The Neuroscience of Manifestation: Not Totally Woo, Not Totally Real
Living the life you want is achieved by simply wanting it enough. That’s what today’s wellness influencers and experts promise us on social media with hypey posts about manifestation, the buzzy lifestyle tool that’s dominated the mental wellness space for the past few years.
Depending on where you sit on the spectrum of mystical beliefs, the idea that you can turn your dream paycheck, vacation or home from an idea to reality based on thinking about it might elicit excitement or an eye roll. But that’s the promise of the practice, which has come to fame thanks to trendy books like “Law of Attraction” by Michael J. Losier, “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne and “Manifest” by Rosie Nafousi.
‘There’s no real scientific experiment that’s ever been done on manifesting, and it’s pretty much impossible to prove,’ says neuroscientist and coach Elizabeth Hammond. However, there are elements of the practice that do alter your brain, she says. So if you’ve seen your friends go from unsure to overachiever thanks to manifestation, this is what’s really going on.
The Neuroscience of Manifestation:
It activates your neurons
The first step of manifesting is working out what you want. “From a neuroscience coaching point of view, I always tell my clients to get really clear on who they are, what they want, where they’re headed, and how their future is going to be,” says Hammond.
That’s because it’s much easier to work towards – and achieve – a goal when you know what it is that you are setting out to do. By contrast, many of us live ‘constantly bombarded by distractions,’ adds Hammond. Do you, for instance, know with 100% certainty whether you want that promotion or to side-step into another career?
The second benefit happens on a neurological level. “You may notice how, if you’re trying to get pregnant, you suddenly see pregnant people everywhere. Or if you’ve been saving for a particular dress, you suddenly see the same style everywhere. One minor study, in which participants had an MRI scan while focusing on a particular thought or desire, found huge activation in the reticular activating system, a complex loop of neurons responsible for getting your brain to shut the background noise off,” explains Hammond.
Essentially, real changes occur in your brain when you think about a clear outcome you want – AKA: when you manifest.
It helps control your feelings
Another part of manifesting is acting like the person who has the life, skills or materials that you desire. “Going through the rehearsal of being that person, with mindset, actions and visualisations, means you feel the feelings of your future,” says Hammond. “We have all the science to show that we are absolutely, totally in control of what emotions we feel. So why not bring your future feelings into now, even if your whole life at the moment is a bit of a shit-show car crash?’
In other words, if you are manifesting being someone who can confidently speak publicly, but you are currently a nervous wreck when talking to anyone outside of your sacred circle, you can tap into your goal-self now. Just act like a boss until you become one.
The science behind this includes work on “cognitive reappraisal,”’, a psychological term for simply changing how you think. A study from 2017 found that children who underwent cognitive appraisal had reduced fear responses compared to a control group when shown a photo of a screaming face. The cognitive appraisal training involved exploring alternative, benign interpretations of the scream, which diminished the scariness of the photos.
To reframe the public speaking fear, rather than think everyone in the audience is going to judge you, why not believe they’re excited to hear your thoughts and see if it helps control your emotions?
It improves your habits
“A lot of people in my scientific world don’t like the term ‘manifesting’ because it gives the idea that if you just sit there and imagine your future, you don’t need to do anything else to achieve it. Clearly, you have to get off your backside and work too,” says Hammond.
However, you might notice you actually feel more driven to work after a seriously thinking about the end result. When the laser-focus system of the brain lights up and we get to work on achieving our goals, the reward system then also sparks up. “Dopamine is the key to your motivation system. When you have completed what it is you wanted to do towards your goal, you get a dopamine release,” explains Hammond. That feels brilliant – but doesn’t last long. So the brain learns that if it wants to get the high of dopamine, it needs to achieve more again, keeping you engaged with progress.
How to improve your manifesting with neuroscience
The number one thing to do to manage your neurons, emotions and habits in order to achieve is to stay calm. ‘You can’t go into this manifestation process if you’re all over the place,’ says Hammond.
She recommends starting with breathing. “Take a full breath in, then another short inhale, and then a breath out for twice as long. That’s called the physiological sigh – it calms your heartbeat and sends signals to the brain that you’re safe, you can relax, you can focus,” she explains.
‘I also always get clients to think of something and someone that makes them feel love and gratitude. Even if you’re not feeling it in the moment, and you want to be looking forward, being grateful for what you have produces all sorts of incredible hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin, which again calms the blood flow to the brain.’
Thinking your dream into reality might sound far-fetched – but the science really does add up.
ca
