Turns out your intuition had receipts all along.

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. Or maybe it’s a religious persecution problem…

Guess what!? You don’t have to pick between science and spirituality. And to be clear, my definition of spirituality is believing in the unknown, trusting your instincts, communing with the universe in a way that allows you to stay connected.

It’s important to understand that your body is constantly telling you the truth, even when your brain is ignoring the messaging. And learning to tune in and trust this information will change everything.

We live in a world that often punishes us for being too “woo.” For trusting our instincts, prioritizing our own wellbeing or self-preservation. We’re often taught that a “good woman” sacrifices herself for the wellbeing of others. That tired is a badge of honor and that putting yourself first is selfish.

I say be selfish as fuck.

But you can be selfish and kind. You can be selfish and caring. You can be selfish and still a good caregiver. It simply requires a reclaiming of the word selfish. Words are just words until we attach meaning to them.

So what if you decided selfish was what’s required in order to harmonize your life? Selfish is what it takes to set and keep boundaries. To show our children that they are important but can’t be more important than our own wellbeing?

This is the first step to reclaiming yourself, your peace, and your joy.

And today I want to share some powerful ways you can show up for yourself that may feel strange but make a big difference in your overall wellbeing.

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

You’re not weird. In fact, I think you’re wise AF.

And science is finally catching up with you!

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.

The clearest example of protecting my peace lately came from my own business, not from stepping away from something. I hit a stretch where everything felt hard. Just heavy, dragging, why-am-I-doing-this-again hard. When I finally got quiet enough to feel what was actually going on, I realized the hard wasn’t the work itself. It was everything I’d piled on top of it that didn’t excite me anymore. The regular business owner bullshit that is challenging for a visionary like me. 

(And can we just pause here to acknowledge the fact that I called myself a visionary in an article … I did have the normal patriarchal reaction where I was like, “oh, that’s so cringeworthy. Am I really going to call myself a visionary in public!?” But I am, and I did … Because that’s what the fuck I am. I. AM. A. VISIONARY!)

Anyway, back to my original story …

Shit felt hard. It wasn’t exciting, and I was burning out. But I love my work so much, and upon reflection I realized that forcing myself to do “entrepreneurship and social media” the way I was “supposed to” was causing me a lot of hardship. I realized that doing it differently is actually one of my strengths, and so I simplified. I cut what was draining me and kept what actually lit me up, and almost overnight I wanted to build and promote my work again instead of dreading it. That shift mattered enough that I committed out loud, to myself and to my community and my clients: I’m done doing anything business-related that doesn’t excite me.

That doesn’t mean the unglamorous stuff disappears. Every business owner has things they “have” to do. But, for me, this means when something unexciting has to get done, I find a new, more creative way to do it. Suddenly, it actually feels exciting instead of making me want to shut down.

Another way I protect my peace is by not answering the phone after hours. My work hours are 10 am – 3 pm, and I hold firm to that. I treasure my downtime and know that afternoons and evenings are when my system naturally downshifts. Unless it’s a true emergency or an exceptionally exciting opportunity, the conversation can wait until morning when I can show up grounded and present. 

Protecting your peace is spiritual, scientific, and honestly, just good leadership, all at once. It teaches everyone around you how to treat you.

Ready to prioritize your inner peace and sustinable joy? Attend one of my Glimmer Lab sessions!

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 that 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.

Ready to co-create with the universe? Grab one of my Manifestation Journals.

3. Gratitude
Embodied gratitude changes everything

Let’s be honest. Forced gratitude is useless and it’s 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.

Looking for an easy way to build a powerful gratitude practice? Grab one of my Gratitude Journals, Shift Your Focus!

4. Your Energy Is Infectious
Your nervous system is always communicating

You know how you can 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 all in your imagination because energy communicates long before 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 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.

Ready to feel grounded and in community that supports you? Join The SPARK Collective.

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.

Interested in a monthly guided EFT Tapping meditation with me? Upgrade to a paid Substack subscription, and you get it for free!

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 maybe these concepts are new for you. Either way, I’m glad you’re here. Trust that everything I share is backed by science and creates meaningful, sustainable change.

They’re nervous system regulation techniques dressed up in intuition, ritual, and the human need for meaning. Your body knows before your brain catches up. That’s not woo. That’s wisdom.

If your body is craving more of this work

When you start honoring these practices, something inside you wakes up. Your intuition gets louder, your boundaries get clearer, and joy stops feeling like something you have to earn.

If your body is saying yes, trust that. Isn’t it time you say yes to yourself?

to it. Then go looking for evidence, real, specific evidence from your own life, that the opposite might actually be true. Reply to this email or DM me and tell me what you found. I read every single one.

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Come hang out in my world. Every Tuesday at 12pm CT, I host Ask Me Anything Office Hours—it’s a free, open space to bring your questions, your snags, or just your curiosity (you do have to register, but it’s completely informal).

Whether you grab one of my free resources or just pop into a live show to say hi, I’d love to support you in finding your own version of success with ease. See what resonates and join us whenever you’re ready.