Felix Felicis

A few weeks ago, I led an immersive transformation event at the World Yoga Festival in Henley. It is the kind of work that I love, because it requires zero faith from the participants for it to bear fruit.

I guess it's like gravity or electricity: you don't have to understand it – but by experiencing it, you see clearly that it works. And that's what most of us ultimately need: something that works, and works well.

At the clinic, I look at four specific areas with my patients: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Yes, spiritual - even for committed atheists – because addressing this aspect creates a profound shift.

Working with this dimension reminds me of Felix Felicis, the magical potion in Harry Potter that allows the drinker to move through their day with a sense of ease and good fortune. Because when decisions are clearer, people move differently. And when they let go of the struggle that used to hold them up, it profoundly changes the pace and the experience of recovery.

Take Polly.

She was completely stuck when she first came to see me. There were physical issues showing up on her blood tests and, of course, we addressed those. But there was another part of the picture that no blood test was ever going to reveal.

Polly seemed to be fighting life. Every decision was difficult. She agonised over outcomes, and expended tremendous amounts of energy attempting to make life conform to what she thought it should be.

It wasn't about prescribing a "Let go and let God" type of surrender; rather, it was about truly looking at how she related to herself - and to life itself.

This is what I mean when I talk about the spiritual aspect of treatment. It's not about religion; it's about seeing how to reduce friction between where someone is now and where they want to go.

Jesus, Allah, Krishna, Mother Earth, the universe, or even none of the above - the belief itself is not the point. It's about developing an inner way of being that isn't dependent on everything outside you going according to plan.

And so, this is when, as if by magic, things begin to move.

I had been reluctant to address this aspect for a long time. But, as the years have gone by, I have seen first-hand how addressing this seemingly insignificant detail can reduce turnaround time by about 30%.

And, with practice, it becomes something you carry with you: a living medicine.

So, don't worry about whether this sounds conventional, alternative, ancient, or modern. Simply ask: does it work and does it make me better?

To quote Rumi, "live life as if everything is rigged in your favour" and you will see that Felix Felicis was never a potion after all.