herbal allies for these uncertain times, so we can acknowledge and feel the grief, and walk away with the conviction that we can persevere with the proper tools.
Hope to see you there: Herbalism for Resilient Self-Care in Meta-Crisis Workshop
Works Cited:
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