Manifestation and Visualisation
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions”
The origins of manifestation
The hashtag #manifestation has some 17 billion views on TikTok and 7.3 million Instagram posts. The posts vary in what they depict or advise concerning manifesting.
Manifestation is also not a new concept, but it has risen in popularity and acceptance. More and more people are talking about manifesting things in their lives. They want to talk about it because they have integrated the practices, see the benefits and want to share. The popularity of manifestation can be taken back to the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne.
What is manifestation?
Manifestation is the process of creating your reality with your thoughts, words, feelings and beliefs. It is based on the law of attraction but is not quite the same thing and the difference is deemed quite subtle. The law of attraction is more exclusively the individual thoughts, whereas manifestation encompasses thoughts, emotions and actions.
Manifestation practices shift your thoughts and energy to align with your desires and connect you to the energies and vibrations of them.
If you focus your thoughts and emotions on what you want to achieve you will attract the circumstances and people into your life that will help you achieve it. For example, if you wanted to start your own business, you would be focused on being a successful entrepreneur. This would attract the money, advice and connections that you need to enable you to achieve your goal.
How does it work?
Manifestation aligns your energy with your desires. You need to focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. Your thoughts, feelings and actions send out messages to the universe. The universe then responds by sending you the people and situations into your life to help you.
Therefore you need to be careful with your thoughts. You may very well be manifesting without even noticing. There is a difference between manifestation and conscious or intentional manifestation. Your thoughts hold power, even if you are not intentionally manifesting, the thousands of thoughts and feelings you are having daily are transmitting to the universe. And the universe is responding.
An important part of the manifesting process is taking action. It differs from the law of attraction. You need to show the Universe that you are committed to achieving your desires and that you believe it is possible.
How to put it into practice?
Similar to yoga and meditation, many different techniques can be used to help the manifestation process. Meditation, visualisation, affirmations, and journaling are some. You need to find the technique that suits you. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
The main steps in the process are:
Getting clear on what you want – when you do it is easier to focus your thoughts and your emotions
Visualising what you want – picturing it as reality, and the more real the better
Feel positive emotions – the more positive you feel, the stronger the message to the Universe
Take action to your goals – show the Universe you mean it and believe it
Have patience and trust that the Universe will help you achieve
The main methods of manifestation
Visualisation – this is a powerful tool. Picturing what you want in your mind and believing that you can achieve it, or even more so that it already exists in your life. Concentrate on the feeling that you will get from your desire becoming your reality. Vision boards can be a great practical activity that creates a visual reminder of what you want and how you will feel from the outcome. The book Manifesting by Roxie Nafousi has some good advice on this and practical activities that you can undertake.
Affirmations – these are positive statements that you repeat daily. In repeating statements, your subconscious mind believes them to be real. As a result, you then start to see the evidence in your life “I am” are very powerful statement and we will do more on this next week.
Setting goals and intentions – When you set clear and realistic goals you are more likely to achieve them. Setting small goals to start with and achieving them gives you the energy and motivation to keep going. The feelings that are produced when you complete your goals help to raise your vibration and encourage you to do more. Journaling is a great tool that can assist you in realising your goals and keeping to your intention. There are various journal prompts that you can find on the internet to help guide you.
“It’s our intention. Our intention is everything. Nothing happens on this planet without it. Not one single thing has ever been accomplished without intention”
Taking Action – This is the final and most important step, if you don't take action then those dreams simply stay as dreams. You need to take decisive and consistent steps towards what you want and believe that you deserve it.
The more often you focus on your desires and work towards your goals the more likely you will be able to achieve them.
This might require you to set some time aside everyday to visualise what you want, or to listen to affirmations first thing in the morning, or to journal about what you hope to achieve. Again, this is very much unique to each individual.
How do yoga and meditation help?
Yoga and meditation help to clear the mind and improve focus and concentration. In quietening the mind, you are more able to see yourself achieving your goals and living the life you want. They allow you to become more aware of your feelings and to connect with the emotions involved in achieving your dreams. The practices of yoga and meditation also help promote self-care, self-love and self-kindness. They remind you of your self-worth. This in turn sends out a strong positive message to the Universe that you are worthy to receive.
In Summary
Manifestation is not a new idea. As with many of the ideas we have been exploring, it has been around for a while. It is gaining in popularity, as more people see the positive effects of the practices in their lives.
Manifestation is the process of creating your reality with your thoughts, words, feelings and beliefs.
Manifestation aligns your energy with your desires. Through your thoughts, feelings and actions you send out messages to the universe. The universe then responds by sending you the people and situations into your life to aid you.
To manifest you need:
1. To be clear on what you want,
2. Picture it as reality,
3. Let go of limiting beliefs and fear,
4. Create positive statements that support this,
5. Feel positive emotions based on this picture,
6. Work out how you can achieve it,
7. Make steps towards the desires.
Yoga and meditation allow you to quieten the mind, concentrate on what you want to achieve and feel the emotions too. They promote the release of tensions and stress which keeps you vibrating at a lower, less powerful energy and raise you.
“What we put into the Universe, we get back like an echo”