Desire a change? Perhaps a thinner body, a better memory, a new career opportunity, or the love of your life to magically present themselves? Well, we’ve heard and perhaps even tried to practice the law of manifestation. The Secret, a re-known book by Rhonda Byrne, delves into this phenomenon beautifully. But, if I may, there’s a fundamental aspect that is missing in its principles.

The Secret maintains that the tenets of ‘positive thinking’ are the answer. The book claims that by using the powerful tools of visualization, gratitude, and action, we can attract positive experiences and outcomes in our lives. Sounds wonderful. But by itself, positive thinking, together with proper action, is not enough.

If the mind and body are in opposition, change cannot happen. Our bodies—our cells—”hold” more than we think. Our mind affects our emotions and our emotions affect our cells. Our bodies function to an incredible degree in accordance with the mental and emotional programming we’ve habituated over time. This means that our cells carry memory–physical and emotional. Even if the mind suddenly begins to think positively, the body still has deep-seated functioning from the old programming.

The idea of “muscle memory” is the same when it comes to our cells. Although feeling patterns are embedded in their functioning, we can in fact allow the cells in our bodies to adjust and align with a new “mindset,” and allow for a new pattern to take form. This can be achieved by maintaining positive thinking and most importantly FEELING the emotions that relate to that thinking over an extended period of time. WHEN, AND ONLY WHEN, the body and the mind are in alignment is when, my Wonka Patrons, you hold the GOLDEN ticket.

As explained in The Secret, we can imagine ourselves already in possession of what we want. We can practice being in a state of gratitude and feel like it’s already happened. We can actively seek out opportunities and do the necessary footwork towards achieving our goals. But when we sustain this long enough to let our bodies shift to this new state, AND PROLONG PHYSICALLY FEELING IT, that is our “Happily Ever After.”

On that note, allow me one more point. The word meditate, in Sanskrit, means “to cultivate the self.” When we cultivate something, we prepare and tend to it; we strategically grow then harvest it. In essence we are in full control of the process. Intentional control (through mental, emotional, and physical discipline) is required to change any part of ourselves. Instead of passively letting things happen ‘naturally,’ as humans we need to intervene. We need to “meditate,” or cultivate, strategies and apply discipline for a prolonged period so that we can transcend.

Be a Golden-ticket-holding Wonka Kid. Take the wondrous boat ride to a world of pure imagination. AND….