How do you react to the idea of manifestation? It’s a term that tends to get a lot of flack, especially if you’re someone who follows the path of proof, over faith or belief. I always like to reserve a little bit of my energy for the unknown – after all, we don’t really know if there is A Universe or a God or some other sort of magic out there. But I also find it easier to integrate concepts like manifestation into my own life when they make sense to me. The Reticular Activating System offers a way to explain the science of manifestation. And to understand a bit more about how our brains work.
The Reticular Activating System
This is a bundle of nerves in your brain stem. Its purpose is to look for information that validates your beliefs – and it uses this to filter the information coming into your brain from the world around. The parameters you establish for your Reticular Activating System are essentially your core beliefs and the goals you set. Whatever these are, this part of the brain will look for evidence of it – and it will stop you from seeing anything that doesn’t support these core beliefs and goals.
For example, if you believe you’re going to get a great new job, you’ll start tuning into the information and opportunities that could help you do that. If you believe that you’ll never get a great new job, the Reticular Activating System will consider information relating to great new jobs irrelevant and will instead show you evidence to the contrary. To put this in very simplistic terms, if you feed into the Reticular Activating System that you are going to buy a small blue car you will start seeing small blue cars everywhere. Even if you’ve never noticed them before.
Is it the Science of Manifestation or is it magic?
It’s actually just the application of a filter. Our brains can’t process every piece of data we receive from the world around us so the Reticular Activating System chooses what’s relevant – and what we see. The things that suddenly seem to appear to help you reach a goal – and the signs that show you the way – were probably always there. But they were previously filtered out because there was no cue in the Reticular Activating System (e.g. a belief or a goal) that made them relevant. So, if you didn’t have a goal of buying a small blue car, you’d be driving past lots of small blue cars but not noticing them. As soon as the blue car goal is there they seem to appear like magic.
How can you use the science of manifestation?
- Identify a goal. Something you really want for yourself. Be specific about it.
- Think about the experience or outcome you want to result from that goal.
- Create some mental cinema of the best version of that moment – sights, sounds, how it feels, what you see. Replay this often.
Once you have a clear idea of what you want – and start feeding this into the Reticular Activating System – your conscious and subconscious can work together towards achieving it. You can do the same with your core beliefs. Take some time to notice the things that you often think about yourself and use this data to identify your core beliefs. If these are negative, sad or limiting then change them. Start feeding your Reticular Activating System positive, empowering beliefs about how capable you are, how well you’re doing and how much faith you have in your ability to reach your goals. See how quickly things start to change when your brain is actively looking for evidence that you’re capable, successful and reaching your goals, instead of the opposite.
This may sound super simplistic but that’s because it is – simple. We are a lot less complex than we believe ourselves to be and sometimes the most straightforward solutions do really work. Try it for yourself and see.
Perhaps the Reticular Activating System does represent the science of manifestation – or perhaps it is a much more mystical process that proof-driven human beings can’t yet grasp. The point is that your thoughts become things – don’t compromise your experience of life by making those thoughts self-defeating, negative or mean.
Resilience coaching helps you to start using your mind more effectively to support your growth. Book a free discovery chat to find out more.
