There’s a lot of noise in the spiritual world about the “Law of Attraction.” The idea that your thoughts create your reality. That positive thinking brings positive outcomes. That you can visualise your dream life into being if you just vibrate at the right frequency.
It sounds appealing. Empowering. Even magical.
I bought into it once, back when The Secret was everywhere. I studied it. Practiced it. Gave it a real shot. And eventually, I realised something uncomfortable: most of it is spiritual capitalist nonsense; marketed hope, dressed up as truth.
The core message is seductive: believe hard enough, and it will come. Want it badly enough, and the universe will deliver. But if we follow that logic to its end, it collapses into cruelty.
Because if your thoughts create your reality, then people who get cancer, lose their children, or live in poverty must have somehow “attracted” those outcomes. Their frequency was too low. Their mindset too negative. That’s not just wrong – it’s harmful.
Take it a step further. Imagine a parent with a terminally ill child. According to the law of attraction, if they believe hard enough, a cure will manifest. And if it doesn’t? Then they must have let in doubt. Somewhere, they slipped. Their vibration dropped. Now their child will die because their thoughts weren’t positive enough.
This isn’t empowerment. It’s a distortion.
A spiritual bypass that blames people for their suffering while selling the illusion of control.
The Truth Behind the Hype
Still, like many things in the self-help world, there’s a baby in the bathwater. While the law of attraction isn’t some cosmic vending machine, there is a truth buried underneath the bullshit.
There is science to support that belief affects biology. What we focus on doesn’t just shape our outlook – it shapes our body. Our brain, our nervous system, even our immune response can be influenced by what we expect, fear, or believe.
The placebo effect has proven this time and time again. In clinical trials, people given sugar pills – believing they’ve received real medicine – often show real improvement. Pain eases. Symptoms shift. Sometimes even measurable biomarkers respond. Not because of the pill, but because the body listens to belief.
The act of expecting healing can activate internal processes: releasing endorphins, modulating inflammation, regulating stress hormones. This isn’t magic; it’s neurobiology. It’s the interaction between mind, body, and chemistry.
The nocebo effect proves the other side. If you believe something will harm you, your body may respond accordingly. People who expect side effects are more likely to get them. Those who believe they’re always unwell often find ways to validate that belief – physiologically, not just psychologically. The body responds to fear and focus as if it were fact.
So mindset matters. But it’s not about manifesting miracles. It’s about how belief shapes biology, how perception tunes the nervous system, and how attention affects action.
Joe Dispenza and the Quantum Woo
Dr. Joe Dispenza is one of the louder voices in this space. He blends neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum theory to argue that we can literally create our reality through thought.
His work is useful. He talks about coherence between the heart and brain. About the power of elevated emotional states and changing our patterns through daily practice. I like his work because it’s the closest i’ve found to bridging spirituality with real science.
However, it’s important to remember that he’s a Chiropractic Doctor; not a leading authority in any of the work he writes about.
He often uses quantum physics in ways that real quantum physicists find inaccurate. He suggests that because atoms are mostly empty space, and because particles can exist in multiple states, this somehow means we can manipulate reality by thought alone.
That’s not how science works.
But it doesn’t mean everything he says is wrong.
It just means we need discernment.
The Science of Space and Possibility
Here’s what is true: most of what exists in the universe is space. Even the atoms in your body are 99.9999% space. So the idea that “what we see is all there is” is false. There’s always more than meets the eye.
In quantum physics, particles exist as probability fields. Meaning, they don’t fully “exist” until observed. There is a weird, almost mystical element to it. And while we can’t use that to justify manifesting a Ferrari with our thoughts, it does invite us to question what’s possible.
Reality may be more flexible than we think. And our perception plays a role in shaping what we experience.
Focus, Vibration and Inner Alignment
Where all of this points is not toward magical thinking, but toward energetic alignment. Most people are scattered. They say they want something, but their nervous system is contracted. Their thoughts are frantic. Their beliefs are rooted in fear.
When we come into coherence – when our body, mind, and heart are aligned around a particular intention – something changes. We notice more. We take different actions. We subtly signal to the world that we are ready.
It’s not magic. It’s not God rewarding good behaviour.
It’s alignment. And from alignment, momentum builds.
The Felt Sense of Fulfilment
The law of attraction works best when it’s grounded in embodiment. When we focus not on acquiring things, but on creating states.
Not “how do I get rich?” but “what does abundance feel like?”
Because we can feel abundance, right now, irrespective of our financial situation. That creates gratitude, shifts our state and allows new possibilities to exist.
This is the difference between chasing and attracting. When we try to force something into being, we often push it away. But when we relax into the feeling of what we desire, as if it’s already here, we change our frequency. We become more magnetic, not because of some cosmic rulebook, but because people feel the difference.
We become more resourced.
More open. Less desperate.
And the world responds.
What We Focus On Expands
Ultimately, what we focus on shapes our experience. If we spend our energy obsessing over what’s lacking, we reinforce that sense of lack. If we orient toward truth, beauty, depth – if we move from soul instead of ego – then our life begins to reflect that.
This isn’t about ignoring pain or pretending everything is fine. It’s about choosing to align with what is most real, most true, most alive in us. And letting that guide where we place our energy.
The mind has power. But it’s the kind of power that comes from clarity and coherence, not control. When our focus is honest, when it comes from the soul, not from delusion, we create something different. Not just outside, but within.
Final Reflection
The law of attraction, as sold by influencers and spiritual marketers, is shallow and often harmful. But beneath the nonsense is a simple truth:
Your thoughts matter.
Your attention matters.
Your beliefs shape your biology.
Your focus creates momentum.
And most importantly, when you align with what is real, what is true, what deeply matters to you, something opens. Not because you forced it. But because you finally got out of your own way.
That’s not attraction.
That’s resonance.