I’ve been dabbling in what some folks call “woo woo” practices for years, and in the last 7–10 years, neuroscience has been catching up with what we spiritualists have known for a long time.

All these practices people love to label as “woo” are really just ancient nervous system tools with a modern PR problem.

You don’t have to pick between science and spirituality. You’re a whole human being, not a walking spreadsheet. Your body is constantly telling the truth, even when your brain is trying to negotiate a different story.

So if you’ve ever felt silly for protecting your peace, manifesting on dreams, tapping on your face, or rocking like a sleepy toddler, let this be your permission slip:

You’re not weird.
You’re wise.
And science is finally catching up.

Let’s walk through five practices that get dismissed as woo but are actually deeply supportive, biologically grounded, and wildly effective.

1. Protecting Your Peace

Sacred self-honoring backed by your nervous system

Protecting your peace isn’t about building walls. It’s about treating your energy as something sacred, something worth tending to, something you don’t hand out on a first-come, first-served basis.

When people talk about “protecting their peace,” it gets dismissed as woo. But what they’re actually doing is honoring their internal signals. And yes, neuroscience backs that. Your nervous system is constantly tracking what feels safe, supportive, and sustainable. When you listen to those signals, you’re participating in a deeply spiritual practice: choosing yourself with intention.

One of the clearest examples of protecting my peace was stepping away from The Brave Files podcast. I built that show from absolutely nothing and turned it into a top 1.5 percent global podcast. It meant the world to me (still does). And then my life shifted. My support system shifted. My energy shifted. Continuing the show would have required more than I was willing to give, and I wasn’t willing to abandon myself to maintain the performance.

Letting it go wasn’t quitting.
It was self-trust.
It was alignment.
It was peace.

Another way I protect my peace is by not answering the phone after dinner. I treasure my downtime and know that evenings are when my system naturally downshifts. Unless it’s a true emergency, the conversation can wait until morning when I can show up grounded and present. That’s not withholding. That’s wisdom.

Protecting your peace is spiritual because it requires presence, truth, and trust.
It’s scientific because it regulates your entire nervous system.
And it’s leadership because it teaches others how to meet you.

2. Manifestation

What you focus on grows because your attention is a filter 

Manifestation isn’t “think pretty thoughts and hope the universe delivers.”

It’s a biological truth about how your attention shapes your reality.

Your brain filters information based on what you decide matters. When you consciously choose to focus on possibility, alignment, and desire, your system starts scanning the world for matching evidence. You notice doors you never saw before. You take bolder actions. You interpret challenges differently.

Manifestation is simply intention + behavior + belief.
Science calls it selective attention.
I call it conscious co-creation.

Either way, it works.

3. Gratitude

Embodied, not forced gratitude, changes everything 

Let’s be honest. Forced gratitude is useless. And harmful.

Forced gratitude is the kind you’re expected to perform so you seem positive or humble or appreciative, even when what you’re really feeling is overwhelmed, disappointed, or stretched to your limit. It’s the “you should be grateful” narrative society loves to push. It asks you to ignore your actual emotional experience and jump straight into a pretty story.

Your body knows when gratitude is forced. You’ll notice your muscles feel tight, your body feels stressed, shallow, disconnected. You can tell you’ve slipped into it when gratitude feels like pressure instead of relief, or when you’re judging yourself for not being grateful enough.

Forced gratitude is a bypass, not a bridge.

Embodied gratitude is entirely different. It drops you deeper into yourself and widens your capacity instead of shrinking it. True gratitude holds complexity instead of denying it.

Embodied gratitude sounds like:

“I’m overwhelmed… and I’m grateful my body can carry me through today.”
“This moment is a lot… and I’m grateful I get to rest later.”
“I feel overextended… and I’m grateful to be wanted and appreciated.”

It feels like warmth in the chest, a softer jaw, a deeper breath. It’s honest. It’s grounding. And your nervous system responds immediately.

This kind of gratitude is a daily practice for me. When I catch myself spiraling into stress or urgency, I turn inward. Gratitude for my body moving me up and down the stairs. Gratitude for sinking into a magnesium flake bath. Gratitude for being sought after by clients and loved ones, even when I’m stretched.

Many things can be true at once.
You can feel overwhelmed and still recognize the goodness in your life.

Embodied gratitude doesn’t erase the hard things; it widens the space inside you so you can breathe again.

4. Your Energy Is Infectious

Your nervous system is always communicating

Have you ever felt this?

You walk into a room and immediately know whether someone is grounded or chaotic. Your body orients toward safety or away from static long before you consciously process what’s happening.

This isn’t imagination. Your energy communicates long before your words do.

Humans regulate each other. Calm nervous systems create calm nervous systems. Dysregulated people unintentionally tug others off center. This is why the people you surround yourself with matter so much.

It’s also why intentionally curated communities, like the ones I host at retreats, feel so transformative. When you’re in a space full of conscious, grounded folks, your system finds its way home faster.

Your energy is a signal. And everyone can feel it.

5. EFT Tapping and Self-Compassionate Touch

Your body wants to complete the stress cycle

If you’ve ever caught yourself tapping or rubbing your chest during a stressful moment, you’re already doing nervous system work.

Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT tapping, is one of my favorite practical and neurological tools. You tap gently on specific meridian points while acknowledging what you’re feeling. It looks woo, but the neurological impact is immediate.

Why does it work?

Because your system responds to rhythm, self-touch, pressure, and emotional honesty. Tapping helps interrupt spirals, ground your awareness, and soothe your body back toward safety. It also reprograms you on a neurological level to embody what you do want rather than what you don’t want.

Next time you’re overwhelmed, try this simple phrase:

“It is safe for me to be successful with ease.”

Let it settle into your body. Let it feel true even if your brain isn’t convinced yet.

Your body is always listening. Give it something compassionate to hear.

The Heart of It All

None of these practices are fringe, and none of them are silly. You may be a “woo woo” spiritualist with me from way back or perhaps these concepts are new for you; either way, I’m glad you’re here. Trust that all of the things I share are backed by science and that they create meaningful and sustainable change.

They are nervous system regulation techniques dressed in intuition, ritual, and the human desire for meaning.

Your body knows before your brain does.
Your peace is worth protecting.
Your focus shapes your future.
Your energy impacts the world around you.
Your touch is medicine.

This is wisdom.

If your body is craving more of this work

When you start honoring these practices, something inside you wakes up. Your system remembers what ease feels like. Your intuition gets louder. Your boundaries get clearer. Your joy becomes less negotiable. And if your whole body is whispering that it’s time for deeper restoration, deeper presence, deeper alignment, I want you to know there’s a place for that.

My Reclaim Your Peace Retreat in Costa Rica is designed exactly for this kind of shift. It’s where neuroscience meets spirituality in the most grounded, nourishing way. Six days of somatic movement, rest, custom Human Design and nervous system support, exquisite plant-based meals, indigenous healing experiences, and a community of conscious folks who are done doing life alone.

If your body is saying yes, trust that. Isn’t it time you say yes to yourself? Meanwhile check out this video below:

Science-Backed Spirituality & Embodied Alignment

Manifestation isn’t magic—it’s subconscious alignment, Human Design & empowered action for real abundance, clarity, and growth. Check this out, Manifestation Isn’t Magic—It’s Alignment

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✨ Join me at my weekly live show, Live with Heather Vickery, every Thursday at 12pm CT
where we talk about radical self-trust, boundaries, healing, and what it actually looks like to live with EASE

✨ Come to my Tuesday Ask Me Anything office hours
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✨ Or explore a deeper level of transformation through coaching, a Subconscious Shift Session, or my upcoming retreats

You don’t have to keep living by old rules that never served you.
You get to choose a new way forward.
One that honors you.
One that feels like truth.
One that makes room for your whole self.

And if you want support as you step into that version of your life, I’d be honored to walk with you.