If you’re a parent of a teenager, you may have heard them talking about manifesting, angel numbers, tarot cards, and crystals. Manifesting and other spiritual elements are all of the rage with Gen Z. A simple visit to Tik Tok, and you will be bombarded with videos of manifestation tips, angel numbers and their meaning, tarot card readings, and so on. You may be choking this up to being a simple social media trend that is “just a phase,” and your teen will become disinterested in it sooner rather than later.

However, Manifestation isn’t a trend that has suddenly just emerged. Manifestation can be linked to the 19th-century New Thought philosophy, a movement that focused on spiritual healing and metaphysics and that a positive or negative thought can bring positive or negative realities into someone’s life. Manifestation had a brief surge in popularity in 2006 after the release of the book “The Secret.” So why now is Manifestation so popular?

Experts credit the rise in popularity of Manifestation to various creative mediums, Tik Tok being one in particular. Content creators and public figures specializing in Manifestation and wellness content credit manifestation as a significant factor in their success. At the core, Manifestation is a good thing in the most simple of terms. It shows young people, in this case, that the energy you put out into the universe is the energy you will receive back. Manifestation can as well encourage wellness activities such as journaling “The five minute journal” is a gratitude journal that encourages you to take the time five or so minutes to journal about the events that have taken place in your day and the things and people who you are most grateful for. Manifestation can help with feeling more centered and present, which is important to young people who can quickly become distracted by things such as social media and not be able to fully live in the present moment.

One area of manifestation you may want to discuss with your child is that it can snowball into an unhealthy obsession, particularly when it comes to their love life. For example, a common manifestation trend on social media is how you can manifest a relationship or manifest for someone to fall in love with you. Yes, the power of manifestation lies in that if you put positive energy into the universe, it will return to you. However, just because you manifest for someone to fall in love with you doesn’t mean it will just happen. You can’t just make someone fall in love with you. That isn’t how it works.

If your teen is expressing interest in exploring their more spiritual side with areas such as Manifestation, there are a few things you will want to remind them of. One of the most important is, Manifestation and other things in spirituality should be taken with a grain of salt. For example, if you are getting your tarot cards read, they aren’t going to answer the exact questions you may have; it’s really up to the interpretation of what they say may not resonate with you until months later. In addition, some can feel pressure that manifesting means you constantly have to be and act positive. This can put a lot of pressure on those who struggle with mood disorders such as OCD,  depression, and bipolar disorder, where having a positive mindset isn’t always as simple.

Overall if your teen is interested in Manifestation, you can feel like it’s safe to encourage it! Again at the end of the day, the key message is if you put out good energy, you will receive it back. And there is nothing wrong with that.