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Struggling with a mental block? Answer these 5 questions to ‘feel a shift in your body'

Struggling with a mental block? Answer these 5 questions to ‘feel a shift in your body'

New York Post06-06-2025

Call her new book a block-buster.
In 'You Have the Magic,' NYC-based influencer and manifestation coach Haley Hoffman Smith reveals the five questions to ask yourself to identify and break free of mental barriers limiting your success.
Hoffman Smith — who rose to fame on social media with her spiritual self-help videos and peeks into her luxury lifestyle — said she developed the Subconscious Breakthrough Formula through personal discovery she achieved in EFT tapping sessions.
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4 NYC-based influencer and manifestation coach Haley Hoffman Smith wrote the new book 'You Have the Magic.'
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EFT involves tapping on specific acupressure points with your fingertips while focusing on a particular issue or emotion and repeating affirming phrases.
'It's quite simple,' Hoffman Smith, 28, told The Post. 'If you don't yet have something you want or it's perpetually blocked, ask yourself these questions to work with the subconscious mind, and then you know exactly what to tap on and release.'
The evolution of the five questions
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Hoffman Smith tested variations of the questions by herself and within her Dreamaway Membership, a program that promises 'deep subconscious rewiring, magnetic breakthroughs and daily energetic support' for $250 a month.
These five core queries deliver clarity, catharsis and 'delicious aha moments' in all aspects of life, including love, money and creativity, she said.
4 The book includes five questions to ask yourself if you find yourself stuck while trying to achieve a goal.
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'I think we're used to asking ourselves, 'Why isn't this happening for me?' or 'Why is this so blocked despite my best conscious effort?' to which the answer is usually, 'I have no darn idea!'' Hoffman Smith said.
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'The nature of subconscious breakthrough questions is they're asked in a way we don't expect, so it yields answers that have been eluding us.'
The five questions are:
What bad thing happens if this goal comes to fruition?
What do you believe you need to give up that you currently like about your life in order to bring this in?
Why does it make sense mentally that this is blocked for you? What is the evidence that you have for why this should be difficult or impossible?
What is an example of a time in the past when you also felt this way?
How would a new belief — or getting what you really want — be a mismatch for your identity and self-concept?
Tips for successfully using the formula
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Hoffman Smith asks herself these questions 'quite frequently' when she seems blocked.
She recommends doing the same if you notice yourself 'continuously bumping up against the same pattern' or 'experiencing an invisible forcefield around something' you'd like to do.
4 Break free from distractions when you tackle this exercise.
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The key is to find a space where you can go deep without distractions. Self-compassion and playful curiosity are important.
'I find that in early morning hours or late at night, I am most likely to have a big breakthrough because I'm in a lower brainwave state, so the subconscious mind is a bit more accessible,' Hoffman Smith said.
Slower brainwaves — associated with creativity, relaxation and reduced stress — are generally more prevalent in the evening as you prepare for bed.
How to tell if it's working
It's crucial to trace a situation to its root or understand why the subconscious is experiencing fear and resistance, Hoffman Smith said.
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EFT tapping helps bring relief.
'It's highly encouraged to do some EFT tapping to clear the resistance and fear — and you'll know that's worked when you feel the actual shift in your body,' Hoffman Smith said.
'Fears dim, emotions release, stickiness melts, tightness loosens,' she added, 'and new perspectives and hope easily pour in.'
4 'Fears dim, emotions release, stickiness melts, tightness loosens, and new perspectives and hope easily pour in' when the process works, Hoffman Smith said.
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If that doesn't work, go deeper with the questions.
For example, you could ask yourself, 'What bad thing happens if I get subconscious clarity here?' and see if there's any resistance.
'However, in my several years of doing this work with thousands of people, these questions have always consistently yielded 'aha' moments,' Hoffman Smith said.
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If you have significant trauma or suspect that subconscious investigation might bring triggering reflections, she recommends working with a licensed mental health provider.
'This is an explorative process, and the answers it yields can lead to gleeful epiphany or some deeper emotions,' she said.

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Review: Giancarlo Guerrero steps into new Grant Park Music Fest role with a pair of genial and dynamic programs
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Review: Giancarlo Guerrero steps into new Grant Park Music Fest role with a pair of genial and dynamic programs

Talk about a perfect storm. On Wednesday, Giancarlo Guerrero's much-fêted debut as principal conductor and artistic director of the Grant Park Music Festival was dampened by relentless rain. Audiences scrunched under the Jay Pritzker Pavilion fringe, only to play musical chairs dodging the structure's many (and ever-changing) leaky spots. When they weren't doing that, seat shuffles and squabbles competed with the evening's violin concerto. But if Guerrero appeared unflappable onstage, it's because he's been there before. He made his sophomore appearance with the orchestra in 2014 under nearly identical circumstances, down to the solo string showcase and contemporary American opener. Despite the lousy weather, that appearance impressed festival musicians enough to fast-track Guerrero to the top of their director wishlist a decade later. 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Amid the ferocity, the Grant Parkers always sounded whetted and clean, moving through the works' shifting meters with fearsome precision. In the final windup to the end, electric energy gave way to ringing, Mussorgskyan grandeur. Between the Hailstork and Bernstein, Jeremy Black returned to the festival as both concertmaster and featured soloist, offering up the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Even the brunt of the evening's downpour couldn't wash away the strong impression left by this filigree, soulful performance. Black's sound in the opening theme and balladic second movement was sugared but never treacly. Meanwhile, the Allegro molto vivace coasted along serenely, Black's bel canto phrasing and pristine intonation never betraying its finger-flying briskness. Promisingly, Guerrero's orchestral accompaniment was every bit as tasteful. Negotiating solo string balance in the park is always just that — a negotiation — but Guerrero hit the sweet spot of clarity and restraint. 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At one point in 'Lábios Vermelhos,' section trumpets got in on the fun, with a sneering little interjection. Yet another short, Latin-inspired curtain raiser opened the concert: 'Baião n' Blues,' by Chicago composer Clarice Assad. A staple of the Carlos Kalmar years, Assad's inclusion in Guerrero's opening week bodes well for the new festival chief's attention to local composers. Ultimately, though, this performance had some of the same early-season jitters as last week's opener, with a scraggly opening and subdivision disagreement among the violins. 'Baião n' Blues' already isn't Assad's most compellingly structured piece, but a more honed performance might have made a better case. While Mahler sought to depict the world's natural beauty and bizarre juxtapositions in his music, he perhaps didn't anticipate contending with throbbing helicopters, the squeal of a coach's whistle, and hot rods sputtering down Lake Shore Drive on Friday. The Grant Park corps rose above the usual downtown backing track with a fresh, focused Mahler 1. Guerrero cued the unearthly, whistling first bars with an ambiguous gesture that invited the orchestra to melt in freely. Offstage trumpets were piped through the crown of the pavilion stage, sounding mysteriously heaven-sent. When the theme arrived in the cellos, Guerrero maintained their levity and grace throughout the movement — and, in fact, throughout much of the piece, bringing an aerodynamic lightness even to the symphony's final cadence. Because Grant Park 'does things a little differently,' per Guerrero, Friday's performance reinserted Mahler's discarded 'Blumine' movement. Through a complex change of hands, the only surviving manuscript copy of 'Blumine' ended up in in New Haven, Connecticut, where it was rediscovered as part of the Mahler renaissance of the 1960s. If 'Blumine' is heard at all, it's usually as a standalone piece, for good reason: It's arresting but nearly always out-of-place amid the lustiness of the rest of the symphony. Friday's performance gave the same impression — gauzy and subtle, but stopping short of the richness and emotional abandon that would make a better case for its inclusion. Elsewhere, other idiosyncratic touches intrigued and often convinced: more perky staccatos by oboist Alex Liedtke, orchestral accents like bitter twists of a knife in the funeral march, and a slower reading of the klezmer-band interludes. In all, it endorsed Guerrero's warhorse chops as enthusiastically as his new-music acumen. Rain or shine, Grant Park is looking like a fair place to be under his baton.

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