Tools, Tips and Rituals for Manifesting | with Angela Hywood

January 25, 2023 7 min read

I’m not a big resolutions person. Mostly because I feel like it sets us up to fail. I try to set more realistic bigger picture goals and work toward them all year round while being kind, gentle and to myself. I think it’s more sensible and sustainable to work towards little incremental changes that become a part of a lifestyle.

The new year is a great time to reassess. I always try to imagine a ‘desired future state of being’ and what I need to do to get there.

What about you? What are your goals and objectives, and can we help you manifest them?

Speaking of manifestation, here are some tips, tools and solid evidence that may be of interest to you. I came across an amazing article over the holidays and felt compelled to share it with you! 

Tools, Tips and Rituals for Manifesting

How many times have you stopped and started writing down your daily intentions because it felt like the needle wasn’t moving? How often have you given up on your vision because of perceived limitations?

What if there was compelling evidence proving that manifestation isn’t just a catchphrase, but rather a powerful tool to achieve both short- and long-term goals, and to transform your mind, body and life?

Below is an excerpt from the Anima Mundi's blog post, '8 Ways To Enhance Your Manifestation Practice'. All credit and gratitude to Adriana Ayales, an American- Costa Rican herbalist based in Brooklyn New York for her on-point advice.

Does Manifestation Work?

Did you know that intention setting and a manifestation practice can positively affect your neurology and alter your physiology? Read on for tips, scientific studies, and practical tools to get your practice going. We hope this overview empowers you to narrow in on what you're calling this year! If you've ever wondered if what you seek is truly seeking you, now's the time to put it to the test.

The Neuroscience Behind Visualisation

Visualising the future produces the same brain activation as the actual experience, as does visualising your body doing an action or even picturing yourself gaining physical strength. Embodying your vision and setting daily intentions isn’t just a workout for the mind, either. It’s a scientifically backed practice that has both spiritual and creative origins, producing results that experts across disciplines agree is exponentially more powerful than many other goal-oriented techniques.

Manifesting isn’t just “new thought” spirituality. Its roots are global, and many studies exist to prove its efficacy, despite debate and scepticism among some researchers. In one study among cancer patients, positive thinking had incredible results on quality of life, overall well-being, survival rates, reducing and relieving depression, and immunising people psychologically against problems.

Furthermore, neuroscience confirms that when you write down your goals, you are encoding your brain’s long-term memory. That gives you a better chance to store the information, but more importantly, it leads to achieving your goals over time. To experience your vision or desire in the future, you have to feel it in the very core of your being in the present. That may start with meditating, lucid dreaming, or visualising, and then moving to set small intentions in the short-term or longer-term (even lifelong) intentions that through practice and patience, you can manifest into being.

Below are eight ways to enhance your manifestation practice, which research has shown can produce significant neuroplastic changes in the brain, and some dreaming herbs to help you along the way.

8 Ways To Enhance Your Manifestation Practice

1. Abandon Expectations

In Buddhism, unfulfilled expectations are believed to cause much human suffering. It's also part of a toxic thought pattern that stems from a desire to control the future, ripping us out of the present and leading to premature disappointments. We've all heard the phrase, "be patient, all is coming," right? When our monkey mind starts focusing on negativity or expecting the worst, the energy is low vibe, resonating with desperation and fear rather than love and gratitude. Letting go of expectations allows the natural course to unfold. On the flip side, holding onto expectations is counterproductive to manifesting because it negates the trust required to attract positive outcomes. The “right” timing of our own blessings includes a joyful ride (if we choose to see it that way), complete with the specific struggles we need to overcome to reach our own divine destination.

2. You Are What You Think

Studies show that conscious mind activation can change our biology in real and intrinsic ways, like sending signals to the body's cells to allow them to express new proteins. Our thoughts alone can change not only our present reality but also the actual genetic makeup of our brains! For more on epigenetics, manifesting, vision boards and unlocking your greatest potential, check out another incredible blog post written by Anima Mundi, What Science Says About Rewiring Your Brain

3. Daily Intentions

Write your life story in alignment with your present values. State aloud (or write down) what you are calling in.

“Intentions are an opportunity to design and take ownership of our lived experience. It’s like setting the GPS for our lives, and it allows us to shift from an experience that ‘happens to us’ to true vision-hood” (source: TZR).

The key here is not to get discouraged, but to approach your daily intentions with optimism. Like the Lupe Fiasco lyric goes, “Kick, push, kick, push, coassssst!” Envision your daily goals as if they are already accomplished, then release all expectations.

4. "Small" Intention Setting

Don’t just go for the huge long-term goals. Remember, every day we can make one small step towards something we are calling in. Imagine the changes that can take place within your body as you begin to consciously give intention to positive choices. Choosing to set an intention rather than stating a goal has been affirmed by experts across fields to yield more effective results.

5. Long-term Intentions

Give yourself the gift of personal accountability on your journey to living purposefully and transforming your own reality over time. Keywords: over time! Don’t rush long-term visions. Consider spending some time in this first month of 2023 setting your intentions, affirming they are already here, and manifesting them to invite the intentions with your full faith into existence. Patience is the most important ingredient in this recipe. Like too many spices can ruin a dish, and so can trying to force your intentions by doubting them, giving up, or believing because they may be delayed that they're not coming.

6. Manifest For Generations

Changing our consciousness can produce positive, lasting physical changes, like impacting our genes and those of our descendants. The effects of intergenerational trauma have been widely studied, reported, and have even entered mainstream conversations. Epigenetics has been linked to childhood development; more specifically, happy parents are more likely to raise happy children. “Recent research demonstrates that there may be ways to reverse certain negative changes and restore healthy functioning,” according to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, "but that takes a lot more effort, may not be successful at changing all aspects of the signatures, and is costly." While it may seem daunting to carry so much responsibility for future generations as we navigate complex present realities, it's also a compelling reason to engage in conscious-shifting practices that may hold the keys to our own and others' fulfilment.

7. Remove Mental Obstacles

Our limiting beliefs and self-doubts hold us back. Reframe your mindset to pave a clear path to what you want. According to one study, if we expect to endure an unpleasant experience again, we remember it more negatively. This is a biological defence mechanism to keep us from repeating the same mistakes, especially painful ones. But it can also backfire: if we become our own worst enemy by manifesting negative experiences, we cannot make room for more positive ones. Carve out time daily and weekly this year (make a calendar appointment if you have to) to re-examine any beliefs, doubts, or stories that may be getting in the way of achieving your goals and desires. Once you acknowledge specifically what these roadblocks are, you’ll be one step closer to vanishing them, and steadily on your way to becoming a master manifester whose intentions and affirmations are the building blocks for a solid foundation of repeating this powerful ancestral formula for success.

8. The Power Of A Daily Gratitude Practice

In countless studies, gratitude has been proven to be a powerful neurotransmitter of dopamine and serotonin, which bring us joy and pleasure. In your process of manifesting what you desire, make time to give thanks for what you have now, and for the opportunity to focus your attention on a specific goal or outcome. This also means you have to be honest with yourself about whether or not you are being flexible and adjusting your energy.

Here’s a simple, three-step check-in to do with yourself to reaffirm your manifesting process:

1. What is my intention (repeat aloud, silently, or write it down)?

2. Are my fears or past beliefs getting in the way of believing what I desire is already here?

3. Am I being grateful, patient and flexible, knowing the outcome may not come in the timing I want or exactly in the way I imagine?

"By consciously practising gratitude every day, we can help neural pathways strengthen themselves and ultimately create a permanent grateful and positive nature within ourselves."

Just a few minutes a day can help get you closer to your highest potential and improve your resilience for whatever comes in the process.

May your new year be filled with the fruits of your conscious creations.

Our team at Floralia Wellness are a wealth of knowledge with many ideas and support options. From integrative medicine to herbal medicines, holistic nutritional and realistic lifestyle support, we create personalised wellness experiences for our patients and look forward to helping you realise your goals and to propel you on your journey toward optimal wellness.

With love, Angela & The Floralia Wellness Team

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