287 ~ The Dark Side of New Age Thinking: Breaking Down Manifestation Reality vs. Hype

Hello Magical Human & welcome back to Madison Mindset the Podcast 🧚🏼

Listen to this episode as I bust manifestation myths by exposing how ancient spiritual concepts have been repackaged and often misrepresented by modern manifestation coaches selling an oversimplified dream.

episode overview:
• manifestation has roots in 3000-year-old philosophies but has been twisted into a commercial product
• the law of attraction is not scientifically proven—Newton's third law offers a more realistic perspective
• visualisation and affirmations can help rewire brain pathways but require aligned action to create results
• ancient philosophies teach non-attachment, not manifesting everything you want
• your perspective and what you do with your circumstances matter more than what you attract
• core identity and beliefs developed since childhood determine what you allow into your life

Interact with the truths of life
Love,

Madison Mindset x

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Milestones and Gratitude
• 2:06 Patreon Subscription Tiers Explained
• 7:03 Introduction to Manifestation Myths
• 11:01 The Scientific Reality of Manifestation
• 18:33 Ancient Philosophies vs. Modern Coaching
• 25:10 Truth About Affirmations and Visualization
• 30:24 Newton's Third Law and Real-World Application
• 32:29 Finding Peace Beyond Manifestation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello Magical Human and welcome back to Madison Mindset, the podcast. Before we jump into this episode, I want to thank you for being here. This podcast has hit over 2 million downloads on Spotify, which is unbelievable, and I want to thank you for that, because I wouldn't be here without you. We got here together and I'm just so happy that so many people want to work on their mindset and take care of themselves and show up for themselves and for really nurturing their own growth, so it's just absolutely unbelievable. Thank you so much for being here and, if you haven't already, I want to remind you to leave a rating or a review, especially a review on Apple or on Spotify, wherever you listen to it, because it really helps this podcast expand and grow and reach new people, and I would really really appreciate all of that support. So, if you haven't already, please take a moment to do that. It would mean the world. Thank you for your time and for your effort. And yeah, here we go, another episode. And yeah, here we go, another episode. This is episode 287, I believe, which is unbelievable. So, yeah, lots of things are changing, lots of things are evolving and moving. As you can tell, I'm now doing video versions of the podcast very relaxed. This is my bedroom just hanging out, not doing fancy studios and stuff like that, but it's amazing and, yeah, it's fun jumping onto YouTube and all this stuff just slowly expanding.

Speaker 1: 1:31

I'm not a massive one for being online. I don't particularly like it. I do it and I enjoy it to some extent. I enjoy the creation process, but the whole uploading and being everywhere and all that stuff I'm not very good at that. Anyone who's close to me and knows me well knows that I'm not so good on the text, not so good on like responding and stuff like that. I just I love to be in my own little bubble. So hopefully one day I'll have someone on the text for me because it's just not my thing. But I'm working on it. It's something I am working on. But this podcast has been going for four years now, which is incredible. So, yeah, the podcast process I love. Someone else can edit it and do all that. That would be great. Maybe one day we'll see. We'll see where we go.

Speaker 1: 2:16

But I wanted to share some other updates with you. So over the years I've kind of molded and changed the way I want to do things. I've trialed and tested some things you know, like podcast subscriptions and different things like that. The podcast is running as normal. There is no subscription directly linked to the podcast anymore, as you may have noticed, but what I have done is brought in Patreon. I used to do a lot of one-on-one coaching and that just doesn't feel aligned anymore. It takes up a lot of time and you end up repeating yourself quite often, so it was starting to drain my energy quite a bit. So what I've started to do is collect coaching just in short bursts and putting it on Patreon, and there's a few options now and again. It's evolved and I'm feeling really excited about it and it feels really aligned. So I'm really looking forward to see how this goes and see the response. But yeah, hopefully one day this will be on a website that is more focused on just Madison Mindset, as it is, but for now we're going to jump on Patreon and see how it all works and how it goes.

Speaker 1: 3:26

So on Patreon, we have three tiers, so three different options of subscription and all of these. They obviously support me, they support this podcast and allow me to do more of this, which is just a gift and a dream come true. I thank you so much for that. But basically what you've got is you've got option one is the OG podcast subscription. You jump on for $7 a month and you get four sessions a month. Okay, so every time we get one of the Friday episodes coming out, which are one of the practice episodes, they're usually a little bit shorter either affirmations, meditation, journaling, practice, some kind of thing like that. You do the extended version, so sometimes it'll be longer affirmations, longer meditation, or an added relaxation or extra practice you can do to start to bring the things we're talking about into reality and into practice. So it's a great opportunity, super accessible, always love if you jump on there.

Speaker 1: 4:25

The second tier is the coaching tier. What you get is everything you get in the podcast here, but you get an added coaching session, which is awesome. So they're usually between 20 to 30 minutes and there are many up there at the moment and there are more going on every week. So keep your eye out if you're interested in doing coaching and going a little bit deeper and even getting a little bit more personal with me. These episodes are great. I literally take the camera out and film wherever I am. It's very organic, very relaxed and they're made to help you. Okay, so there's practices, there's work that you can do that goes a little bit deeper and I share from personal experience as well. So similar to what it would be like on a Zoom call with me, but just a little bit different. Just a little bit different.

Speaker 1: 5:11

And the third tier, which is coming very soon, in the next couple of weeks, is the yoga tier. It includes all of the podcast subscription, so all the extra episodes. It includes all of the coaching and it includes a yoga practice every single week, ranging from 15 to 30 minutes, really quick practices that are authentic and beautiful and have different purposes for you, and you can just keep doing them, which is amazing. So I'm really looking forward to this and, yeah, it'll be super fun. There is a link below to the Patreon so you can check them out as we go. Again, the yoga one isn't live yet, but it is on its way, Just collecting the content as you do, but I'll keep reminding you. Let me know if you enjoy it. Jump on email, let me know if you have any questions, or DM on Instagram.

Speaker 1: 5:56

Everything is coming. It's been an interesting process for me, kind of creating all of this and bringing it all into practice. I haven't told you a lot about it recently because I've just been working on it, evolving it, making sure it feels aligned for me so it can go through. But, yeah, really excited and I'll remind you about it. I'll let you know when things are live. But everything is flowing and I'm excited, you know, to evolve this. You know hitting over 2 million downloads is just unbelievable. And all the beautiful people. You know there's over 17,000 regular listeners on here, which is just unbelievable. It's so, so beautiful and I hope one day to meet many of you in person, if I haven't already, and to chat to you live and yeah, oh God, it'd be so good, so good. So, all these things are coming and everything's in the works, but it's interesting being on a growth journey yourself and evolving and watching your work evolve and change as well. So, yeah, all good things. If you have any questions again, email me, dm. All those details are below. Welcoming all new things, progress, improvements, magic.

Speaker 1: 7:02

Coming to Madison Mindset. In this episode we are going to bust a few manifestation myths because, as you know, I love getting real love, being honest, love, just breaking this stuff down, especially when things are getting way out of hand and actually causing harm to many people. So we're going to get into manifestation where it comes from, what it actually is and what's happening, so that you can really be really clear in what information you're trusting and what you're doing with your own life. Let's jump in. Hello, magical Human, and welcome to Madison Mindset Podcast.

Speaker 1: 8:01

My name is Madison. I'm a yoga teacher, a mindset and spirituality coach and a complete earth fairy. I see a world that is peaceful and easy to live in, humans that are awakened and enlightened towards who they are and what life truly is and why we are here, towards who they are and what life truly is and why we are here. I understand life can be really hard. I've had a huge journey with anxiety myself. I understand what it's like to feel overwhelmed, overworked, stressed and frustrated within this earth. It is this journey that led me to begin my own growth journey, and it's only through those struggles that I was able to birth this podcast, so that you can have the tools and techniques and knowledge to help you step forward and be a being of light, a magical earthly being who's grounded, supported, who takes on challenges with love and embraces the lessons that each day brings. You are that being. I am here to walk you there.

Speaker 1: 9:24

You will find many different kinds of episodes through this podcast. All are created in the moment and with love for you. Find the one you need for this moment and enjoy. Take a moment for yourself, sit down with your journal and tune in. Welcome, welcome, let's begin. Thank you, welcome back.

Speaker 1: 10:36

Okay, so manifestation. Here's my issue. With manifestation, everybody, there's always an issue. Here's the thing. New age manifestation has turned something that is an ancient idea from many different religions and philosophies, some. There are some texts that mention not manifestation the word that is a new word that has been used but the ideas of it, the concepts of it. There's a text that's over 3000 years old that mentions these. Okay, so manifestation itself has roots in many different areas. There's been points towards Egypt, hinduism, buddhism, yoga. You know there have been a lot of philosophies and ancient teachers that have taught the concept of manifestation. However, how manifestation is currently being sold is super harmful.

Speaker 1: 11:34

There are multiple manifestation influences people who are experts in this right, people who seem to have a lot of money, have a lot of success, have the clients or the partner or the kids, or they have the life right, a life that you admire keeping in mind that we all admire different things, right, and there seems to be an influencer checking all those boxes, you know. So we can all find something that we want. And then if they say, manifest your dream life just like I have, we get hooked and we go I want that, I want my dream life. Right, and then we follow them, right. I have spent so much money on coaches and when I was younger, I spent a lot of really pointless money on people who were just looking to get my money. Okay, I've spent money on people who would say, oh, it'll come back to you tenfold. Just because you've spent $5,000 with me, that's going to come back to you tenfold because you've taken action and you've committed to yourself. I want you to just take a moment and realize that that's not how things work. When has that ever worked? If you go out to the shops and you spend $2,000 on clothes, does that come back to you because you've invested in yourself? No, we have to be real here, and there are people getting in trouble all kinds of different trouble financial issues, health issues, partner issues because we're trusting this stuff.

Speaker 1: 13:01

Manifestation itself is a great principle and has some merit. However, manifestation is a new word and it is a buzzword right now and it's being used to sell a lot of crap, okay, so just keep in mind. Okay, manifestation is real, totally. However, it's been oversold. It's not everything you're hearing. You need to be mindful of the books that you're reading, of the people that you're following, of the stuff that you're listening to, of the podcasts that are promoting manifestation. Just be mindful. They're not wrong per se, but there are many different realities that will stop you from achieving that.

Speaker 1: 13:48

Manifestation is so popular now, so many people are focused on it, and yet, is everybody rich? No, does everybody have the dream car? No, okay, I tried to manifest heaps of stuff. You know what. I'm really glad that some of it didn't come true, because now I'm like, oh my God, imagine if that happened. You know, you have no idea what's going on. Okay, so take this episode as a warning. I'm really glad that I found this information out and I hope that you can take it and have a little bit more discernment in what you're trusting. New age stuff is based on ancient philosophy, but it's been twisted and turned to become a selling point. Okay, sounds very amazing. Think of it as a new makeup brand the makeup brand is called Create your Dream Life and you will be given a series of products to buy and you will learn a series of affirmations, visualization, journaling, work and other things like that that will tell you that that's going to work to create your dream life.

Speaker 1: 14:47

All right, not entirely true. Many people don't focus on the action part of this, right, so they just think they can sit in their room and visualize the perfect partner coming to them. But let's be face it, if someone came, some stranger, walked into your room and said I'm your dream partner and you just manifested me, we'd probably call the police. Okay, like if some stranger walked into your house, the reality of that not the best, okay, so there's an action part of this, but that's not entirely what I'm going to point to in this episode. Okay, if you want to look at manifestation, it's based on the law of attraction. The law of attraction is not scientifically proven. It's actually been referred to as a pseudoscience, right, so not real. Okay, based on philosophy. The law of attraction is a philosophy. The law of attraction says that you can visualize and manifest your dream life. Okay, and your thoughts create your reality.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Yes, for more of a scientific point of view, you would be looking at Newton's third law, which states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, meaning, if I drop this brick, it's going to land on the ground and hit whatever it is on the ground. Okay, if you apply for a job, you have then given yourself the opportunity to get the job right. If I do physical exercise right now, there is a better chance that I am fitter and stronger tomorrow. Okay, so it's things like that. For every action, there's an equal opposite reaction. If I eat a bag of lollies, there is a fair chance that I'm going to feel like garbage later, right. If I eat an apple, there's a good chance I'll feel good later. For every action, there's an equal opposite reaction.

Speaker 1: 16:34

Now, this hasn't been proven per se, but it is reliable. It's known by scientists as reliable and it has not been disproven, so we're going on that, okay. So this is the closest scientific thing we can look at in terms of manifestation. For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction right Now. If you apply that to some of the stuff that's being sold as manifestation, now if you apply that to some of the stuff that's being sold as manifestation, I'm going to sit here and visualize. Visualize all the money landing in my bank account. Okay, I've done that. What was that? What is, if that was the action? Visualizing money landing in the bank account what's the equal and opposite reaction? Keep in mind I said the word equal. Okay, so the reaction is going to be equal.

Speaker 1: 17:26

If I sit here and visualize money landing in my bank account, an equal reaction would not be a million dollars landing in my bank account. That's a massive reaction. Off that one visualization, it would be equal, equal. Okay, so it's probably not going to be that massive, probably not going to be that great, and you may have experienced it doesn't actually work. Okay, so the equal and opposite reaction of me sitting here and visualizing is probably going to be me frustrated that it's not there because it's not a fair trade, right? I'm going to sit here and visualize and you, life, are going to drop a million dollars in my bank account. Who put it there? Where did it come from? What did you do to earn it? Right, that's the thing. You can sit there and visualize all you want. Eventually, you're going to have to take action. It's the action that causes the equal and opposite reaction.

Speaker 1: 18:22

Okay, now when we look at more philosophies. So the roots right, like in Buddhism, hinduism, yoga, the mind shapes reality. Now, this is completely true. This is true. But they don't say if you sit here and you know, choose to believe there's money in your bank account, it's going to be there. They don't say that. They say the mind shapes reality.

Speaker 1: 18:46

Talking about perception, your perception when something happens to you, when something bad happens to you, you know. Let's say, let's just say right now, you and I get our cars stolen at the same time. Same car, same value, gets stolen at the same time. We have no insurance, it's not coming back. One of us maybe has quite a negative mindset. Let's say, I have a very negative mindset, very negative, and someone stole my car, my perception, because I'm very negative, and all the rest. I'm going to sit here and go. That's unfair. I'm a victim. They took my car. I'm never going to get another car again. It's not fair. Poor me, poor me, poor me, and it's going to be a miserable ride for me and probably everyone else in my life who has to listen to me, if you have a really positive mindset and you've worked on inner peace and non-attachment and you've worked on sitting with discomfort and understanding that life is not out to get you. Things just happen, and that's the reality. When someone steals your car, you might go hmm, maybe they really needed that car. That's all right. I can walk for a while, I can get a lift. I can get another car one day, that's fine. It's fine.

Speaker 1: 20:02

They're teaching me non-attachment, right, that is Buddhism. That is Buddhism. Buddhism is about non-attachment. It's about having nothing. It's not about having everything. That's the issue.

Speaker 1: 20:24

People who teach manifestation, who in any you know kind of philosophy and done any kind of study on the roots of it, they're just hearing manifestation. You know people who's selling you this stuff. Right, they're saying that if you do this, you can have everything and anything your heart desires. But these ancient philosophies are not saying that. They're not saying they're going to give you anything you want. They're saying you can learn true peace by non-attachment, by not attaching yourself to everything that you want. The reality is you don't get everything that you want. Nobody does. It's not the reality, okay, and a lot of the stuff that you're seeing, that is being sold to you, they are filtering what they show you. Right, you have to create some kind of discernment with this, because manifestation is not as simple as I do these affirmations, I do this visualization 30 days in a row.

Speaker 1: 21:19

I do this, I do this journaling practice. It's not even you taking action. There's a reality. Okay, there's a reality. Now what are the benefits? I teach affirmations right.

Speaker 1: 21:32

The reason I teach affirmation is because they can rewire brain pathways. So something that's really important to recognize, which many people don't in the new age manifestation community, is that you have a core identity and a belief system that you've been developing since you were a child. Okay, if you fundamentally believe that you're always poor, that you don't have enough money, that life doesn't offer that for you, it doesn't matter how many affirmations or visualizations you do, it's never going to come to you because it doesn't align Same with love At a core level. If you think relationships are hard work, I don't deserve love. You know love is too hard. That's all you're going to get because you, at a core level, do not allow anything to come into your life. It's subconscious, right? You're not aware of this. You're not allowing anything to come into your life. That proves otherwise because you have core beliefs and this is why we all have such different experiences, even though it's the exact same experience on the outside, we perceive it and interpret it differently, and this is where the mind shapes reality comes into play. Okay, so when I teach affirmations, what I'm doing is giving you the opportunity to gently rewire brain pathways, to give you more confidence in a moment, to help you to choose new thoughts. That would be better to your desired outcome. All right, that would be better for you. So, calming affirmations, calming words instead of stressful things before you go to bed. Motivating words instead of you know, self-doubt thoughts before you go into a job interview. Right, that's my plan.

Speaker 1: 23:16

Okay, affirmations, repeated often, can make changes in brain pathways, but they're not magic. They're not magic. It takes effort on your part. They feel better in the moment, but the more you repeat them, the more effort you put into them. That is when they really have power, but they're not magic.

Speaker 1: 23:37

Visualization is great. Your imagination is a very powerful tool and I have seen things that I've imagined come real in my life. However, it's not magic. Okay, if you visualize a million dollars going into your bank account, that's in this area, this magic third eye crown area. In this area, this magic third eye crown area, you know you're keeping it in the visual in the imagination realm. To take it from the imagination realm and drop it into reality, there has to be some kind of action taken there. There has to be a why you don't just get a million dollars. It's not how it works. Okay, very few people just get a million dollars. You know.

Speaker 1: 24:20

In fact, usually it's applied, you know, and actually got a lotto ticket. You know, maybe you actually put the effort in and you went and you bought a lotto ticket. Or maybe you come from a family that has that. It's cause and effect right. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. If your family is quite wealthy and they have been for generations, it's an equal and opposite reaction. If your family is quite wealthy and they have been for generations, it's their action that has given you this reaction of an inheritance.

Speaker 1: 24:49

If you bought a lotto ticket, that was the action, equal and opposite reaction. Maybe you win. But even then, if I buy a lotto ticket, does that mean I'm going to win the lotto? But even then, if I buy a lotto ticket, does that mean I'm going to win the lotto? No, in fact, probably not. The odds are stacked against you. But if I buy a lotto ticket, I certainly have the possibility of winning the lotto, same as if you apply for a job. You definitely have the possibility of getting the job, but it doesn't guarantee anything. You know why?

Speaker 1: 25:21

Here's the golden thing. This is the line that takes your ego and takes everything you think about manifestation and throws it out the window. There are over 7 billion people on this planet. If all of them got their dream life, every single one of us got our dream life. We all got the same lotto ticket and we all win. We all live until we're a hundred. We all get everything we've ever wanted. Is that a world that can function?

Speaker 1: 25:53

No, here's the thing. It doesn't matter what you want. There are 7 billion people on this planet, more probably. Who's to say that they're not as deserving as you? Why do you get everything you want, but they don't? Why do they get everything and you don't? There are other people in the world.

Speaker 1: 26:15

Okay, now, this is a huge thing when it comes to manifestation. A lot of what you want. Now, this is a huge thing when it comes to manifestation. A lot of what you want maybe doesn't serve the world. We're here together. We are here together. We are one.

Speaker 1: 26:29

Okay, everything that you want and need and need to have and want to have and all this stuff. It's not just about you. You don't need that, okay. And if you do happen to get that, that's great. Do some good with it. Where is it coming from? What's your intention? You know you attract what you are. You attract who you are. You attract what you are.

Speaker 1: 26:51

Same with eating. You know people eat lollies and garbage all day but manifest a healthy body. But you see how your action isn't aligning with what you're trying to visualize. How is that going to work? It doesn't make any sense. How can I eat bags of lollies and be the healthiest person? It doesn't make any sense. We have to be able to understand the there is a reality and we need to be able to go hang on a minute. Why do I make a million dollars? What did I do to earn that? You know why do I get the healthiest body and everyone else doesn't, even though I ate lollies all day?

Speaker 1: 27:35

You know life happens so weird. You know one of my great aunts. She smoked her entire life. She smoked with an oxygen tank over a gas stove at the same time Incredibly dangerous, right. She lived until she was a really old age up in the 90s, I believe Whereas her sister died in her 60s Smoked as well.

Speaker 1: 28:06

Who's to say that was fair? You can't really understand a lot. The reality is that you have very little control over life. Life does what life's going to do, right. So when you look at where manifestation came from, it came from philosophies that are trying to give you some peace. Life happens. You've got to find a way to embrace what happens and make the best out of it, and that's what karma is about. Ultimately, right, we all get a different set of ingredients for this life. What are you going to do with yours? Someone might get the best ingredients. You might get the worst. It doesn't mean that you're going to have a worse off experience. It is your attitude. It is your perspective. It is what you make of those ingredients. That means everything. Okay, some people get the best situation. They're born into the best situation and they end up in the worst situation. You can't say what's going to happen.

Speaker 1: 29:08

The point of this episode is to help you out a little bit, especially if you are someone who's into manifestation. You can do your journaling, you can do your visualization. You can do all that. I do a lot of those things and they feel good and they're a great way to get some clarity, a great way to get used to your beliefs and your identity and understanding who you are at a core level and where your identity is sitting. They're great, but your action is more important and your intention is more important. You've got to have a good intention, right. You've got to have clear action and, more than that, you've got to care about other people. Okay, if I'm trying to manifest something great for myself but would mean disaster for everyone else on the planet, would you want me to get it? No way, no way. There are other forces at work here.

Speaker 1: 30:10

If you are interested in manifestation and law of attraction, understand they have not been scientifically proven. The closest we can get is Newton's third law. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Work off that, but understand that sometimes weird things happen. Right, weird things happen. If I throw a ball from here to someone standing in front of me, newton's third law says that that ball is going to hit that person or they're going to catch it. Either way, it's going to end up at that person, you know. So if I throw this ball and I go, that's going to hit this person or they're going to catch it. Either way, it's going to end up at that person. So if I throw this ball and I go, that's going to hit this person or they're going to catch it either way. That's the law. That's how it works. But what about someone over there that I haven't seen? They throw a ball at the exact same time, the balls hit each other and it comes back and hits me. There could be so many actions, so many causes in play. What is the effect going to be? You don't know. Okay, so the closest you can work to scientific proof is Newton's third law.

Speaker 1: 31:11

But the philosophy of manifestation the mind creates reality. Whatever happens to you in this life, it is your job to make it what you want it to be. Whatever ingredients gets thrown at you, whatever happens to you, it is your responsibility to take those things and make something out of them. It's your perspective. That means everything. Some of the poorest are the happiest. Just live your life. Live your life, do the best you can.

Speaker 1: 31:51

Be logical If you spend a million dollars on something, it doesn't mean it's going to come back to you tenfold just because you invested in yourself. It's not scientifically true. It's your identity, your action, your beliefs at a core level and a variety of other balls in play. Be mindful With the internet where it is right now. There's information everywhere and a lot of it isn't true. Please be careful on who you're trusting on this, where you're getting your information from.

Speaker 1: 32:24

If you like manifestation and you'd like to learn more, I am doing a coaching session on manifestation next week. It is going up in Patreon, the Mindset Coaching Tier, which is Tier 2. Check that out. We're going to go a little bit deeper into practices you can use that are actually proven and have some merit in helping you with the ultimate understanding that it may not happen, and finding contentment and peace anyway is the key. Thank you for being here. Magical Human, I hope this shed some light on manifestation for you and gave you some reality and some logic pills, because they're important in life so we don't get lost, right. Thank you for being here. If you have any questions or you want to chat about this episode again, email me or DM me on Instagram. I'd love to chat to you or even just leave a comment if you're on Spotify or YouTube. Thank you for being here and I wish you a lovely rest of your day, you.