If we were to have a magical manifesting formula, what would it be? Not a formula to always get what we want, but to align ourselves the best we can with our desired reality. I would define it as: line it up, let it go, let it in.
Often we think about manifesting and abundance in terms of positive thinking and visualizing our desires, which will raise our vibration and consequently attract what we wish for. This method has traditionally been known as “magical thinking“. To a large extent, it works. It’s magical, after all…
But magical thinking can also become a trap. When we think we have found a manifesting blueprint to solve every problem in our lives, our egos can become attached to it. This will block any growth, while we would be battling with anxiety and depression, constantly thinking that there is something we must be doing wrong (must be a past life issue! but that doesn’t seem to help, either…)
It is certainly true that we need to embrace our power to co-create. However, I believe that we sometimes need to go through the process of purification, which essentially aligns our ego-centered goals and desires with those of our soul and the Universe. This process strips us of everything that is not real, as we surrender more and more to our soul-centered selves.
This does not mean living in misery or giving our power away. Ultimately, what is at stake here is living the life of fulfillment, mission and alignment with our soul. This may sometimes contradict what our ego wants. In order to manifest our purpose, we also need to heal the damage that has been done to our soul blueprint. The more we heal, the more we are able to receive.
But how do we claim our power? How do we become who we are, and follow our dreams?
In my own work, relating both to my personal healing journey and to the work that I do with my clients, I have experienced that the manifestation process consists of three major stages, which I wanted to discuss here.
1. Line it up
“If your desire to do something is complete, if your whole being is in it without seeking a result, without wanting to fulfill — which means without fear — there is no hindrance. There is a hindrance, a contradiction, only when your desire is incomplete, broken up: you want to do something and at the same time you are afraid to do it, or you want to do something else.”
Krishnamurti
The first step in manifesting is to ask for what we need. It starts with us telling God (the Spirit, the Universe, our Higher Self) what it is that we want. Remember Lucifer, and his “what is it that you truly desire?”
What is it then? What is my true desire? Not what other people want from me, not what my thought programs want from me — but my own desire, that comes from the innermost parts of myself. Perhaps, before we go any further, you may wish to answer the seemingly silly question of “Who am I?” Not what I feel, not what I think, not even what I do, but who am I? And what is it that this I wants?
“This is what I want – now show me the way!”
Lining up our desires essentially means feeling into what it’s like to be living our dream, to be who and where we want to be. We need to really try and spend some time in our inner sanctuary space, visualizing what it’s like to already have what we asked for. This may sound like a broken record, but the purpose of this exercise is two-fold: to match our vibration to that of our desire, as well as to identify what blocks we may have towards receiving it.
For example, visualize yourself receiving $5,000,000 or a huge inheritance. How does it feel? More importantly, visualize yourself doing the job you love, doing what you have always loved doing since you were a child.
Pay attention to the inner dialogue, and the ways in which you are telling yourself “I am not worthy,” “everyone’s already doing it,” “I have to take care of my children,” “I won’t have the time…”
In the grand scheme of things, nothing is impossible. Only energy is real. Our job is not to stress and worry as to how things will work out, but rather to give ourselves the essence of what we are trying to create, to visualize what it feels like to have, to flow, to feel joy. This will generate energy which aligns our vibration with that of our desired outcome.
As you spend time feeling into your future, remember that our deepest desires very often are our mission. That’s right, if you answer “what is it that you truly desire?” correctly, you will find your life’s purpose! If this were not so, it would have been impossible for you to come up with what doesn’t exist in your world already…
2. Let it go
At this stage, our job is to get out of the way. We are often our worst enemies when it comes to manifesting. The patterns of self-sabotage start kicking in, the mind starts telling stories and looking for flaws, the ego wants to claim dominion of the universe — let it all go.
How the magic works is none of our business. Manifesting is not about control, it is rather about trust. Attachment to the result is destructive precisely because it creates fear, fear of what will happen if we do not get what we want. Not only does this fear lower our vibration, it also hampers our spiritual growth.
Manifesting is not so much about getting what we want as it is about becoming who we really are. And sometimes this involves waiting while being suspended in the cloud of unknowing.
Just like a parent has to let go of a child’s hand in order for her to learn to walk by herself, so the universe sometimes needs to let us fall and crawl, until we learn to stand in our own power. Trust that you are loved and supported anyway, even if you don’t feel it here and now. Falling is part of the process of growing up.
One of my teachers used to say that the mind is a fault-seeking missile. It is constantly looking for negativity, for what could go wrong. This function of the mind is a great defense mechanism when it comes to survival. It is good to look for problems when we need to scan our surroundings for danger. But when we go for our dreams, we sometimes need to learn to work around the mind, or risk forever being stuck in the fear of “what if…”.
One of the strategies that is helpful is using the effective question method. In it, we ask our mind to go into the opposite direction. For example, write down 15 ways in which I can make more money this week, or 12 ideas for new products I can launch, or 25 ways to look for a new job. This lets our minds get busy with making lists rather than worrying about the future.
3. Let it in
Receiving what we asked for can be the scariest part of the whole manifesting process. We may have released the desire to control the outcome or to micro-manage the Universe. We may have healed childhood wounds that made us a clingy control freak, and healed the soul-level trauma that we’ve been carrying around for lifetimes.
And yet, our manifestation comes to us in the form of a disaster – be it loss, pain or uncertainty.
When this happens, we are actually releasing what no longer serves us. What now seems like a disaster can well be our greatest blessing, as our own soul is forcing us to receive our freedom. Receive it as it comes.
It is important at this stage to always look for abundance in every situation, by asking ourselves, where is the abundance right now? Perhaps you just lost your job – but you have an abundance of time. What can you do with this time? Maybe you can finally take that course you’ve been thinking about for so long, or start working on your website, or join a meditation group that you never had time for. The possibilities are endless. There is always abundance happening no matter where we are.
Think of abundance as a flow that you are tuning into, not something that you have to “manifest” through finding a magic formula to control the world. The trick is to learn to see this flow of abundance in everything. Gratitude is contagious.
This cultivation of gratitude does not mean false positivity or spiritual bypassing. Our capacity to receive can only be as great as our roots are. If we can’t sit with our grief, our tears, our misery, if we can’t hold space for sadness — we will likely never be able to receive anything of substance from the Universe. But we can still see love as the underlying force uniting every experience, regardless of whether it brings us tears or laughter.
And if your mind likes making negative lists, make it work for you again. Find 15 things to be grateful for each morning as you wake up, even when life looks like an absolute disaster around you.
Receiving abundance means becoming who we are – healers, doctors, writers, artists, mothers or entrepreneurs. It means taking that step into the unknown where we have to trust that we will land before actually seeing the ground. And when the universe smacks us on the head with all the parts of us that feel unworthy of receiving, we accept those parts as an integral part of us and work on healing with forgiveness and compassion.
Eventually, the journey becomes more and more about tuning in and connecting with what is already there, as we gradually lift ourselves up from the collective consciousness and go to the level of a co-creator. When we allow ourselves to join with the Divine, we start seeing things as they really are, rather than how we were taught they were. We start seeing ourselves for who we truly are, powerful co-creators, and start claiming back our power. And this is what true abundance is anyway.
May we always have the courage to take the first step.
