217: How to stay aligned and trust yourself

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I'm Monica Reinagel, nutritionist, author, and host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. We dig into the questions that you're actually asking. If it's okay to drink coffee on an empty stomach, whether it's possible to retrain your sweet tooth, which ultra-processed foods you might actually want to include in your diet. We take a closer look at diet trends, fact-check sketchy claims, and track down the science so that you can feel more confident about what's on your plate. New episodes are released every Wednesday. Find Nutrition Diva on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and be sure to follow or subscribe so you don't miss a single episode.

Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com. Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Canny Crystals, the podcast. I hope that you're all well. My name is Mart Tweedy, I am your host. As I sit and record this, it is 11 PM Thursday evening, the episode comes out in 1 hour. This is fresh, fresh out of that bakery. So Thursday, as in today as I'm recording this, I went to Manchester. I went to meet a couple of friends, Cam and Hafsa, who I was on The Inheritance with earlier in the year. And we just met up, we had a few drinks, we were eating some really nice food, and then all of a sudden it just crossed my mind, I haven't fucking recorded my podcast, have I? So I've had to rush home all the way from Manchester just so I could get this podcast episode out. If that is not dedication, I don't know what is. So if you are new here, welcome. We are mid Q&A because last week I only got 5 questions answered, so today I'm gonna answer the other 5 questions. So I'm just gonna get straight on into it. So Karen has asked, can you block your own manifestation without realizing it, and what are the most common subconscious blocks? Right, okay, so the short answer is yes. But the long answer is most people do it without even knowing that they are doing it, and it's not because they are sabotaging themselves on purpose. It's just because your subconscious mind is kind of running programs that were written long before you consciously chose manifestation. Now, your subconscious is basically your safety system, so it's wired to keep you familiar, not necessarily happy. It's just wanting to keep you familiar. So if struggle or disappointment or inconsistency or lack, if they were normal in your early life, your nervous system can interpret ease, success, or abundance as being unsafe just because it's unfamiliar. Now, one of the most common subconscious blocks is feeling quite undeserving, and this is something that I've really had to dig deep with these last couple of years because people will say that they want love or money or peace or success, whatever it is, but underneath that they're running this quiet little story, like a limiting belief, that's saying 'People like me don't get that,' or 'I have to work twice as hard as everyone else,' or 'It's not gonna last.' So that belief doesn't shout, it whispers, and it whispers so powerfully because it feels like truth. Okay, so another huge block is the fear of what will change if it actually works. So we talk a lot in our lives, don't we, about wanting more, but what we don't talk about, or what we talk about much less, is what more would require of us. So is it more visibility, more responsibility, more expectations, more judgment from other people? Now, sometimes the block isn't that you can't have it. It's just that if you do have it, your whole life will change, and that feels scary. There's also the block of identity as well. So if you've spent years seeing yourself as the struggler or the helper or the one who copes or the one who never quite gets ahead, your subconscious is going to try to protect that identity, not because it's positive, but because it's familiar. So change, it threatens your identity before it creates a freedom. Now, I've seen this in my own life in really subtle ways. I used to think that I was blocking abundance by not working hard enough. Now, in reality, I was working like 90 hours a week at one point, but I was blocking it because part of me still equated rest with laziness and success with burnout. So every time things started to go my way and started to flow, I would subconsciously create more pressure instead of letting it feel easy. Now, these subconscious blocks, they don't usually show up as loud resistance. Like I say, they whisper, so they show up as things like procrastination, overthinking, distractions, self-doubt at the exact moment that things start moving, or maybe it's suddenly just feeling not ready when an opportunity comes up. So the work isn't about fighting these blocks, it's about bringing them into awareness gently So I just want you to ask yourself simple but honest questions like, "What am I afraid will happen if this actually worked?" or "Who would I have to become if I was to receive this manifestation?" So when you start to journal on things like that, your answers will actually really surprise you. And I think once a block is seen, it starts to lose a huge amount of its power. So you don't need to be perfect or fully healed to move forward. You've just got to be willing to notice what is really going on beneath the surface. So thank you so much for your question, Karen. I hope that that helped. The next question is from Denise, and she says, how long should manifestation take, and when do you know if it's just not meant for you? Right, this is a question that usually comes from, I'm going to say, a place of frustration, not curiosity, because it tends to be the voice that says, I've been doing all the work, I've been patient, so why the fuck is my manifestations not showing up for us yet? And I want to meet that with a bit of tenderness because I think when you're waiting for a manifestation to land, it can feel quite heavy when you've pinned your hopes on that change. So there is no universal timeline for manifestation, and I think anyone who gives you one is oversimplifying something that is deeply personal to each and every one of us, because some things will shift quickly for some people because they only require a small internal adjustment, whereas for other people it might take longer because they usually involve layers of identity past experiences, nervous system regulation, nervous system safety, and practical life changes. Like, they're all moving together. If you think of it, like, some people might have one cog to turn, some people might have 20 cogs to turn. So manifestation— I don't want you to think of manifestation as a vending machine where you insert a technique and out pops a result. It's more a relationship with your own growth. And you know, growth is rarely linear.. It's very rarely linear. Sometimes it looks fast on the outside because the internal work has already been happening for years. You just didn't see it yet. So I think the question of, "Is this not meant for me?" that usually comes up when you're a bit tired or you're exhausted with trying to manifest something. And you know, tired minds, they look for final answers because they want certainty and relief. They want it to be over. But that delay doesn't automatically mean denial.. It often means just preparation, redirection, refinement. So sometimes what you're manifesting, it is actually on its way, but just in a different form than you originally imagined. So I've had things myself that take far longer than I wanted them to, and looking back, I can see that had they come in the first moment that I demanded them, I wouldn't have had the capacity or the skills or the boundaries to hold them in a healthy way. I would have either fumbled them or probably burn myself out trying to keep them. So I want you to reframe this. I want you to think of it like, if you are still being called towards your manifestation, it's not random. Because desire, desire isn't planted in you by accident. But how it arrives and when it arrives, that's going to look different from how your mind first mapped it out. It always will. You're never going to get things first time round. You also get to look at your relationship with time as well. So are you measuring your progress only by what hasn't arrived yet? Or on the flip side, are you also noticing how you're responding differently, choosing differently, trusting yourself more than you used to? Now, those shifts are evidence that something is already unfolding. Something's going on underneath the skin. And sometimes, you know, a dream does fall away, but it's usually because a bigger, truer one is replacing it. Not because you failed, but because you've just evolved. So I want you to think of this as asking yourself, Instead of, "How long should this take?" I would say a more empowering question is, "Who am I becoming while this is taking time?" Because who you become is the part that stays long after the manifestation arrives. Okay, so I hope that that helped you, Denise. Thank you so much for your question. The next question I have got is from Francesca, and she asks, "Are rituals, scripting, and visualization actually necessary for manifestation?" Or can you manifest without any techniques at all? Right, this is where I'm going to give a very honest answer that it might surprise you actually. You do not need techniques to manifest. There, I said it. You manifested your entire life up to this point without ever lighting a candle, without ever writing a script, without ever visualizing. So no, techniques don't create manifestation. What does is your inner world. So rituals, scripting, visualization, they're all tools. They are not requirements. They don't hold power on their own. The power, the power in you comes from what they help you feel or what they help you see, what they help you shift inside yourself. So if a technique helps you feel clearer, more confident, more hopeful, more connected, calmer, then it's doing its job. If it feels forced or heavy, however, it's probably getting in the way. Now, some people are incredibly visual and emotional, so I think visualization unlocks everything for them, whereas other people are very practical and grounded, so action and consistency move the needle far more than sitting with their eyes closed ever could. Nothing is right or wrong, okay? They're just different doors into the same room. Now, one of the biggest traps I see doing all this is people jumping between techniques constantly because they're looking for the one that will will finally make everything click into place and make it all work. So they'll try scripting for one week. They'll try affirmations the next week. They'll try a new ritual after that. But they never stay with one long enough for their nervous system to actually integrate the change. So stability creates the momentum. Constant switching around, it's just going to create more and more doubt. I've had periods in me life where I did full moon rituals, daily journaling, visualisation every day with me crystals. I've done affirmations. I've done all of them all together in one day. And I've had other periods where the only thing I did was make bold decisions and back myself. Both of those times I've created results, whether it's in me life or business, whatever, I've still created good results. The difference wasn't the technique that I used, it was more the level of self-trust that I was operating from at the time. So yes, techniques are wonderful if you use them as anchors to back yourself. I don't want you to use them as crutches. Okay, I don't want you to be limping around thinking, oh my God, I need these affirmations, I need this visualization, this is the thing that's going to make manifestation land for me.

It—

trust us, it's not. Okay, because the moment you start thinking, if I don't do my ritual perfectly, I've ruined it, you are basically handing your power away to a process instead of keeping it rooted in your own ability to choose and act. So if you stripped all the techniques away tomorrow manifestation, it would still be happening through your beliefs, your habits, your boundaries, your standards, your decision. It's just daily life. The tools are just helping you become more conscious of what you're already creating. So no, you don't need rituals to be worthy of what you want, but if you use them because they support you, that's going to help you. But I don't want you to use them because you think that you're broken without them, okay? So I hope that that made sense. Hope that that answers your question. Thank you very much. Next question is from Michelle who says, "How do I stay aligned and high vibe when I'm stressed, burnt out, or emotionally overwhelmed?" Okay, so I want to bust the myth that you are supposed to feel high vibe all the time. It's physically impossible, okay? Physically impossible. You're not supposed to be high vibe all the time. You're a human. You've got a nervous system. You've got responsibilities. There's hormones going on. You've got relationships that can affect your vibe. There's real-life pressures out there that we all have different ones of. So trying to stay permanently high vibe, that's one of the fastest ways to feel like you're failing. So alignment, it's not about feeling good all the time. It's about staying connected to yourself even when you don't feel good. So when you're stressed, overwhelmed, your nervous system is in protection mode. That's what it does. Your body is— it's not interested in affirmations about abundance in that moment, is it? It's interested in safety. That's all it wants to do. It just wants to keep you safe. So what I think is the most aligned thing that you can do right now is regulate before you try to elevate. Now sometimes that alignment, it might look like rest, not more mindset work. Sometimes it looks like saying no, canceling plans, turning your phone off, having a cry, asking for help with other people, or maybe even just doing absolutely nothing for a bit. I tend to do this maybe 1 or 2 days a month. I will take myself up, up to my bedroom. I'll get into bed. I'll put Netflix on. I'll eat biscuits. I'll cry into me pillow. It's just how I work. But then the next day I'm productive as hell. That is not low vibe, it's self-leadership. I've had seasons in me life where I've tried to override burnout by literally forcing productivity and positivity into me life. And every single time me body's eventually forced us to slow down in much louder ways. Now, when I feel stretched at the minute, I just ask a different question of meself. So I say, what would actually support me right now? Than what do I think I should be doing to stay aligned? Now, staying aligned in hard seasons, it's just about making little micro choices in our lives. So drinking water when you want to skip it, getting outside for a little walk for 5 minutes, choosing one kind thought instead of 10 cruel ones. Letting one thing be enough for today. You don't climb back into balance in leaps. You do it in tiny little steps, in incremental doses. And I think also your energy doesn't have to be perfect for manifestation to continue. I think what matters most is your direction. Are you still choosing self-respect over self-abandonment? Are you still choosing honesty over suppression? Are you still choosing to care for yourself even when it feels hard? They're all proven alignment to yourself. Let's be real, overwhelm doesn't mean that you're off track. It often just means that you're in a season of growth, or maybe you're changing or expanding. Growth is rarely calm at the beginning, is it? It's uncomfortable because you're stretching into something new. You're stepping out of your comfort zone, out of your box, into something brand new. So instead of asking yourself, how am I going to stay high vibe, try asking yourself, How do I stay kind to myself? Because your energy rises naturally when you stop fighting where you are and you start supporting yourself where you are. Okay, so I hope that that made sense. Thank you so much for your question. And the next question is from Lisa, and Lisa says, how do I trust my intuition and spiritual guidance when my logical mind keeps doubting everything? Right, I want to normalize this because Having a logical mind that questions things doesn't mean you're disconnected. It just means that you're balanced, okay? Your mind isn't the enemy of your intuition. It's just not designed to lead in matters of alignment or purpose, that kind of thing. Your logical mind, it works with evidence from the past. Your intuition works with information that hasn't yet arrived. So of course the mind is going to say, "That doesn't make any sense," when your intuition nudges you towards something unfamiliar. One is trying to keep you safe based on what's already happened, and the other is trying to guide you into what is possible. So trusting your intuition, I don't think it's ever about doubting. I think it's about learning to tell the difference between that fear-based doubt and that intuitive hesitation. Because fear, it feels loud, it feels repetitive, it feels quite urgent and panicky, and it says like, what if this goes wrong? And it's literally on a loop in your head. Whereas intuition, it just feels quieter and simpler, and it doesn't panic. It just suggests things to you. I think one of the biggest reasons that people struggle to trust their intuition is because they expect it to be dramatic. They're waiting for this big sign or this clear booming voice in the head coming in a dream or something. It's like a huge spiritual moment. But intuition, it just usually speaks through subtle discomfort or sudden clarity. Maybe it's a gentle pull or a calm no that doesn't come with much explanation. Most of the time I get intuitive signs is when I'm in the shower and all of a sudden I'll just think of something in my head and I'm like, oh yeah, why haven't I done that yet? And it just comes to us really, really quickly. And then I'll write that down as an idea, and then when I get time to act on it, I'll act on it. And all of a sudden that idea is blown up into a brand new course or a new project or something, and I'm like, why didn't I do this any sooner? And it all stemmed just from a little idea, a little intuitive nudge that I had while I was in the shower. So I learned to trust me intuition, not through meditation or anything, but just through experience by following those small nudges and just watching what happened. I mean, yeah, sometimes, you know, nothing comes of it, but most of the time it does. Sometimes it works out beautifully, sometimes it led to growth through challenge, but every single time I listened to that nudge I learned that I could handle the outcome, and that built trust inside faster than any affirmations ever could. So your logical mind, it always wants guarantees, but your intuition doesn't offer guarantees. It offers you like— it's almost like it's pointing you towards a direction, and that direction is enough when you trust yourself to respond wisely along the way. So I think a practical way for you to strengthen your intuition is to just start small and low risk. So notice what you feel drawn to in everyday situations. Maybe it's which route to take, or which message to send, which invitation to accept or decline. Every small moment of listening is going to train your self-trust muscle. But I also think that your intuition gets quieter when you are chronically overwhelmed, because if your mind is constantly noisy, your intuition is going to struggle to be heard because it is like whispers. Okay, stillness, space, nervous system regulation, they're all going to make your intuition feel louder, not because it shouts, but because the noise softens around it. So I would say to you, the goal for you, it's not to silence your logical mind. I'd say the goal for you is to let it become a supportive advisor rather than the decision maker. So when logic and intuition work together, you can then move ahead with trust. And honestly, I mean it when I say this, the more you trust yourself, the less you need constant signs from the universe because you start to realize that you are the sign. Okay, so I hope that that helped you, uh, Lisa. Thank you so, so much. And the last question is from— oh, it's from Darren. We've got a man, we've got a man amongst us. It's very unusual, didn't know any men listened. But Darren asks, what is the best way to tackle a huge goal in 2026 without getting overwhelmed or giving up halfway through. Right, so when people set a huge goal, they often make one or two mistakes, okay? They either aim so big that they just freeze before they start and they go into panic mode, or they aim big but they try to execute it with the same old habits, mindset, and systems that they've always used. This is the two things that people do. And what happens is people will set New Year's resolutions, Come the second or third week in January, they've stopped going to the gym, they've started eating cake again. To put it simply, that is. Anyway, I'm just metaphorically speaking there. So a massive goal, it needs a different version of you. It needs structure, it needs clarity, it needs emotional resilience, not just motivation. So the truth is, a big goal, it's not achieved by doing something dramatic in January. It's achieved by repeatedly doing those small, unglamorous things that build momentum. There's a great book about this called Atomic Habits. It's about like doing 1% every single day because it eventually snowballs into something huge. You know, most people fall off because they set this outcome, but they don't build the identity or the environment around them that can actually sustain that outcome. So if you see yourself as the same person that you were last year, you're naturally just going to slide back into last year's patterns. So the first step is breaking the goal into phases, not months, phases, okay? Think of it as Chapter 1 energy, Chapter 2 energy, Chapter 3 energy. And then think about what does each chapter require from you emotionally, practically, energetically? Because if you don't map that out, you'll just hit a natural dip in motivation later in the year, and you'll assume that that's a nudge to quit rather than just a normal part of the process. Then the next part is getting, like, brutally honest about what currently gets in your way. Why are you not already achieving this goal? Not in a shaming way, but in a strategy way, because you want to get clear on what it is that's stopping you. Is it overwhelm? Is it procrastination? Is it fear of judgment? Lack of clarity? Inconsistency? Burnout? Perfectionism? Because these things aren't going to disappear because the calendar flips to 2026. You know, just because you turn a page on the calendar doesn't mean that all these things are just going to melt away. You need to literally tackle all of these things head-on because when you go after a huge goal, it means working with your human tendencies rather than fighting them.. And I think when you start to understand your patterns, you can then design your year around them instead of constantly battling them instead. So shameless plug here, but I've got a workshop on this on Tuesday the 30th of December, 7 PM UK time. It is on the Academy. It's called Achieving Your Goals in 2026. But it talks about this perfectly because the whole purpose of that workshop is to help you build a structure that supports success, not just excitement. So we go through mapping your year, we create milestones, we understand your emotional cycle, and we build the habits that actually move that needle. Because most people don't just need a bigger goal, they need a better system and a clearer roadmap of how to get from A to B. So I think a huge goal becomes achievable the moment that you stop trying to feel ready and instead make a decision about who you're going to become instead. Because the version of you who achieves that goal, they already exist inside you. They are already in there. So that workshop is essentially about pulling that version forward, locking in your plan, and giving you the accountability and clarity to follow through. Okay, so tackling a huge goal in 2026, it's not about hustle, it's about alignment and ultimately your identity as well. And when I think those things land, massive goals will stop feeling overwhelming and they'll start feeling inevitable. So if anyone wants to join that, cannycrystalsacademy.co.uk, it's the Achieving Your Goals Workshop. I'll put the link in the show notes for today's episode. It's also in my bio on Instagram. If you're not following me on Instagram, please come and do so. I am @cannycrystals. You can head to the link in my bio, you can see all of my offerings there in my bio. Really would appreciate if you come along. It's £22.22. You get a workbook, a meditation, a subliminal, 3 PDFs, and access to a live workshop with me on Tuesday the 30th of December, 7 PM. It lasts for about an hour and a half. I think last year it went on for 2 hours. We talk a lot, we do a lot of planning in that. I can see you, you can see me, we can talk, we can literally chat if you want to. You can come off mute. I don't make you sit there in silence. You can come off mute, you can chat to me. Come along, have some fun, it will be great. It is that god-awful time as well between Christmas and New Year when Nobody knows what day of the week it is, nobody knows what time it is, or where they're supposed to be, or what day they're going back to work. So yeah, come and join us anyway. And that is the end of this week's episode. If you have enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, please share it on social media. I really would appreciate it. Tag me, I'm @canny_crystals, and I will see you all next Friday for another episode. I hope that you have a beautiful week. Please don't burn yourself out on the run-up to Christmas. Have a calm, peaceful, and relaxed week, and I'll see you all next Friday for another episode. Speak soon, guys.

Bye!

You want to get your backyard summer ready, but you don't want to break the bank? Wayfair gets it. Planning on dining alfresco or relaxing poolside? Wayfair has everything you need to prep your space. Shop now and save up to 70% off during Wayfair's Fourth of July clearance. Score huge deals on outdoor furniture, area rugs, and more. We're talking thousands of products for every style and budget. Plus, surprise flash deals July 6th. Don't wait. Shop Wayfair's Fourth of July clearance now through July 6th at wayfair.com.

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"Go touch grass." You have probably heard this phrase. Maybe you have even said it. But beneath the sort of lighthearted nature of this meme is something very real and important: a growing sense that staying in touch with our humanity and being present in our bodies matters more than ever in today's digital world. My name is Manoush Zomorodi, and I am taking over as host of TED Talks Daily this week to explore explore what technology is actually doing to your body and mind. In special interviews with scientists, doctors, parents, artists, and more, we're going to dig into your physical and mental health on tech. How we think about our bodies differently now, how we relate to new innovations that are amazing but also a little scary, and how we can live a healthier life in this high-tech era. Tune in on TED Talks Daily wherever you listen to podcasts.

Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.