I have always considered it a gift to be able to manifest what I desired during my life.

Many of my dreams became a reality, and many of my goals were achieved. The experience of nurturing a dream from seed to flower has always filled me with joy and excitement. I made my dreams turn to reality: I lived in the countries that I loved, traveled to amazing places, lived in beautiful houses, and drove astounding cars.

From one achievement to the next, I felt there was still more more for me to grow inside, so I set out on the quest of self-discovery. I wanted to know myself on a deeper level. This journey carried me to faraway places to study, practice, and learn from many masters, healers, and men and women in the field of medicine.

Even though I was able to manifest in my own way, some of my teachers and guides taught me a more disciplined and conscious way to create my desired reality and to manifest ideas into something physical.

I learned about the power of the mind and the heart and how to speak to our senses and deepest subconscious mind to create our desired reality. I have to tell you that it has worked so well for me over these years.

Think of it this way. We are living in a matrix of possibilities, which are all available to us at the same time. With this framework in mind, take a moment to reflect on the saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”

This cliché warns us about the consequences and the outcome of our desires. Maybe you have experienced something like this: the job that you tried so hard to get becomes an energy vampire that sucks you dry. A relationship with someone who you loved madly and wished to be with ended as a disaster. Or, maybe it is not the desired thing itself that doesn’t turn out unexpectedly, but rather it is the consequences that flow from it.

For example, I remember the first job I got in Auckland, New Zealand. It made me quite happy and excited, but I had to work late nights and weekends, which made it tough as I had to leave my 11-year-old daughter by herself or with friends.

The realization that I got from my experiences—like the job in Auckland—is that some of our decisions affect not only our own life, but also our family, friends, community, or our environment in a profound way.

This happens often when we consider ourselves alone when we manifest our desires without thinking about the people around us or the long-term consequences. This can be a downside of manifestation—the unintended consequences.

I learned that in creating our reality, our ego can easily trick us with its needy, greedy nature, and never-ending selfish desires. How many times have we experienced or witnessed that people with material success or high status are not necessarily happy or fulfilled in their lives? We may even find them miserable.

It took me so many years to deeply understand and experience the real magic of manifestation.

I now realize how to make the best choices and create beauty in my life. A great lesson I’d like to share with you is one that’s learned from men and women in the field of medicine in the shamanic tradition.

In my shamanic practice, we manifest with aligning our desire for the highest good. We start from there, then we narrow it down to all our relations, including our planet, country, people, community, our family, and then ourselves.

We know the outcome will benefit not just us, but the entire web that connects us. This is the secret of alchemy—to see the bigger picture and create from there. In this way, we know our ego isn’t tricking us. We create harmony and beauty in our manifestation process.

Shamans in South America speak of the concept in Ayni. Ayni in Quechua (the language of the Inca) means harmony. We will have fulfilling, happy lives when we live in Ayni—harmony in all our relations: relationship with ourselves, with our brothers and sisters, our mother Earth, all plants, animals, and all beings.

Let’s manifest with ease and grace aligned with the highest good.

~