When the book The Secret by
Rhonda Byrne came out in 2006, it excited millions around the world with its easy
to follow premise on the law-of-attraction. People started creating a “wish
board" with photos of all the things that they wanted to have in life, and
hoped/believed that their desired reality would follow suit. Unfortunately this
premise didn’t help to eradicate poverty, illness, or personal frustration from
our planet. When I met Dr. Shawn
Postma I learned a completely different approach to manifestation. It’s not as
simplified as The Secret, it actually requires some in-depth personal work, but
once Dr. Postma explained to me the logic behind it, it made so much sense. I
was so fascinated by the method that I have asked him to share it with you all in
this blog so that you can all have the knowledge to really transform your life.
Shawn Postma is a Naturopathic
Physician, Shamanic Practitioner, and Teacher. He enjoys helping people who
feel stuck or lost in their life and need some soulful guidance. He believes in
the power of mindfulness and natural medicine to help people create the love
and connection they desire. In addition to seeing patients in his private
practice, Sky Roots Healing, Dr.
Postma is excited to be offering a new online program, IBS Zen Wellness, which is expected to launch in the new year.
He has a passion for teaching as well, and has taught at Bastyr University. In
his free time, he loves hiking, surfing, juggling, being in community, and
hanging out with his family and son.
What is manifestation?
We may all have desires in our
life, but we don’t always know how to get what we want. Some of us desire that perfect
soul mate, while others of us may want to reignite the flame of a dying
relationship. Manifestation is about knowing how to meet our underlying needs
so that we can better align with our hearts desire.
How is your manifestation method different from other approaches?
My approach is inspired by the
book The Desire Map, by Danielle LaPorte. LaPorte talks about how there is
typically a desire or feeling that underlies a want, such as in things listed
in a bucket list or a wish board.
The trick to manifestation is identifying
how we want to feel, instead of what we want to have. Let’s take
for example the desire to have a relationship with a soul mate. Within this
want, there may be many different feelings we desire, such as happiness, love, comfort,
etc. Naturally, the desired feeling is going to be different for each of us,
but the take away message is that it is important to explore these feelings and
underlying needs.
This isn’t all that easy however,
as many of us are out of touch with our feelings and have closed our hearts, whether
from a painful previous relationship or childhood abuse. Becoming aware of our
feelings can be challenging, however it holds the key to getting our underlying
needs met, and therefore what we desire.
The second step that you teach is to connect a feeling to a symbol. Why
are symbols important to the manifestation process?
Basically, symbols are associations
we have with a particular image or thing. If we use them appropriately, they
can have a deeply transformative and healing effect on our subconscious mind.
Symbols can create a form out of something that may feel a bit abstract. We
inadvertently attempt to do this by constructing an ideal image of a soul mate for
example, but this is misdirected. Rather
than creating a symbol for something outside of ourselves, we want to utilize a
symbol that fosters personal responsibility in meeting our own underlying
needs.
If I dig a bit deeper and explore
one feeling that I desire in a life partner, I think about joy. Since the
feeling of joy is in my field of awareness, my subconscious mind is telling me
that there is an underlying need. Rather than focusing on finding someone else
to fulfill this need, which can inadvertently create a co-dependency, the first
step is learning how to acknowledge and meet my own needs.
This is where symbols come in
handy. However, we don’t just want to use any symbol. Generally, we want to use
a symbol that is neutral or positive, and is based in nature. If I think about
joy then, a symbol that comes to mind is a hummingbird. Here again, each person
will likely have a different association for different feelings, but for me,
hummingbird is my starting point to manifesting a healthy relationship.
The next step is putting the
symbol into action. If I were to use the hummingbird as an example, I would put
pictures of it on my computer and phone desktop. I would try to watch some
documentaries about the hummingbird or read a good book about them. I would put
a hummingbird feeder up around my house where I could easily see it. I would
try to learn more about the flight patterns or anything else unique to
them.
Working with a symbol in these
ways may seem a bit silly at first. However, in time it will serve as a
reminder and a guide to fulfilling your underlying needs. It also becomes a
relationship in itself, where it takes curiosity and reciprocity to grow.
The last step that you teach is very surprising and unexpected when
comparing it to other methods of manifestation.
One of the big problems in
relationships is that we often put expectations on our partner to meet our
needs, without ever expressing what those needs are. Since our partners cannot
read our minds, they typically fall short of our expectations, which leads to
frustration and dissatisfaction.
While symbolism can assist in
learning about our feelings, the next step would be to meet our needs
independent of someone else. I frequently use a dialoguing technique to help me
in this process, which basically involves finding out how I can specifically
meet my needs, as well as when and where. It is important to point out that
each need may have very unique request, which may come from different ages of
myself. The part of myself that needs to experience joy may be a younger part
of me who has very specific request—to go roller-skating in 15 minutes with all
his friends from school from 10pm-2am. We may not be able to meet the demands
of every need, but we can often come to a middle ground. The inner adult parent
may need to set some boundaries, but the end result is roller-skating with some
good friends and staying up all night over the weekend. The essential part of
all of this is follow through, otherwise you are going to have a pissed off
adolescent who will find a way to wreak havoc on your life until the need is
met.
Most people hope that being in a loving relationship will address their
emotional needs. Why is it important to do the work of emotional awareness and
addressing our needs beforehand?
In a relationship there are
always needs and issues that are going to arise. Expecting our partners to sense our needs and know how to
address them without communication is not realistic. On the other hand, if we
are aware of our needs it will be easier to express them and find supportive
and fulfilling relationships. Working on our emotional awareness is always
going to be a process or evolution; we are not going to be fully aware all of
the time, but hopefully these tools provide a starting point.
