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How to Attract the Positive Without By Victoria Stokes on July

11, 2023

Pushing Away Negative Feelings

The science The downsides The shadow Tips for emotional health

Dealing with lows Takeaway

No scientific evidence supports the law of attraction. But this

doesn’t mean you can’t implement it into your everyday life.
Here’s how to honor your feelings and hone in on positivity in
your life with the law of attraction.

BONNINSTUDIO/Stocksy United

Proponents of the law of attraction believe that your thoughts and feelings create your life. The
energy you put out into the world, they say, comes back to you in what you attract.

The theory suggests that how your life pans out is ultimately within your control, that you have
the power to manifest your desires using the power of positivity.

While that may seem empowering, it can also create pressure to be happy all the time. Plus, you
may be wondering if there’s evidence that the law of attraction theory actually works.

Let’s dive into the research and expert opinions to get to the bottom of this popular perspective.

What the science says

Scientifically speaking, there’s no concrete evidence that says the law of attraction actually
exists.

Proponents say the law of attraction is supported by theories from quantum physics that suggest
this “law” has an energetic and vibrational element.

“It’s the principle that ‘like attracts like.’ What we put out into the universe, we receive back,
because everything, even thoughts and feelings, carry a vibration,” says Emma Halley, a spiritual
wellness coach.

“By believing that we’ve already achieved [our desires], we put a matching frequency and
vibration out into the universe that will, in turn, attract it to us.”

You won’t find any scientific studies that conclusively prove the existence of the law of
attraction.

However, there’s some research to support positive thinking and visualization.

A 2005 review found that people with positive affect were more likely to enjoy increased levels
of happiness and success.

A 2010 review found that visualizing your desires increased the likelihood of them becoming a
reality.

Though scientific support is lacking, many people around the world believe in the law of
attraction and use it in their daily lives.

The downsides to the law of attraction

When it comes to manifesting your desires by sending out positive vibes, there are some
definite downsides.

“There’s a massive culture of toxic positivity that has arisen as a result of the law of attraction
trend,” Halley says. Some “people have simplified the method to just forcing a positive mindset
in any and all situations in order to manifest.”

Halley notes that this can lead to dangerous emotional repression.

“This is dangerous, because it has a very real risk of invalidating people’s emotional state and
mental well-being,” she says. “Negative feelings and low moods are valid, and they are real. You
have to be able to acknowledge them first before you can have any hope of healing them.”

Over time, pushing away your emotions can lead to emotional and mental health
conditions.

If you want to use the law of attraction, it’s important to acknowledge your emotions first.
Otherwise, you run the risk of spiritual bypassing, or ignoring the negative and skipping the
work that real growth takes.

Working with the shadow

Whether you’re a law of attraction convert or skeptic, pushing aside negative feelings in an
attempt to influence the outcome of your life isn’t a healthy practice.

“When we deny or repress our true feelings, we can become stuck,” says Emmy Brunner, a
psychotherapist, transformation coach, and the author of “Find Your True Voice.”

“It’s vital for us to create worlds where we feel seen and heard,” Brunner explains. “There’s
value in being able to connect with and process challenging emotions. It’s not about aspiring to
a life where we don’t experience the shadows.”

As Halley mentioned, some people refer to this as “toxic positivity,” a negative coping technique
that invalidates uncomfortable feelings.

“We call it toxic positivity for a reason,” Brunner says. “Part of what fuels a person’s sense of
gratitude and forward-thinking perspective is the fact that we experience a whole range of
emotions. When we deny this part of ourselves, we’re really not validating our experience of
what it is to be human.”

In Halley’s opinion, attempting to suppress how you truly feel is pointless. She believes your
feelings affect your vibration, whether you choose to acknowledge them or not.

“I call it a false-positive mindset,” she says. “You have to remember that you can’t trick the
universe. Your vibration is the only part about you that can’t lie.”

“It’s not about aspiring to a life where we don’t experience

the shadows.”
— Emmy Brunner

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How to honor your emotions while using

the law of attraction
There are a number of ways you can honor your true feelings while using the law of attraction.
They include:

actively feeling your feelings

practicing gratitude
practicing compassion
consciously shifting your energy
practicing shadow work

Feel your feelings

The process of sitting with your feelings and allowing them to simply exist can be a powerful
one.

From a law of attraction point of view, believers say this may release resistant energy that can
prevent your desires from manifesting.

“I speak a lot about acknowledgment and validation of the experiences we’ve been through,”
Brunner says. “These are the first steps to healing from any mental health related challenges
and to finding true joy in our lives.”

This involves feeling the full spectrum of human emotion.

“Acknowledgment and validation also mean feeling all the feelings. This is exceptionally
important on our lifelong mental wellness journey,” Brunner adds.

Halley concurs, “Honor yourself by simply being somewhere quiet and allowing the emotion to
bubble up within you.”

“Observe it with interest and ask yourself, ‘Why do I feel like

this?’ When you shine a light on the ‘why’ and you
understand the reason behind the emotion, it’s amazing
how much easier it is to move through it.”
— Emma Halley

Was this helpful? s r

Turn to gratitude
“Gratitude is the fastest route to peace, and, ultimately, happiness,” Halley says. “There’s always
something to be grateful for. It’s one of the highest frequencies there is besides unconditional
love.”

Halley says finding something — anything — to be grateful for when you’re feeling low is a life-
changing practice.

“Make it part of your routine, in the morning or before bed,” she advises.

Gratitude isn’t about dulling your emotions or forcing yourself to be positive. It’s about
appreciating the gift of life and finding some light in the dark when things are tough.

Although it isn’t easy to feel gratitude all the time, you can cultivate it with regular practice.

Practice compassion
Beating yourself up for experiencing bad moods isn’t helpful to you or anyone.

“Nurturing our emotional health is about connecting with our ‘true voice’ and honoring who we
really are,” Brunner says. “Be as compassionate toward yourself and others as much as you
possibly can.”

Being compassionate might look like taking time to explore your emotions, allowing yourself to
feel what you’re feeling, or speaking to yourself with love and care.

It can also involve meditation and sending loving, caring thoughts to others.

Shift your energy with intention

Once you’ve sat with your emotions and felt them fully, you may find it helpful to consciously
shift your energy to complete the process.

Shifting your energy isn’t the same as pushing feelings away. It’s the next step to move
forward after processing your feelings once you’ve returned to a more emotionally
neutral state.

To do this, Halley advises getting into the “feeling place” of your desires by imagining they’re
already yours. She says doing so can elevate your mood.

“Manifestation requires you to use all five of your senses,” she says.

Imagine yourself feeling, tasting, touching, and experiencing whatever it is that you want to
attract into your life.

“See how your mood elevates just by doing this simple act,” Halley says.

Practice shadow work

Some people think the law of attraction is about relentless positivity.

However, many law of attraction enthusiasts practice shadow work, a method of deep reflection
and self-inquiry.

Shadow work can uncover:

limiting beliefs
emotional hang-ups
repressed aspects of self
intergenerational trauma

Rather than avoiding or repressing emotions, this process involves tackling them head-on. For
some, it serves as a healthy way to handle the lows while practicing the law of attraction.

“Shadow work is about sitting in the negative feelings and emotions and asking ourselves
where they’re actually coming from,” Halley explains.

She says the subconscious conditioning and belief systems often dictate reactions to situations.

“When we react to things or feel an emotion rise up within us, it comes from a place within our
subconscious that has created a narrative at some point in our lives,” Halley says.

By doing shadow work, you can look closer at these parts of yourself and begin to heal them.
Halley says this enables you to “unravel” unhelpful stories and release emotional blocks that
contribute to negativity.

Manifesting during lows

So, can you still manifest your desires while experiencing negativity and low moods?

Halley says yes. She believes that, instead of forcing positive emotions or repressing your true
feelings, you should aim for peace.

“I do believe you can manifest your desires while experiencing low moods and negativity,
because we all experience these feelings. It’s part of the human experience,” she says.

No one practicing the law of attraction is happy all of the time.

Those who do so successfully have “found a way to live in a peaceful state of mind, and they
position their thoughts to be in alignment with the life they want to manifest,” she says.

These people approach life from a place of gratitude. That perspective brings about feelings of
happiness and joy while still making space for everything else.

Takeaway
Practicing the law of attraction may make you feel pressured to be upbeat and optimistic at all
times.

However, it’s not possible to be happy all the time, and it can be damaging to your emotional
health to try.

If you’re using the law of attraction, it may be beneficial to explore negative emotions and use
them to work through limiting beliefs and old wounds.

In the end, we’re all human. We all experience the full spectrum of emotions. Halley’s advice is
to practice compassion and validate your feelings first.

Once you do this, you may find yourself ready to begin manifesting your desires with a fresh
perspective.

Victoria Stokes is a writer from the United Kingdom. When

she’s not writing about her favorite topics, personal
development, and well-being, she usually has her nose
stuck in a good book. Victoria lists coffee, cocktails, and the
color pink among some of her favorite things. Find her on
Instagram.

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Current Version

Jul 11, 2023

Written By
Victoria Stokes

Edited By
Sarah Matysiak

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