Manifesting Without the Ick

🌀 Episode Summary: In this delightfully candid and mind-opening episode, Cheri Flake (a.k.a. your friendly neighborhood Stress Therapist) dives into the often-cringey concept of manifestation—but from a place of authenticity, clarity, and spiritual alignment. With a touch of skepticism and a whole lot of soul, Cheri shares real-life stories about manifesting the impossible: from her dream house (hello, Zillow magic and Ganesh chants!) to her new car (cue divine dealership intervention). The episode wraps with a heart-centered “Peace In, Peace Out” meditation that helps you become a magnet for the calm and clarity you’re seeking. 🧘‍♀️✨ 🔑 Three Key Learning Points:

• Specificity is Power: Get crystal clear on exactly what you want—not what you “should” want. Manifestation only works when you’re aligned with your true desires.
• Feel It to Believe It: Emotions fuel manifestation. Pair your intentions with genuine, heightened feelings to convince your brain (and the universe) that it matters.
• Divine Timing Loves a Listener: You’ve got to show up, pay attention, and be open to nudges, signs, and sacred coincidences—even if they arrive disguised as a grocery cart exchange.

💫 Mention & Shout-Out Section:

• 📚 The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer – Sheri says, “Don’t read the back. Just read the book. Trust me.”
• 🧘‍♂️ Paramahansa Yogananda – On how money can be sacred and surrender is strength.
• 🧠 Wayne Dyer – His advice on focusing your thoughts with emotion and intention.
• 🎶 Cheri’s new band! (Yup, she’s singing and her heart is wide open.)
• 🏡 Andrew “Gilby” Gilbert – Rock star real estate agent in Atlanta (Keller Williams).
• 🐘 Ganesh – Remover of obstacles, featured in Sheri and Violet’s adorable manifesting chant.
• 🚗 Kia Sorento SX Prestige Plug-In Hybrid – Her new dream car (times three!).
• 🔮 Guided Meditation: Peace In, Peace Out – A gentle, grounding practice to help you receive and radiate peace.

🎙️ Credits: Produced & edited with love and skill by Owen Flake 💻🎧 Want more magic like this?
👉 Follow @stresstherapist on Instagram
👉 Follow @stresstherapy on Twitter
💌 Visit ilovetherapy.com to join Cheri’s mailing list, book retreats, or (if you’re in Georgia) schedule a therapy session. Until next season…
You got this. 💖

 

 

Hey, beautiful people, what’s up? Today we’re going to actually be talking about manifesting things, which totally usually really annoys me. Manifesting this. I’m manifesting that. My mom always.

My mom always says that you can’t throw a stick anywhere without hitting the word manifesting my destiny or manifesting my desires. But what does that mean and how does it look?

I’m going to show you and I’m going to blow your mind today. Let’s learn how to manifest something, y’. All. Come on. Like, for real, like, use your magical powers to get something to appear and you don’t even have to go get it.

It comes to you, baby. Yes.

Hey, beautiful people. It’s time for some stress therapy. A podcast about how to meditate and get better at stress for people living in the real world.

Finally, a place to Park. My 25 plus years of experience working as a psychotherapist in the mental health field. And now your host, me, the stress therapist, Sheri Flake.

Hey, beautiful people. What’s up? Okay, so sometimes the word manifesting kind of bugs me because it seems. Seems so not related to God or spirituality or,

you know, for the greater good, it seems. Usually it is presented, not always, but usually is presented in a very material way.

But sometimes we need material things. And I was reading this thing by Yogananda yesterday, and he was like, listen, it’s your job. If you have a family to work and make money.

Money isn’t the enemy, right? But, you know, money and material things,

you know, can be used or manifested in a way that that’s good for the greater good, right? For your family, for your,

you know, a business that helps other people.

Not just looking at, like, what’s going to make me the most money, I’ll do that thing, right? Like, you know, he was trying to talk about how your passion and your gifts are very closely related and that when you put those things together,

that things kind of just come together. And there’s a great book,

it’s by Michael Singer, and it’s called the Surrender Experiment. If you pick up book, I highly recommend that you do not even look at the back, do not read one thing about it, because it’ll completely ruin the whole thing.

It will blow your mind. So this guy lets the universe decide every single thing for him, right? And I mean, that’s really not feasible for most of us. And it’s really clear why in the book and that type of thing.

But the lesson there is that we can practice that on a small scale and then when our beliefs begin to change about what is possible.

Right.

Those things will appear better to us. Like, it’s just as Easy to manifest $1 as it is a million dollars, except for the fact that you already have a belief probably that a million dollars is harder and so therefore it will be.

Does that make sense? Remember that when you change the way that you think about things, the things that you think about start to change. So when I talk about Wayne Dyer and thinking about and using the skills and ideas and tools that he has,

he had a really good way of telling people and describing how to actively be thinking about and thinking about. Constantly bringing into your awareness a very clear intention with a heightened emotion.

Okay? You have to convince your brain that it means something to you. It can’t just be words that you start to really believe it and that anything we think enough, we start to believe.

This is why, you know, we believe thoughts that clearly are not true. And we often.

We believe thoughts that just thoughts that we’ve had over and over. Right? This is why people drink the Kool Aid. This is why people get into trouble. This is why people think terrible thoughts about themselves that aren’t true.

Right? But whatever it is he’s saying, why don’t you use that to your advantage and start thinking about and daydreaming about and having emotions about and really thinking about details about things that you want,

not things that you don’t want. We’re very good at talking about what we don’t want. When someone comes to sit in my chair for the first time, usually they’re launching into long stories about what they don’t want.

We’re very clear about what we don’t want. We’re not that good about what we want. And I gotta tell you, I’ve gotten really good here lately about getting very specific about what I want.

Not what I should want,

not what other people think I should be doing,

not what someone else did, but what I truly, truly want. And when I get that crystal clear, I’m telling you now that I’ve done all this work,

it’s astounding how it goes down for me. I was like, I want a meditation class in a yoga studio. Which is almost impossible to do, if you can believe that.

Like, so I had to go get certified in yoga and, like, things started just coming together. And then I met the right person and this, you know, yoga pseudo didn’t feel right.

And I’m trying to vibrate with the type of people I want to work with and for and around. And that I want to be in my own community and help my own neighborhood.

And so you have to really believe it, you have to trust it, and you have to think it over and over and over again. And I was thinking, the only time I’m really happy is when I’m singing.

And so now,

you know, I just started in this band and it. There is really something special there. It’s super fun. It makes my heart wide open. I mean, I just feel amazing every time I go and practice with these guys.

It’s a blast.

And when you’re in alignment with it, I mean,

it just starts. It just starts showing up for you. And I think where we get lost is we’re not specific enough and we don’t think it’s possible. So my mantra in my life, and I offered this to you and put it in your pocket.

I just had a former client, he came to me and said,

I use that all the time. It’s just changed my life. And this is it.

I walk around saying, multiple times a day, multiple times a day, things just have a way of working out for me.

Things have a way of working out perfectly.

Things just have a way of working.

Speaker B: Out just right, right.

Speaker A: And that way I allow myself to be divinely guided.

So I’m going to give you this example.

A long time ago, almost exactly 10 years ago to the day,

really,

I was looking for a house, and we were living in a place where my kids were very small. They were toddlers, and the schools were just.

They were terrible. I mean, they were a one. Like,

how do you even get a school to be a one? I mean, it’s so sad. So we knew that we didn’t want to be in that community for long because there’s public schools over there,

you know, and, you know, a mile away, they were excellent schools. Very odd.

And this is kind of what goes on in Atlanta, unfortunately, sometimes. But we knew we were going to be moving because that community also just wasn’t our place. Right. And so we decided that we would move to a place that had better school system.

So I had to go around and look for some neighborhoods that I would like, except I did not know exactly where that would be. So we weren’t really in a hurry because we were renting and everybody was already in a good school that we really liked at the time.

So I found this amazing real estate agent. His name is Andrew Gilbert. He’s in Atlanta. If you need a real estate agent at Keller Williams. He’s an amazing guy. I love this guy.

But his name is Andrew. And so my husband’s name is Andrew as well, so everyone calls him Gilby. And so we sort of went with his nickname just to clarify things a little bit, because we started going around and just looking at houses in our spare time, and I would take him out for tacos,

and we would look here and there, and it started to be kind of fun. And we became kind of tight, and my son counted the houses that we went to.

I can’t believe that I put this through this guy. But over the course of a long time, you know, months and months and months,

we went and saw 53 houses together. And there was no rush, right? Because we were renting. Well, all of a sudden, our landlord calls and says,

you got to get out, because we’re going to sell the house. Right? So now we are in a hurry, and I’m like, oh, no, Gilby, we’re in a hurry.

So I’m online on this little Facebook neighborhood group, and I sell my little daughter’s baby pretend grocery cart online.

And the buyer says, I will come by your house and pick it up. Well, we go to church. I completely forget that I didn’t leave it out there, and I feel terrible.

So I call her up, and I’m like, listen, I. I will bring it to your house. I feel terrible. You drove all the way out here. I forgot to leave it out.

And now you don’t have this grocery cart. Just give me your address. Tell me where you live. So I drive into her neighborhood. It’s magical. I’m driving around this neighborhood going,

I think I want to live here, right? And so I’m driving around. I bring her the grocery cart. She tells me that she loves this neighborhood, right? That the schools are great.

She’s actually a teacher, and she wants to work in the schools there. She ended up working there. She ended up being my son’s favorite teacher. She ended up being really tight with me, and still, when she calls me, grocery card comes up.

Just a little bit of foreshadowing for you. Okay?

Okay. So I’m thinking, I want to move here. I love this thing where it’s absolutely beautiful. There’s. It’s. It’s in the city still, but it’s like there’s all these trees.

It’s just gorgeous. So I go to the car, and I decide I’m going to sit with this for a little bit and ask for some guidance. And so I sit and I say a little prayer.

I love this neighborhood. I feel good about this neighborhood because when you’re in alignment with your purpose, it feels good, it does not feel bad. When you’re in alignment with your purpose, it feels good.

It does not feel bad. So I sit down and I’m like, could you send me a sign if this is, in fact,

my family’s new neighborhood? Right?

And all of a sudden,

on my window of my car, I look over, My friend Hema is there.

Sweetest, cutest, little British sweet. I love her to death.

I roll down the window, I’m like, hey, Emma. She’s like, why are you parked. Why are you parked in front of my house? Remember, I can’t do a British accent.

I’m terrible. Especially that. She’s so sweet and has the sweetest voice anyway. And with the accent, both.

And I’m like, you live here? She’s like, yeah, I love this neighborhood. So I talked to her about that. So I’m thinking, oh, my gosh. This is my neighborhood, right?

So me and Violet, my daughter,

we decide, let’s manifest the house that we want, y’. All. Let’s manifest the best neighborhood with the new best friends we’re going to make in the school we’re going to be a part of, in the community that we’re going to belong to in the pool that we’re going to visit.

This, all of it. Like, let’s, like, manifest the perfect house.

And so I took some pictures from Redfin or Zillow or whatever on a house that, like, we could not, like, afford, but, like, one that had the things that I wanted.

A fireplace,

you know, this kind of kitchen with a lot of windows. That was really important to me. Hardwood floors, whatever, right? And so we put these pictures on my computer desktop, and we would do this little chant, me and Violet.

It was to Ganesh,

who is believed to be a deity that you can call on for the remover of obstacles.

Okay? And so we would look at these pictures and think about how our house is going to be while we went around and looked at houses with Gilby.

And we did this little chant.

Cute as a button, right? The cutest thing. And we’re doing it. And so one day, I’m getting these alerts from Redfin from the app, you know, and it’s like, oh, there’s this house, and it’s in Sagamore Hills, which is the neighborhood that I love in Atlanta.

And I’m like, oh, my gosh, I want to go. And so I call Gilby, and I’m like, andrew is at a soccer game with Owen. Me and Violet are separate, but we want to come and look at this house,

and it just went on the market, and I want to see it. I want to be the first one, because it’s, you know, now I know my neighborhood. Like, I got to be on the ball, right?

I got to go out and get my desires. Maybe not. I don’t know. Just listen. And so Gilby’s like, you know what? I’m leaving town. I don’t have time. I’m like, please, please, please, Gilby, please.

This could be the house. You might not ever show me another house again.

And he’s really annoyed, and he’s like, okay.

Speaker B: And so he goes to the house.

Speaker A: And opens it,

and I drive to the house, and he’s not there. And he’s like, I’m here. And I’m like, you’re not here, though, because I’m here. And he’s like, well, I’m at this address.

And I’m like, oh, I’m not at that address. I’m at a different address.

I’m here. And he’s like, well, I’m here, and there’s two separate houses in Sagmore. He says, well, come here anyway, because I already have it open. I’m already standing in here, and I don’t have a lot of time because I’m about to leave town.

Speaker B: So I drive over there.

Speaker A: Y’ all brace yourselves.

It’s the house that me and Violet have been praying and chanting over all those pictures.

I’m like, I can’t afford this house. And he’s like,

oh, I thought that was why there was a sense of urgency, because the price dropped, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars this morning because it wasn’t selling.

And I thought that’s why you were in such a rush.

And I’m like,

oh, my gosh. It’s in our price range. And you know what, y’? All?

I live in that house now. Side note, I did take him to the other house that I was in, and it was not nearly as good as this other house.

And now I live in this house. And it was surreal. For months, I could not believe I was walking around in this house. It was amazing. I’ve been looking at pictures of this house, y’.

Speaker B: All.

Speaker A: I’m just saying,

what if it works?

And we have to be good listeners. We have to listen when Gilby says, come, we gotta go. You know what I mean? Like, we have to be very good listeners.

I was trying to buy a car last week. I was in a hurry. You know, my mechanics. Like, I really don’t Think you should take your car down to the beach.

It’s too dangerous. I’m like, oh, my gosh. And then I’m in a mad rush, and I don’t know if the tariffs are coming in. Maybe I could save a couple bucks if I buy it now.

I don’t know how that’s going to go for cars and parts. And so I go to the dealer and I do all this research. I’m from Detroit, okay? I do all this research.

I decide the very car that I want. I want a Kia Sorrento 2023. I’m from Detroit. We don’t buy new cars. We always buy used car.

Kia Sorento 2023 S x Prestige,

Hybrid, plug in. There’s none, as you can imagine, right? Because it’s so specific.

And I keep looking and I keep looking and I keep looking because it’s like a mad rush, right? Like, today is Monday.

I’m going to the beach on Friday,

okay? Like, I got to get a new car.

I find this dealer that’s kind of far away. It was like 30 miles away. It’s pretty far, but not like outrageously far, like 30 miles or something.

And I go there and I find not one,

not two,

but three cars that are exactly that.

That are white with gray interior, which is also exactly what I was looking for after all the other Kila dealers in Atlanta told me there are none in Georgia. They were all three at this one dealer.

So I drive up there, right? I get up there and I get a good feeling about things there. Because when you’re in alignment with your purpose, it feels good. I get a good feeling about this.

I’m like, okay, I’m in a good spot. Like, I got leverage. These guys can’t even move these three things.

Then I find out, are you ready for this? Brace yourself. This is 2023. I’m recording this in 2025. Two of them have 2,000 miles on it, and one of them has miles on it.

Not 20,000,

not 40,000.

Two and four. I’m like, who’s not. Why are you guys driving these cars? They’re like, oh, we’re using them as loaners. They forgot about them. They’re sitting on the lot.

The battery is dead. All that because this is a plug in one. I got a good feeling about this. So I meet the guy and he takes me for a test drive, and he’s telling me all the things that’s wrong with it.

Well, in the 2025, it’s this. And then 2025, it’s that? And I’m falling for it. He’s trying to talk me into buying a new car. And I’m thinking it over, and I just found three of the cars that I want.

I felt like the guy on top of the house where there’s a big flood. Remember this story?

And he’s like, God’s gonna save me. Save me, God save me. And all of a sudden, a canoe comes by. They’re like, jump in the canoe. We got you. And he’s like, no, no, God’s gonna save me.

And then all of a sudden, a little boat comes by.

They’re like, come on, jump in the boat. He’s like, no, no, God’s gonna save me. And then the helicopter. And he denies it all. He’s like, God’s gonna save me.

He ends up drowning in the flood. Yeah. Buying a new car and goes to heaven. And God is like,

hey,

what were you waiting for? And this guy’s like, why didn’t you save me, God? He’s like, I sent you a canoe. I sent you a boat. I sent you a helicopter.

I sent you three of the same cars, and now you’re thinking about buying a new one. I slept on it, prayed about it, set intentions out about it and allowed it to come to me.

I was like, bring me a sign. I woke up the next morning, I’m like, my car is already up there. And there’s three of them. Three of them,

three of the exact same car that I want,

all under 4,000 miles. This is not normal. Okay?

This is not normal. Why would this. Like, sometimes we think, oh, my gosh, it’s gotta be too good to be true. We’re thinking, there must be something wrong with those cars.

We’re not thinking that we’re the masters and commanders, and we’re the divine and holy creators of our reality. We don’t know how powerful we are.

Do I have that car? Yes,

I do. I drove it to the beach, and I put more miles on it in the past month than it had on it in the first place.

Okay. I’m just saying I think we forget how powerful we are, and then we don’t do the work. We don’t use the resources that we have. We don’t use the divine connection that we already have to help us and guide us with our emotions.

Our emotions are our emotional guidance system.

When we feel good, we know we’re in alignment with something not good. Like I’m right about something that only lasts this long or not good.

I won this argument or something like that that only lasts this long. That’s why people who are putting other.

They have to keep on doing it and keep on doing it, keep on doing it in order to feel good. Because it’s not real goodness. It’s this distorted confidence that you’re doing better than someone else.

And that never really works. It only lasts for this long, right? But really feeling good comes with peace. And I woke up that morning and I’m like, what am I debating about?

The car that I want is up there. It’s mine for the picking. There are three. There’s a canoe, a boat,

and a helicopter. And all I gotta do is go up there and get it, okay? So you will see it when you believe it, baby. That’s when you will see it.

We’re going to do a meditation, and it’s not going to be about manifesting our desires. I think I recently did one of those.

But instead it’s going to be about being receptive and allowing peace and then sending that exact peace outward.

Because if we are not open,

we’re either open or closed, right?

If we’re not open to the idea that we are divinely connected,

we’re not going to get that into it.

You know when you’re driving and you’re like, I know I shouldn’t turn left. Always says turn left or Google Maps or whatever. I know I shouldn’t. There’s going to be.

There’s going to be. And then you turn left anyway. And you’re like, why?

No one ever says, I wish I hadn’t listened to my gut. No one ever says that, ever.

We all say we wish we would have,

and then we think we know everything. You know? Like, I had a client in my office the other day. He was really upset. He did not get the job of his dreams.

Of his dreams.

And he just knew that this was all things wrong with the world. And it turned out that he later says to me, I was being divinely protected.

That job would have been terrible. And the job I have now is just right.

Right? And so that’s why I talk about disappointment being a waste of time. How do you know what’s exactly right?

Take what’s in front of you and see.

Take what the universe is giving to you on a platter and get saved. Right?

So we’re gonna do a peace in and peace out meditation right now, okay?

Speaker B: So close your beautiful eyes. Sit up.

Find your comfortable space.

Allow your head to settle and your neck to settle.

Allow your shoulders to settle in and your arms and Elbows,

forearms, wrists and hands and fingers to settle in.

Notice any gripping that you’re doing.

Allow yourself to just let go.

Paramahansa Yogananda says that surrender is not a weakness,

it’s the strength of the wise.

So allow yourself this gift to let go all the way down your upper back and middle back and lower back, all the way down your spine to your sacrum. Settle in to your comfortable seat.

Your legs and knees and shins and calves and ankles and feet and toes find their space as well.

And after doing this body scan and finding where you may need to release and let go,

bring yourself now to your beautiful heart center.

And with laser focus right there on your heart center, from breastplate to spine, from shoulder to shoulder,

watch your breath pass through.

And as your breath comes in,

imagine peace in Om Shanti In.

With every inhalation,

peace comes.

Speaker A: All the.

Speaker B: Way past your throat, past your heart center, into your belly.

And with every exhalation, peace, Peace out.

Knowing that we only have to give what we have inside of us.

Peace in.

Peace out.

Bringing your attention to your heart center with the mantra Peace in and Peace out.

I’ll leave you for a few minutes and I’ll be back to guide you out.

And if for some reason you get distracted or you find your thoughts moving away from Peace in,

Peace out.

Simply keep coming back to the breath at your heart with incoming peace,

outgoing peace.

Peace in.

Peace out.

Peace in.

Peace out.

Take a long, slow, deep breath in your nose,

letting it all go out of your mouth, releasing the mantra into the ether. And another long, slow, deep breath in your nose.

Cleansing,

awakening, letting it all go out of your mouth.

One more breath in.

Speaker A: Letting it all.

Speaker B: Go out of your mouth. And when you’re ready, you can open your beautiful eyes. Thank you so much for meditating with.

Speaker A: Me today and for listening. You can start with a free cup of coffee.

Speaker B: You can start with Deepak. Sochopra says to start with strawberry ice cream.

Speaker A: You can start with a yellow butterfly.

You can start with a pen that you love writing with.

You can start with a amazing parking spot. Start small and just know that where you put your intention,

your energy flows.

And that when you act as if it’s already yours and what it feels like and what it. What you know to be true,

what it would be like to have whatever it is that you want, you’re not thinking about it coming around the corner. Because then it’s always coming around the corner. You’re thinking about already having it, enjoying it, being it, the relationship, the job,

the cup of coffee, whatever it is, you got this. And it’s the end of the season, so I’m leaving you on this peaceful, peaceful.

And we’ll see you next season. Next time.

I love you. Have a lovely, lovely day.

How y’ all feeling after that stress therapy session? Good. Awesome. Check out the show notes to connect with me, the stress therapist on social mediastresstherapist on Instagram and stresstherapy on Twitter.

You can always go to ilovetherapy.com to find out about meditation and yoga retreats and other offerings that I have there. If you live in Georgia and you’re ready to be one of my clients, go to my website to find out how you can sign up for a free face to face consultation with me.

At the very least, jump on my mailer so you don’t stress or miss one thing.

Until next time. Have a lovely, lovely day.