5 Myths That You Should Know Before You Start a Manifestation Practice

These were the myths that made me skeptical about manifesting — I’m bursting all five of them.

I’ve blogged before about what manifestation is to me, but today I’m addressing the skeptics in the room! I used to be a skeptic about this, so I know the myths and objections that we put out there.

Myth Number One: Manifestation is simply thinking of what you want, then getting it

Skeptics dismiss manifestation because they can’t believe in something that doesn’t take work. It does!

I cannot think that I want $10,000 in my bank account and it turns up. That is not manifestation. If you can generate cash like this, doing nothing, that’s luck. Luck I wish I had, but luck nonetheless.

We visualise and imagine how it would be to wake up with $10,000 in the bank, but that’s only the beginning. Whatever we want, we still have to do the work. We need to make an effort. We must ensure that the actions we are taking are in alignment with what we are manifesting.

It is more likely we will receive things if we are operating at the correct vibration for it. There is also a need, however, to bolster that frequency by doing the right things. The irony is that we take the same steps towards our goal that we’d take regardless of whether we’re manifesting.

You have nothing to lose by manifesting on top of doing the work.

Myth Number Two: Manifestation is unscientific

Let’s think about our brains for a moment. How often do you drive to work, arrive there, and can remember very little about the journey itself?

Our brains allow us to work on autopilot so that we don’t have to constantly think of the next thing to do. Once we’ve built pathways in our brain about the drive to work, we no longer need to think about where to take a turn, and so on.

The same works with beliefs, and the more we tell ourselves something, the more the brain accepts it as true. This means that we associate certain events, on autopilot, with a specific belief. These beliefs are often untrue and are the limiting core beliefs that hold us back in life.

I have an incomplete PhD under my belt, and whenever I think about it, the immediate thought has been, “I’m not good enough.” The incomplete PhD is evidence that this limiting belief is ‘true.’ The brain then decides that this limiting belief should remain on autopilot.

The brain’s reticular activating system (RAS) looks for evidence that supports our thoughts. When I have a limiting belief, I am telling the RAS that this thought pattern is important. Thus, the RAS seeks ‘proof’ to keep the belief ‘correct.’

If I change my thoughts to abundance, my RAS will look for evidence of this instead. When we flood the brain with positive imagery, it creates new neural pathways to serve us.

The more we visualise something, the more likely the RAS is to notice it happening.

Our brainwaves move so quickly on autopilot that it’s difficult to turn them on to the new thought process. This is where something like visualising meditation comes in. It slows the brainwaves enough to begin changing our automatic thought patterns.

We dive into our subconscious to condition our brain to think in a new, healthier way.

Myth Number Three: Manifestation is impossible if I’m not religious.

I manifest stuff. I am not religious.

You do not need to pray to any kind of deity to get something that you desire. I ask the Universe or Source, but you can ask whoever or whatever you are comfortable with.

Religion is very different from faith or belief.

We need to believe that what we want will come to us, but that belief is within the manifestation process itself.

The Bible says, “Ask and you shall receive” (Matthew 7:7), but this doesn’t mean religion is necessary to manifest. I take the Biblical quotations, if anything, as added proof that the Law of Attraction exists.

I’m okay with the fact that I don’t know the full details of where things come to me from. I trust the Universe.

Myth Number Four: Manifestation is only for material things.

Most things we talk about manifesting are indeed material things or money. It’s become a way of seeing manifestation in action because these things are tangible.

As I said previously, I managed to unconsciously manifest losing a group of friends. This was unintentional, but the Universe heard and brought about what I was thinking. This was not a tangible thing.

I believe that my depression and anxiety lightened when I discovered manifestation. I visualised living without these disorders and manifested their (almost) absence from life.

You can manifest anything you want to.

Myth Number Five: Manifestation requires obsession.

I do not obsess about the things that I am manifesting.

I ask the Universe once for the thing I desire in a long, detailed visualisation.

The Universe is cleverer than me and doesn’t need to be reminded constantly what I am seeking. I, on the other hand, do need reminders, so I will briefly visualise having that thing, once a day.

By bringing it up in my mind regularly and consistently, I’m building new thoughts in my brain. The subconscious becomes primed to believe that what I’m seeking already exists for me.

Once the Universe knows what I want, it’s in my hands to do the work and also keep preparing myself mentally to receive.

Originally published at https://wildeaboutwellbeing.com on September 5, 2020.