Manifesting Made Simple
The law of attraction or manifesting with the universe isn't as mystical as we've made it out to be. There’s a lot of new age thoughts around it, making it seem like it's a bit “out there”. It may be difficult to grasp and understand, and leaves you wondering why it’s not working or the feeling you need to try harder and focus as much as you can only on what you desire. In my own experience, I feel it's more simple than that. My intention is to bring this topic down to earth (no pun intended) in a way that is easy to apply and understand.
Manifestation has to do with what you're thinking, how your emotions and feelings connect to what you're thinking and your state of being as a whole. You don’t have to get this perfectly, just enough to get into alignment in the direction that you are feeling drawn to.
STEP 1 - FOCUS & ATTENTION
What you focus on expands. What you think about, you bring about.
Your brain has a Reticular Activating System which is composed of neurons that are inside your brain stem. In simple terms, it acts as an information filter. It aids in your ability to focus and acts as the lens in which you choose to view your world. You get to change and adjust this lens through awareness of your own beliefs, perspectives on situations and how you choose to see things.
A good example of this would be when you're looking to buy a new vehicle and end up going and buying a specific make, model and color of vehicle. Without even realizing it, once you are in that world focusing on a particular style of vehicle (researching, test driving, making the purchase) suddenly you begin to see a bunch of other people driving the very same vehicle. Even the same color!
Have you ever come across a new word that you haven't used or heard about, then once you understand it’s meaning you start seeing it everywhere. You hear people using it, it’s in books you’re reading, magazines, newspapers, billboards, social media. How did this word all of a sudden start showing up everywhere?
Or, when you suddenly think of a person you haven’t spoken to or heard from in many years, then suddenly you get a phone call or hear about them through someone else.
The power of your awareness & attention!
Another example, you decide you want to have children and soon become pregnant. Suddenly, a whole new world reveals itself to you of women everywhere transitioning into the role of motherhood. You begin to see baby stuff everywhere. The universe appears to be moving you closer to motherhood. This could also be the same as getting married, suddenly being in the world of all things weddings. You are actively seeking it out but do you notice how the more you do the more it shows up for you too?
STEP 2 - INTENTION
Your focus & attention is powerful. If you are not happy with a particular situation in your life, see if you can shift the way you are looking at it. Is there a different perspective or lens you can choose to see it? Get curious.
“Attention energizes. Intention transforms.” - Deepak Chopra
Let’s take this a step further now. You have brought awareness to the things that are important to you, you have clarity as to the new lens you wish to look at it through, now let’s get you more intentional about it.
An important consideration to note is that when you follow your heart you’re not going to see the whole path. Our logical brain will automatically need to know the journey from “A to Z” in order to move ahead and take action. But the magic is actually the other way around. You may only know the first step (second step if you’re lucky! lol). Sit with this desire, get into the underlying feelings of it and ask yourself what the first step in that direction looks like. I am 100% certain that you will know!
Faith and trust are key in taking that first step (which we will touch on later). Knowing fully that if you are meant to do this and you are truly in alignment with your heart, that when you take that first step, the next steps will unfold and present itself to you.
When you make the decision to bring focus to inviting in this new desire, you have become intentional.
STEP 3 - TAKE INSPIRED ACTION
In cultivating a relationship with your heart, with desire and manifestation the number one thing you can do is take the inspired action as you receive it. Let go of the need to know the journey fully - this is the easiest way to get caught up in fear, doubt and beliefs that don’t serve you.
“Clarity comes from engagement, not thought” - Marie Forleo
In my own experience, I have limited myself in trying to control a particular outcome or hone in on what I think I need. At the end of the day, what you really are intending is a feeling within yourself that you want to embody. The outcome that you may think is ideal for you to get there may actually be a limiting vision of greater possibilities that you’re unable to fully imagine right now.
It’s important to be flexible and open minded when it comes to manifestation - get to the feeling, using desired outcomes as inspiration with the possibility for something even better too!
Focus on the feeling, take the inspired actions as they show up and allow the universe to bring you more inspiration.
I share this with you in my own learning, as I have thought something might be right for me and I focused solely on that outcome without leaving room for anything else. I was able to bring it about in my world, but something still felt out of alignment. It didn’t necessarily mean I was doing it wrong, as the journey did eventually lead me in the direction that felt aligned. However, instead of using the outcome as inspiration for what’s possible, I only considered one option which left the universe limited in what it could bring me.
STEP 4 - TRUST
What is the underlying feeling that you are wanting to attain from this manifestation?
What are you seeking if you go deeper under the layers of your desire?
What is the core desire?
Focusing on the feeling allows for amazing possibilities that you may have not considered or even thought of. This comes from a place of trusting and having faith in who you are, your purpose and what you are meant to do in this lifetime. Desire is part of your innate existence, it is a gift that we get to explore.
“The very fact that you have desire means you are equally capable of receiving it”
To trust means taking action. What steps can you take to embody the feeling as if you are already living it being fully received?
Have fun with this process.
Years back when I was single living in my own condo, I had come to the point where I was ready to attract a romantic partner into my life. To invoke the feelings of what it was like to have a partner, I got inspired by creating a profile of their personality, likes/dislikes etc.
I also began to create space for this new person to come into my life. I began to sleep on one side of my bed, visualizing & imagining that my partner was beside me when I went to sleep. I purchased two nightstands and set up my space as if two people were living there. I bought myself flowers, and took myself out for lunch. I continued with further steps in taking care of myself to become the person I visualized myself to be if I had someone in my life.
I embodied the feeling of what it was like to have a partner in my life, and allowed the details to present itself.
Then, before I knew it I was receiving invitations. There were opportunities to go on dates, meet new people and chance meetings that synchronistically showed up in my path. I got busy having fun. I chose to say yes, knowing that I was being led in the direction of what I was seeking without seeing the full picture. I left room for possibility, and this led to a life with this person I am beyond grateful for now going on 7 years later!
Perhaps you are ready to grow your own business, but your schedule is completely full and you have no space or time for anything else. An inspired action while practicing trust could mean opening up certain parts of your schedule to allow space for new clients & opportunities. You are telling the universe, “I am ready to receive, I am creating the space for a new beginning. I am inviting new clients into my life because I have created the time.”
What would it feel like to be working with these new clients? How would you show up, and what additional steps could you take to act as if this was already happening?
Who would you be, how would you be holding yourself if you were running a business in alignment with your idea of success?
Who would you be if you already had that desire?
STEP 5 - SURRENDER
“The ultimate act of power is surrender” - Krishna Das
The final step in manifestation is the ability to let go of the outcome. I know that “letting go” is a bit of an esoteric term, because what does it really mean?
You're taking steps without knowing the full picture. That is trust. You're focusing on what it feels like to already have your intended desire. Have faith in possibilities, open yourself up to alternative outcomes that may be better suited for you.
Surrendering is a flexible mindset. You are in alignment with your desired outcome, but you are also flexible in the process of knowing that no matter what happens, what is meant for you will show up for you. Can you be okay if it doesn’t happen in the way you expect it to? This is true surrender.
Who am I beyond this desire?
Are you able to let go of the grip & attachment around your identity with specific outcomes? When you attach your happiness to the future, you are automatically focusing on lack. Your focus ends up being on everything in your life that isn’t in alignment with what you really want, thus meeting resistance. Back to what I was saying above.. “what you focus on expands”.
Being in flow means finding a balance between falling in love with where you are right here, right now in the moment, while also getting excited for what’s possible. If you can loosen your grip, you become a beacon of intent that allows for inspiration, synchronicities and incredible surprises!
Practice with Me!
Ask your inner guide or the universe to give you a sign within the next day - Practice being in the present moment and notice what shows up for you as you go about the next 24 hours. Jot down ALL signs that you notice (voice from a stranger, license plate, billboard, a phone call, a sentence in a book, an idea...signs come from everywhere)
Decide on something simple you want to manifest - something as simple as a cup of coffee or a kind compliment. Visualize yourself receiving this, imagine it, hear it, feel it. Invoke the feelings that you would have if you received it. Now, go about the next 48 hours and note in your journal what shows up… leaving room for something even better!!
