Why Regulating Your Nervous System Might Be The ‘Missing Key’ To Manifestation

When I first learned about manifestation techniques, starting with the infamous book The Secret, there was zero talk about nervous system regulation. The main focus of Law of Attraction teachings was mindset!

Having a clear and positive mindset inevitably improves many areas of our lives, but it isn’t the whole picture. You can have the most uplifted and consistent positive mindset and still manifest things that go against your higher good.

I almost gave up on manifesting as a concept because of this. I did all I could to keep a positive mindset but did not see those result reflected in my reality…until I learned about working with the body.

In today’s post I want to go over how you can make the same transition yourself!

Manifestation is about what you are ready to receive

Here is the example I heard that made this concept click for me:

Imagine you were to have everything you wanted in your hands tomorrow. A completely new career, lifestyle, relationship.

Everything you’ve ever desired, given to you with a click of the fingers and no strings attached. How would you handle it?

Would you welcome it all in? Would you be able to maintain it over the term? Or would you start making up stories in the mind about why you ‘didn’t deserve it’ and then sabotage things?

Getting everything we want without the necessary mental/physical preparation is a shock to the nervous system. If we got everything we’ve been praying for right now, we’d probably be too stunned to speak. We’d go into freeze or conjure up a reason it wasn’t actually happening to us.

This made immediate sense to me, and the way I approached manifestation shifted just like that.

The preparational phase is just as important as the receiving phase. We are able to release the fears that are getting in our way, build up the right habits and energy, so that when we receive what we want, we can not only hold it but grow it too.

It’s not about what your mind wants, but what your body is ready to receive.

Another way I like to think about this is to go back to how we used to take in information.

When a baby feels love from their parents, they’re not thinking they are loved, their mindset isn’t necessarily ‘positive’. No, they feel loved in the body first. Over many years this develops into thoughts and language to contextualize similar experiences.

Mindset starts in the body

Mindset is not just in the mind, mindset starts in the body.

With patterns we’ve learned over and over again through routine, and paying attention to how our bodies perceive scarcity and abundance – punishment and praise.

We don’t tend to have negative thoughts randomly (even if they appear that way) but are responding to something our body feels (even if we are picking up on things inaccurately).

So, in order to shift our mindset and get into more alignment with our goals & desires, we have to work with the body and better understand our nervous system.

How to regulate your nervous system to receive

I’m not just talking about this from a theoretical standpoint.

Over the last 3 years I have tripled the pricing on some of my offers – and attracted higher paying clients as a result.

I have made endless new friends – when my body used to go into panic socializing.

I have put my writing and videos out there more consistently and with less anxiety.

Yes, this has been the result of changing my inner dialogue and mindset, but going deeper it has all been about getting comfortable receiving. I have set a new baseline for what I feel I am capable of and what I can receive from others.

When a large sale comes through, although I am grateful always, it doesn’t feel that surprising. When I connect with amazing people, I am not questioning whether I am worth it. When a piece of my work goes viral, I am comfortable with the visibility.

There’s no rushing this process, but with time you can allow yourself to receive more than your mind can grasp right now, and consistently so!

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Breathwork

I don’t think this would be a good post about the nervous system if I did not speak on breathwork.

The way we breathe is directly connected to the state of our nervous system. When we are anxious, breathing shallow from the chest we will find ourselves in the sympathetic nervous system. This is associated with ‘fight or flight’ or survival mode.

When we are in survival mode, we cannot even see the opportunities around us, we cannot see the good people around us – all we want to do is clash or run.

Whereas when we are breathing deeply from the stomach in a calm state, we are in the parasympathetic nervous system. When we are in this mode, even if circumstances are tough, we can remain centered and see a way out. We can grab the good in front of us.

To start breathwork you want to do the 4-7-8 breath. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 and exhale for 8. This sounds like a lot but you acclimate to it, and it’s much less extreme than some other variations (but as always be cautious). A longer out than in breath brings us right into that parasympathetic nervous system and calm.

Affirmations

As I discussed, mindset starts in the body. So often we’re focused on shifting thoughts patterns without considering what lays underneath them.

However, sometimes it’s not always best or advisable to start working with the body first. The body holds a lot! Repressed emotions, old memories, traumas etc.

Sometimes working directly with the body, even with practices like breathwork (as simple as they seem) can bring up a lot of material all at once. It’s not uncommon to start uncontrollably crying when doing breathwork – I’ve experienced it a few times.

So, sometimes we do want to start with shifting our mindset, just not neglecting everything else in the long-term.

Start simple with affirmations to begin. Rather than affirming your desire to become a bestselling author, financial free or super confident right away, start with something closer to your current comfort zone.

For example: I am open to new opportunities

I am uncovering more confidence

I appreciate the abundance I currently have

Affirmations can get a bit involved, so I have a whole post on them you can read here.

Journaling

Journaling works in a similar way to affirmations – you are better understand and shifting your inner dialogue. But journaling also works as a great reflective tool, to unearth a little more about yourself.

One of the main reasons we don’t manifest what we’re been focusing on, is because there is a shadow in the way!

If you don’t already know, a shadow is an unconscious belief or pattern that conflicts with your desired outcome.

We might want more financial freedom, and yet anytime we see a large dollar sign in our bank…we panic. This is understandable, make a lot of sense, but it is also what holds us back.

I like to use journaling to do shadow work. Starting with a prompt such as ‘When I receive money/love/support, how do I respond’

Then develop on your answers with follow up questions ‘Why do I respond this way?’ or ‘What new response am I leaning into?’

Connecting to nature

I don’t think I really need to expand on why nature is great for the nervous system. Wherever you decide to go – to the mountains, natural bodies of water, forest or woods – there are endless benefits.

When I go out into nature I see a direct representation of the abundance available to us all. I feel my energy is contained or held there, a lot of the problems I have are released to something bigger.

Each time we go into nature we are reminding our bodies of how to tap into calm and flow more freely, and this energy gets mirrored in our physical environment with what we attract & manifest.

Visualization

It is said that our brain cannot distinguish between a visualized event and a physical one. I do know that those who practice certain skills in lucid dreams, show marked improvement on them in waking life too.

Visualization can put your body in a new state without the same fear or anxiety that comes from a ‘real’ scenario.

I like to use visualization to picture how I might interact with new, more aligned clients. Visualize travel destination and put myself there. Imagine how it would be to live the type of lifestyle I want.

I have found the most success visualizing at night time! In what Neville Goddard refers to as the STATS or state akin to sleep. Where our mind moves between the conscious and subconscious and we’re a little more suggestible.

Visualization works best when we are detail-oriented, and most importantly, invoke emotion. Really get into the scene but also feel how you would feel if this were real.

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