Snapshot Manifestation Will Make You Ditch New Year's Resolutions

I sat in my favorite Thai restaurant on a cold Chicago night, waiting on my first date, still in my yoga clothes. I’d just finished teaching a meditation workshop and though I could’ve put on something fancier, it was only a first date; I settled for a quick reapply of organic deodorant. Plus, it wasn’t a typical first date; I’d known Jon a long time already. We grew up in the same town, went to the same synagogue, and had a shared background as world travelers. My mom always thought we’d get along well. So, I sat, waiting, watching the car lights go by, praying this first date would lead to more.

Jon walked into the restaurant a few minutes late and sat across from me, smiling. He asked questions about my day, we shared a bottle of red wine, ate gorgeous Thai green curry, and swapped travel stories. On a cold winter night in Chicago, sitting across from someone I’d known for years, I felt the presence of the energy I’d been calling into my life via my Snapshot Manifestation practice. It felt like coming home.

We saw each other everyday over the next couple of weeks, moved in together after a couple of months, and got engaged a year later. Today, we live nomadically with our one-year-old daughter, spending the winters in Costa Rica and splitting the rest of the year between Austin and Chicago. I share our whirlwind love story in detail, along with the exact steps I used to manifest him, in chapter 6 of my book, Nothing Can Stop You.

Between manifesting Jon, my book deal, and the freedom-based lifestyle we now live, I’ve willed several powerful desires into my life. Manifestation, also known as the law of attraction, where you attract your intentions, desires, and dreams towards you, may sound too spiritual for some. Dr. Dan Tomasulo, my former professor and Academic Director at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University, prefers to call it “the law of alignment.”

“An intention alone doesn't necessarily have as significant an impact as positive emotion mixed with intention,” he tells me. “Recall something that gave you joy or a loving feeling. Think about someone you love; that positivity activates the right circuits in your mind and body. When you mix that with an intention, you are taking and aligning your thoughts and feelings to connect with something that will bring you more of the same.”

It’s also not “woo woo” science, either. A 2005 study published by the American Psychological Association suggests that positive thoughts and emotions lead to greater success, and frameworks like positive psychology and cognitive behavior therapy can foster a mindset that attracts positivity, which Tomasulo details in his book, The Positivity Effect. Psychic teacher Athina Bailey suggests that when you align with soul desires (the truest parts of you), they flow into your life naturally and more quickly. Spiritual teacher Micaela Ezra adds that cultivating practices that bring joy and authenticity, along with self-compassion and trust, are essential to manifesting soul desires. I use repeat the mantra, “I trust the timing of my life,” when I notice myself pushing for a specific outcome or comparing my process to others. It helps me to relax into a soul desire and surrender to the process.

I teach my students my personalized Snapshot Manifestation and Aligned Action methods, the holy grail of all manifestation processes. It’s allowed me to call in my beloved, my book deal, and my freedom-based lifestyle. The concept is central to manifestation and is all about aligning your actions and behaviors to the person you want to become, rather than just wishing for what you desire. Tracy Litt, founder of the School of Becoming, says the key to manifesting desires is to embody the version of yourself that already has what you want. Here’s how to put both into practice in the new year.

Snapshot Manifestation Exercise

1. Sit comfortably and take a few deep breaths. Ground yourself by visualizing golden braided roots at the base of your tailbone, connecting you to the earth. Picture an event you have coming up in the next year and imagine the details: what you're wearing, how you feel, who's with you. Focus on the emotions of having everything you desire in that moment, and let the feeling of this vision sink in.
2. Feel all of the emotions that come through for you. If in this upcoming year you’re calling in adventure and travel, your Snapshot Manifestation might include someone complimenting the outfit you got by a local designer while on a retreat in Tuscany. Maybe you want to build your own business or write a book, and in your vision you take out your phone and receive an exciting email about a dream collaboration. Give yourself time to feel all the good emotions that connect you directly to your desires.
3. After a few inhales and exhales, gently return to the present with a few deep breaths. Again, visualize those grounding golden braided roots. Give yourself time to reflect. What was the most present feeling-state in your visualization? Perhaps it was the feeling of being seen, or the feeling of peace within your body, or the feeling of walking into your childhood home after weeks away. For the next 40 days, spend two minutes each day reconnecting with that feeling.

Aligned Action Exercise

1. The next step is to notice when you’re far away from the desire you’re calling in with Snapshot Manifestation. I love this sacred practice because it leads to course correction. If in your manifestation you’re in a loving relationship but not yet prioritizing dating today, then something needs to shift. If, in your Snapshot Manifestation, you’re in a healthy headspace with less stress, then what can you do now to get you closer to that?
2. For Snapshot Manifestation to work, you need to have physical aligned action. This is where the magic unfolds. When you give yourself a couple moments in the morning to connect to the feeling of your Snapshot Manifestation and take physical action toward it, you become a magnet for what you desire.

The science behind manifestation shows us that connecting to our desires and feeling good and uplifted can bring us closer to our dreams. It’s not just wishing for something to happen in your life — it’s about aligning your energy with your soul desires and taking inspired action towards it. So, this year, instead of jotting down resolutions and hopes you’d like to see come to fruition for you, take active and intentional steps to make them a reality.