Is Manifestation Real? Yes, 100% manifestation does work, but it’s NOT a mysterious spiritual secret. It’s often packaged that way, aka The Secret, but I’m here to tell you it’s not.
Manifestation is simply the process of taking a dream or idea, aligning with it, and turning it into reality. That’s it. You can manifest something tangible (think of everything manufactured around you) or feelings and experiences (e.g., a body-positive mindset or confidence).
“Thoughts become things. If you see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand.”
Bob Procter
Part of why manifestation remains a mystery is a common way of explaining it involves telling you a series of stories then explaining that they won’t tell you the answer outright because it’s more powerful if you figure it out for yourself. And at the end, they tell you if you get it, you’re ready for it; if you’re not, keep reading until you get it.
I find this immensely frustrating. I like it when people are clear. For example, I’m not too fond of it when movies end on a mysterious note, and you have no idea what happened. Just finish the story!
This way of presenting manifestation also gives it an elitist feel when in fact, it is available to everyone. Because of this, it’s taken me a while to unpack the components of manifesting. I now see practical steps to reach realistic goals through manifestation.
So don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you hanging. I will give you the manifestation methods I use in The Practical Guide to Manifestation to start implementing today and create big changes in your life.
9 Practical Steps to Manifestation:
- Brainstorm
- Feel It
- Unravel Limiting Beliefs
- Set Intentions
- Take Aligned Action
- Check-in With Yourself
- Be Open Minded
- Practice Gratitude
- Repeat
Is Manifestation Real? Yes, But…
Yes, manifestation is real. But there are a few things that separate manifesting methods from traditional goal setting. Indeed there are a couple of mysteries I can’t lay out for you in this article, which, once you start manifesting, you will discover for yourself. So before you dive into the manifestation steps in more detail, read this section.
A) No one can tell you exactly how to manifest what you want; this lies within you!
No one on this planet can tell you precisely what you need to do to turn your dreams into a reality. However, I can, and I will give you a practical manifesting method that you can follow to discover those answers for yourself. Just like we learn in Yoga, the answers lie within you!
B) Feel and align your whole body, aka head (cognition), heart (emotions), and gut (intuition).
To manifest efficiently, you need these three elements to be aligned. Manifestation is not just about making dreams into a reality; it is about making aligned dreams a reality.
Chakra Manifestation
In Chakra manifestation, you take this to another level and work to align all seven chakra energy centers starting with the crown chakra (Sahasrara) moving down the central energetic column (Shusumna Nadi) to the root chakra (Muladhara). Flowing down through the chakras in this way is called the “current of manifestation.” More commonly, people work with the chakras from the root to the crown; this is called the “current of liberation.”
Learn more about Chakra Manifestation in Anodea Judith’s book Creating on Purpose: The Spiritual Technology of Manifesting Through the Chakras
C) Be fully open to new opportunities; this is where some of the weird magic of manifestation happens.
Being open-minded means, you release 100% of the control of how something is going to manifest. By releasing control, you allow the answers to come from anywhere and in any form. You may have a dream but no idea how you’re going to turn it into reality. No worries, that’s what manifestation is all about. You need to be open to opportunities and ideas to allow the process to continue.
Manifestation Magic
One very helpful thing is to understand that there are forces in the Universe you don’t understand. You can label this whatever you like. Some people call this God, Universal Energy, or Mother Earth.
For my science peeps, you could blanket this under some weird rule in quantum physics that we don’t currently understand…. because, let’s be honest, real science is simply a method for understanding the world around us. But the more we learn, the more we realize we don’t know. Quantum physics is the perfect example of this… there is so much potentially infinite things about quantum physics we don’t understand… and sometimes, when we try to understand it, it does different things when we look at it versus when we don’t… (but we won’t go down that rabbit hole today).
Like religion and spirituality, science doesn’t disprove or even try to, disprove manifestation but it does explain some parts of it (I go into this more in my upcoming Ebook: The Practical Guide to Manifestation).
Suffice to say, you must accept that you may not know ‘the how’ of transitioning a dream to reality, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Being open-minded is key to manifestation magic because you accept that the journey making your dreams come to fruition could come from anywhere and take you to places you never thought possible. When you get into the manifesting vibe answers, seem to come at you from nowhere and unexplainable places.
​Is Manifestation Dangerous?
To understand if manifestation is dangerous, you first need to understand that you are manifesting all the time. Manifestation is about bringing thoughts into reality. If you believe you always struggle, money is hard to come by, and all you’re good for is sitting on the couch watching Netflix… then that’s exactly what’s going to happen. In this instance, yes, manifestation can be dangerous.
You need to be aware and prepared to take responsibility for your own life. You cannot simply wish for something and poof; it instantly becomes your reality like in Aladin. Believing that manifesting works without you being an active participant is dangerous because it may be harmful to your mental health when your dream doesn’t manifest you. But that’s not going to be you, right! Because you know that manifestation does work for the best when you work with it.
Manifestation Examples
So, you’ve got the key ideas behind manifestation covered, dream, align, be open, trust, create and take action. Now let’s explore examples of how to manifest anything you desire.
Create a Positive Body Image
Alright, example time. I wanted to use body positivity as an example because it is an achievable thing to manifest in a relatively short time. It’s something I’ve manifested myself. And having a negative body image is a huge blockage for so many people stopping them from achieving some of the other bigger life dreams.
Ok, so let’s break down how to manifest a positive body image:
Step 1) Brainstorming, aka the big dream
You want to look in the mirror, see a beautiful woman, feel beautiful, appreciate yourself and NOT tell yourself things like “I’m ugly, fat, and not worthy of anything.â€
Step 2) Feel It
In this example, you’re probably (like I was) was stuck in your head with negative thoughts like: “I’m ugly, fat, and not worth anything.†Sit, close your eyes, breathe, and notice how these negative feelings feel in your body. For me, they sat in my chest, and my stomach feeling constricted and heavy.
So what happens when you invoke the dream of looking in the mirror and seeing a beautiful, smiling woman who appreciates herself? Now how do you feel? Joyful, open, light, warm?
Step 3) Unravel Limiting Beliefs
In this example, the base limiting beliefs are “I’m ugly, fat, and not worth anything.†Those are blocking you from seeing and being the beautiful woman that already lies within you.
Once you have identified limiting beliefs, you will need to:
- Unpack them. (Why are you experiencing these thoughts and beliefs?)
- Forgiveness and release
- Creating new empowering beliefs. (Journaling & affirmations are great tools for mindset change)
If you haven’t already joined, we do a lot of this through journal exercises in the 7 Day Love Yourself (Without Losing Weight Journal Challenge). You can subscribe to this challenge in the box below.
Step 4) Set Intentions
Setting intentions is where you put more specific goals based on all the above information. Be clear and map out what you want and need to do. For a positive body image, you may intend to feel beautiful, healthier, stop worrying about your body, and instead, focus on enjoying life and work on bigger life goals.
You will also want to start planning what action you intend on doing to achieve this intention. Do what feels right for you. Specific examples include:
- Practice Yoga 5x per week
- Walk for 30 minutes 5x per week
- Establish a morning and night skincare routine
- Wear clothes that make you feel beautiful, even when you’re not going anywhere
- Meditate daily
- Eat more vegetables to add more nutrition into your diet
- Drink 3L of water a day
- Detox from alcohol for one month
- Stop weighing and measuring yourself frequently, instead focus on how you feel throughout the day and make choices that support your energy.
Step 5) Take Aligned Action
Manifesting is not all ‘ask, and the Universe will provide’ you need to push the process along by taking action. Start implementing the action steps you decided on during your intention setting.
Step 6) Check-in With Yourself
Continually re-evaluate. Is what you’re doing in alignment with your head, heart, and gut feelings? If no, how can you adjust what you’re doing?
Check-in Example
An example that happened to me earlier this year that shifted me out of alignment was going to the gym. I hate the gym, but my boyfriend was pushing me towards it. Since we didn’t have much space at home, I thought it might be helpful, so I did it. But, as I suspected it would, it completely threw me off my path and threw a spanner into the exercise routine I had established daily.
I had to check-in and remind myself of what activities I love to do (hiking and Yoga) and shift back to those for my fitness. Sure, if I stuck it to intense workouts every day for a couple of months, I would have lost more weight and probably been fitter. Still, it would have been temporary, and at the time, I felt it would spin me back into a very unhealthy path of weighing myself and becoming obsessed with calorie counting and dress sizes. Plus, I would have got tired, crashed, and put the weight back on again.
Had I listened to myself and stuck to my routine and the exercises I enjoy, I wouldn’t have lost momentum and wouldn’t have to start the whole process again.
Step 7) Be Open Minded
Try new things! You don’t have to slog it out in the gym to become healthier. Indulge in self-care practices that make you feel beautiful and ones you’re not sure of. If it feels like it might align with your intention of increasing fitness, energy, and a feeling of gratefulness and beauty, try it. Allow the magic to happen here!
Step 8) Practice Gratitude
Gratitude shifts our mindset to a place of optimism, resilience, and abundance. Be grateful for the work you have done so far and the body you have. Know that you are already the beautiful woman you intend to be and that each day when you make healthy aligned choices, you are embodying her.
Step 9) Repeat
Manifestation is a cyclical process. It grows and changes as you do. Continually flow through these steps organically and make them a part of you getting to know you!
So there you have it, it’s not all that woo-woo spiritual or mysterious. When you break it down into practical steps, it makes sense, right? Here’s another example…
Manifestation for Money
Manifestations for money are super common. That’s one of the big dreams, right? Living the high life. I haven’t manifested money to millionaire extent yet because of some limiting beliefs I’m working on, but I have manifested new jobs several times in seemingly magical ways. Next up, the big $! (I’ll keep you in the loop).
Step 1) Brainstorming, aka the big dream
When working with a manifestation for money, you need to believe the dream. If you want $1 million but don’t honestly believe you can obtain it, then it’s going to be a struggle to manifest anything. But say you believe an extra 4, 5, or 6-figures is realistic, then aim for that, to begin with, even if you have no idea where this money is going to come from.
Step 2) Feel It
Sit down with yourself and align with your head, heart, and intuition. What will having this money feel like for you? What thoughts, emotions, and impulses come up?
Step 3) Unravel Limiting Beliefs
This is a big one around money, and if you’re not already rolling it in, you will have to do some work here. My money blocks revolve around it being available for everyone else, not me, and that money only comes through excessive work.
You will need to sit with yourself and be brutally honest regarding your ideas and emotional charges around money. In Step 2, did any uncomfortable feelings or negative thoughts arise? Where do these come from for you?
Once you have identified your limiting beliefs, you can work on releasing them and building up new healthy beliefs through journal exercises, repeating affirmations, releasing rituals, and gathering evidence to the contrary.
Common Limiting Beliefs Around Money:
- Money is evil
- I’m not good with money
- Money takes a lot of hard work
- Wanting more money is selfish
- Money isn’t important
- I will/my family will always be poor
- Money is a limited resource
- Money won’t make me happy (this is only partially true, because of the society we live in you need money to fulfil your base security and physiological needs e.g. shelter, healthy food and water, warmth… unless you decide to become a Nun or Monk and live in a convent of coarse).
Money is not inherently good or bad; it is simply a tool we use in society to trade. Money is only bad when bad people use it in bad ways. Not having money is blocking you from using it in good ways that help others. Money can also flow into your life with ease. For example, look how many people earn passive income streams online today.
Step 4) Set Intentions
Time to get more specific, how much money do you want to make? Maybe you want to make money in a specific way? Is there a job you really want or perhaps start your own business? Get specific and start mapping out action steps you can take to bring this money in.
Step 5) Take Aligned Action
It’s OK if, at first, you’re not sure what aligned action to do. Manifestation is a cyclical, continually evolving process. Sit in meditation on your intention, or go for a walk to clear your head and see what comes up. Be open-minded and start by brainstorming ideas, then take action on what feels right to start with.
The first step may even be to talk to people about the job, business, or investment you aim to create. You never know the ripple effects this might cause to bring it to you.
Step 6) Check-in With Yourself
Check back in with your head, heart, and intuition, aka mind, body, and spirit.
- Is that action you are taking feel right?
- Is it aligned with your manifestation goals?
- Are your manifestation goals really what you want to bring in or are you working to manifest something you think you should bring in?
Step 7) Be Open Minded
Throughout this process, be open-minded that money could come in from new places you didn’t expect. Jump at opportunities that arise, even if you’re not 100% sure how to do them at first, but they tick all the things you’re looking for. Make the investments you’ve wanted to make but didn’t know how.
Bear in mind money can come in many forms, and when you start manifesting it in from an aligned place, it just seems to appear. So many people have stories of money coming to them from unexpected places when they start focusing on manifesting money. I can’t explain this, and I wouldn’t believe it if it hadn’t happened to me many times.
Step 8) Practice Gratitude
Be grateful for the money you have and any new money that comes in. Gratitude does wonders for your brain health and boosts your resiliency, so if your manifestation doesn’t come to fruition right away, you have the willpower and motivation to keep working at it.
The famous “Three Feet From Gold” story told in Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Get Rich illustrates the importance of resilience. In this true story, R. U. Darby got gold fever during the gold rush days. He invested in gold mining equipment and started digging. Eventually, he struck a gold vein, and his Uncle came to help him excavate it. Together they dug and dug, but the vein disappeared. Frustrated, they gave up and sold the mining equipment for a low cost to a “Junk” man, then headed home with a loss of money and time.
The “Junk” man was wise and called in a mining engineer to evaluate the dig site. Based on his knowledge of fault lines, the engineer calculated that the gold vein would appear again another three feet below where the Darby’s stopped digging. The “Junk” man started digging, and sure enough, three feet deeper, he struck gold.
Step 9) Repeat
After reading these examples, you will have noticed that each of these steps crosses over and intertwine. Each of the 9 components isn’t a linear process. Once you get the hang of manifesting, you can quickly check in with each of these steps each day to continue moving forward with your manifestation plans.
Manifestation Journal Prompts
Journaling is a powerful manifestation tool as it allows you to explore what you want, work through limiting beliefs, practice gratitude, and plan what aligned action to take. You can come back to these journal prompts as often as you like.
- What is it that you truly desire?
- Is this desire being driven by your head (something you think would be good) or is it aligned with what your heart and intuition also want?
- What is currently blocking you from manifesting your dreams today?
- Looking back from a place where you already have your desire, what action steps would have you taken to get there?
- What are you grateful for?
If you’re unsure what to manifest, I cover some techniques for clarifying your dream in an earlier, simpler method I wrote, outlining four steps to manifestation.
Manifestation Energy
The entire manifestation process is a balance between yin and yang or feminine and masculine energy. It combines being assertive and initiating action intertwined with nurturing and intuition to ensure that you are on the right path for yourself.
So what do you want to manifest? Love, Money, Happiness? You can apply this manifestation method to anything you desire. The more you practice, the easier it gets because you get better at stepping back into your alignment.
The Practical Guide to Manifestion
I’m currently in the process of creating The Practical Guide to Manifestation. In this, we will dive into each of these steps further. The guide explores scientific processes behind why these steps work on physical and psychological levels with activities and journal prompts you can use to unpack each of these steps further.
The Practical Guide to Manifesting is getting closer to becoming a reality! The more I edit, the more I end up writing and adding helpful activities. It’s turning into a bigger project than what I initially expected, but it’s going to be grand!
If you want to get notified when this is available, subscribe to the Your Happiness Quest Community newsletter in the form below, and I’ll keep you in the loop. In the meantime, if you’re looking for self-discovery journal prompts to start unraveling those limiting beliefs, check out the 30-Day Affirmations + Journal Prompts Challenge Workbook.