Nicole Belica (00:00.046)
were so accustomed and conditioned to constantly doing that sometimes we get more fulfillment from the random busyness as opposed to actually slowing down, pausing and working with purpose and intentionality.

​

Jessica Grossman (00:57.698)
Welcome back to Two Millennial. I'm your host, Jessi, and today we're diving into a topic that might make some of your eyes roll. And yes, that is the idea of manifestation. But before you all click away, stick with me for a moment because we're gonna take a deeper look at how manifestation and intention setting isn't just cool and trendy, but potentially maybe could actually play a role in your journey as a leader. Because as leaders, let's be honest, we're always putting out fires or managing those unexpected crises and constantly navigating shifting priorities. is frustrating. And we often find ourselves stuck in this reactive mode, never feeling like we have, you know, really comfortable footing, even when we've set goals and plans and map things out. So what's missing?

Why is it so hard to transition from this reactive approach to a more proactive approach? I found that this is something that me and my clients grapple with continuously in our coaching sessions. And we spend a lot of time moving from that mindset, shifting our mindset to be more proactive. And one of those things is understanding, well, we can't control how unprepared others around us may be which of course leads to their problems being passed and thrown onto our plates, we can control our mindset and how we respond and how proactive we are. And so lately when working with this with my clients, I've noticed that my strategies for navigating these constant disruptions actually means starting with some visualization exercises instead of doing those more traditional goal setting around priorities and understanding what is a fire and what isn't a fire. So these activities tend to involve reflecting on the past, envisioning the future, and then staying grounded in the present. And the reason I do it is because it just feels more connective. It feels more inspired, shifting us from that mental, heady, cognitive space of goal setting and actually inviting people into something more open hearted, something more embodied and holistic about ourselves.

Jessica Grossman (03:20.306)
And so doing these activities, I started to think of myself, am I actually asking people to manifest their futures? Are we doing manifestation exercises? So as I explore these practices in my own life with my clients, I figured there's no one that understands and implements these concepts better than yoga teacher, mindfulness teacher, Nicole. So I've actually brought her back to the podcast to dive deeper into manifestation, intentionality, and how they can help leaders build a more aligned, resilient vision. So whether you're a skeptic or a believer of the idea of manifestation, and guess what, I am definitely both, I actually invite you still to listen with an open mind and consider how potentially you might use intention setting and manifestation in your work with your teams, with yourself, in your organization setting. So let's get started. We have our first returning guests back on today. Welcome back to the show, Nicole.

​

Nicole Belica

I'm excited to be back to explore kind of how yoga and leadership continue to interplay in these conversations that we have in the open dialogue. Really excited to jump into this with you.

 

Jessy Grossman

Nicole runs these manifesting the moon events that I frequent and really they are my small piece of spirituality in my day to day. I'm, I wish I was a more spiritual person. It really helps us manage our stress. It helps us and it enables our resilience. And so I'm excited to bring some of the science with some of the woo woo, Nez and bring it together. And I think that's what Nicole and I do beautifully together and why I love collaborating with you. Tell us a little bit about you, how you got to doing all these amazing things, yoga, cold water, retreats, doula, bartender. gosh.

 

Nicole Belica

Where to begin? I mean, I've been a mover and shaker my whole life. I learned how to walk and then I learned how to downhill ski. And that's just from my my family's background, where my father was in the Olympics for skiing. And this was like so many lifetimes ago. And I was raised playing tennis and so constantly utilizing my body. But also
I was constantly getting injured. And so this is where I started to then notice that disembodiment that we talked about last episode where I wasn't actually tuning in to the sensations that my body was giving me and my mind wasn't taking in that information. And so I wasn't moving my body in a way that was actually optimal.

or for my well-being as I kept on getting injured. And I was initially introduced to yoga when I was playing tennis in college. And this was when the hot yoga was still very popular before Bikram was canceled. And it was not love at first sight for me as I really didn't love the heat, but it was years later when I was living and teaching in Seoul, South Korea, that I was reintroduced to yoga in a different style of yoga called Ashtanga yoga. And that's kind of where I started to really hone in on the mind body integration that yoga offers. And so that's what started this journey for me in terms of teaching yoga, integrating mindfulness and wanting to share these practices with other people.

so that they can be fully present for whatever life has to offer them in the moment, right? And there's always that huge spectrum. Of course, there's the challenges, the heartache, the unsavory, but also truly being present and taking in all those moments of joy, the love that we experience on a day-to-day basis. And so just harnessing the here, the now to be embodied for the totality of the human experience. 10 years now, I've been teaching yoga from initial regular public kind of vinyasa style classes. I expanded to specializing in prenatal, is there's just a huge gap of services that are available to women within the United States, which then led to my doula work helping facilitate teacher trainings. I've been bartending since college and it's just a fun way for me to continue to connect with people outside of maybe that quote unquote woo woo yoga space. And so just finding a common language with all the humans I interact with and seeing if we can really uplift each other and invite more mindfulness through this journey of life together.

 

Jessica Grossman

So tell us about What is manifesting? What is setting an intention?

 

Nicole Belica

So let's start with the intention component. If you actually look up the word intention, a lot of it is centered around this idea of a plan to aim for something. So when talking about leadership business, it's often a goal that we're looking towards or working towards. And then if you look up this idea of manifesting, it's being really clear in what that is. So when you're manifesting an intention, you're working with clarity and focus on whatever goal you are trying to quote unquote achieve. 

​

Jessica Grossman

So why do people think it's like a woo-woo thing? People love goal setting. So why manifestation and intention setting got in a bad rap?

 

Nicole Belica

So in terms of intention setting, it's truly just like planting the seed.

manifestation is visualizing kind of what that outcome is based on the intention that you've set. But I think what's often left behind and overlooked, which is what contributes to the bad rep or kind of the eye roll associated with intention setting and manifesting, is there isn't enough discussion around the steps, the action items that need to actually be taken somewhat behind the scenes to work towards the intention that you set and that outcome that you're visualizing.

Nicole Belica (10:00.238)
I think we both recently listened to a podcast that said that people who manifest are more likely to get scammed or something because they visualize it and then something comes their way and they say, this is coming alive. They just kind of, I mean, maybe overly optimistic. and that even comes back to that spirituality that you mentioned earlier, Jessy, more in the intro is like, kind of belief in this greater entity. So yes, that ties in very closely to the likelihood of maybe a particular population that really leans into the manifesting and the intention setting that they can potentially be scammed. But I would venture to say those like really big manifestors and intention centers, the ones that are quote unquote successful, there was a lot of determination, grit, problem solving.

obstacles that they had to overcome to ultimately get them to whatever the final outcome is that they were working towards, but they still held in their mind and their heart, right, what they were working towards. So when all those other obstacles kind of made their way into the whole process, they still believed that they would still achieve their outcome and their goal. And they had that clear vision which is what basically brought them to where they are. And so why do you bring it forward in your work? And in what way do you do it? Because I know you've told me that sometimes it's not the right space to bring forward intentionality. Yeah. And in terms of intentionality, I think sometimes it can cause that visceral response of an eye roll. It's because more often than not, we don't know what we're working towards.

Mm That right. That really, really resonates with me. And we were working last night and you were, you know, you were you're telling us to envision things and nothing. was nothing coming about. So that really resonates. And that can often happen due to all the other demands of life, right? Whether it's family, career, you know, personal relationships.

Nicole Belica (12:19.662)
that we've got all these like kind of needs and demands pulling us in all these different directions that we don't have that moment to pause and to really contemplate and consider what we want.

and how we want to show up and what we're working towards because we're so busy taking care of all the other people and all the other things in our lives. What it really stems from being that place of being embodied because if you don't know what you're working towards, if you don't know how you want to feel, how can you even set a goal or an intention for yourself?

 

Jessica Grossman

I think it's very valid point. I I think in our day to day lives, we are asked to do so much. Many of the times,

We don't know why we're doing it. And sometimes we don't really want to know why we're doing it because the distraction fuels us. It keeps us from sitting in some of the discomfort and the things that are most challenging in our lives. Like what is our purpose? Why do I do the things I do? And the busyness helps us escape from that and gives us a false sense of meaning. And I think so sometimes I think it's really easy to just put our head down.

and focus on that next task. I I also think it's a great thing to do it when we have that vision in mind. when we don't have that vision in mind and we're just saying, OK, I'm going to put my head down. I'm going to do these things that are being asked of me and that that that helps me feel good in the moment. But at the end of the day, I do think that we're not really exploring some of those things that bring us back to ourselves. was going to say we're so accustomed and conditioned to constantly doing that sometimes we get more fulfillment from the random busyness as opposed to actually slowing down, pausing and working with purpose and intentionality. So what do we do when I sit down and I'm like, I'm gonna manifest, you know, I don't know. I don't know what that vision is. I don't know what I'm working towards.

​

Nicole Belica (14:32.366)

I always like to say, you know, first and foremost, embodiment present moment awareness. But then beyond that, start to think about kind of what you want to feel in terms of emotional level on your day to day life. Do you want to feel love in your day to day life? Do you want to feel freedom in your day to day life? Do you want to feel strong in your day to day life? Like some of these kind of qualities that are really important to you.

And think about how you want to show, and obviously this is not in a spiritual bypassing or toxic positivity kind of way, because we all experience a full spectrum of emotions as human beings. But for the most part, what do you want your baseline emotional status to be? Status not being a great word, but somewhat of a baseline level on a day-to-day basis where you're showing up in your life and functioning from that baseline, whether it's love, compassion, strength, determination, vitality. There's so many different words out there that resonate with different people. So it's a matter of getting really clear on what is important to you.

​

Jessica Grossman

So how might we use the idea of manifestation and intentionality in regard to the season?

​

Nicole Belica

You know, in terms of timeline, I think it shows up a little different for everyone seasonality, think is a very easy kind of indicator of the passage of time, kind of starting as well as ending. Sometimes folks work with day to day goals, weekly goals, yearly goals, whether it's moon cycles that are kind of your check in points, but I think the main gist of it is whether it's a daily thing, a seasonal thing, a yearly thing, holding at the forefront of your mind, whatever your intention is and what you're looking to manifest and create. Because where your attention goes, that's where your energy flows. Right, constantly keeping that at the forefront of your mind.

so that as you are encountering these day-to-day obstacles that might feel like they're derailing you, you have that reminder for yourself that like, hey, this is what I'm still ultimately working towards. And also with those check-ins, right, timeline might be determined by how big or how small your intention is. How might leaders use this idea of manifestation and intentionality to help their teams work better, work more effectively? I mean, everyone has their own values and their own way of operating and that's as individuals as well as organizations. So I think first and foremost, again, embodied presence, modeling and working as individuals and as a team to create that.

environment that works towards the common goal, but understanding that people might get there a little differently. You're just supposed to say, Jesse, that's your job. Jesse, that's Let me throw that question back at you. As soon as I asked you that question, I was like, why? I'm pretty sure that's my job. Jesse, that's your job. How does it feel to just be too millennial that you had to come on the show twice?

You know, it's funny because I actually had to look up kind of some of the key components of what makes someone a millennial beyond the year that they're born. But, you know, some of those key characteristics and qualities that I would say are definers and millennials, like, I'm like, okay, I can see where how I embody some of those qualities. I would say there's two, actually, from the research that I did on some of the key definers of being a millennial.

Nicole Belica (18:37.786)
One of those is like very experience-based driven. Like rather than collecting all the things, it feels like more like I want to collect experiences. I value delicious meals, traveling, know, exploring the world. I like to consider myself a collector of experiences and memories. And another, I would say, aspect of being a millennial that I see play out a lot in my life is trying to find this quote unquote work-life balance, which is always a constant practice. So what is my most millennial quality? I mean, I think just your exploration of kind of what are more these deemed woo woo practices, know, yoga in and of itself, sometimes feeling a little less untangible when it comes to a lot of the techniques that people utilize in their day to day lives that may seem atypical as a way to care for your body and your mind. And even the last podcast that we had talking about, you know, embodiment, stress management and all those things. you know, this this openness. So I would love for us to put this into practice. The idea of being a millennial is experiencing things. We can talk about this all day long. I think for those who haven't done a lot of intention setting and manifestation, I would love for us to experience this together. would, Nicole, would you be willing to kind of take us through a quick practice? Absolutely.
That's it. That's your movement component with the intention of showing up from a place of confidence and being proud. Hopefully you feel a little taller, a little bit more spacious, ready for the day ahead, whatever it has to offer in the next task. love that. And where can our listeners find you? I'd say the easiest places to pop on my website. It's NicoleBellica.com. N I C O L E B E L I C A.

And you can see my whole list of offerings, whether you're Chicago based and want to come to a local studio, virtual options or retreats that are domestically in the United States and internationally as well. So there's a bunch of options up there and I would love to connect to see how intention shows up in your day to day life. Thank you so much, Nicole, for the beautiful practice and conversation. I really appreciate you coming on this.

podcast twice now. so appreciate you having me, Jessy, and being able to connect with you and your listeners. And I can't wait to see how your community continues to grow.

 

Jessica Grossman

As leaders, we're often trained to think strategically. We set goals. We create action plans and measure progress. It's all about the outcomes, right? Well, today we delved into something a bit deeper. We went beyond metrics and milestones and really saw that there's an inner layer of leadership.

And there's something that ignites that spark within us, the inner work we do to show up fully in our roles. And that is because resilience is built through visioning. Visioning helps us create and form strategic intentions. It builds pathways and prepares us for inevitable obstacles so that when crises arise, having that clear framework for response in a way that's grounded in focus. And manifestation in intention-setting is just a form of this type of visioning and alignment. But it's often misunderstood and I'll be the first to admit it that I've made fun of the idea of manifestation once, twice, ten times before because this idea of simply wishing for something and expecting the world to just deliver it because I manifested it, some type of magical thinking is ridiculous. So what I'm taking away today is that That is not what manifestation is. It is actually just about creating a mental image that truly inspires me, something that I believe in and I move by. And it comes from this place and brings this place of open heartedness to a goal setting type of activity, which allows us to step away from socially constructive narratives, you know, those shoulds, the musts, which allows us to reconnect with ourselves in a community-centered mindset. It's about accepting that what is while also believing in what will be. And let's hold up a minute. Manifestation is just not a magical solution to everything. It's only a powerful tool that helps you align your energy, your thoughts, actions, and emotions towards that vision. So it's helpful to remember that when we're looking to move from chaos to clarity, it is not about doing more. It is not about taking off more tasks or grinding through today with these empty promises that tomorrow will be magically different, which is what I see with a lot of my clients. Instead, why don't we try slowing down, getting centered, and harnessing the power of manifestation.

​

Jessica Grossman (32:36.686)
manifestation and intentionality, which are very woo woo topics. Those are the things that when I go to a retreat or I go to a yoga practice in studio, most of the time I'm rolling my eyes.