What is “manifesting”? Simply put in one definition, it’s the “intentional process of bringing your desires and goals to fruition through focused thoughts, beliefs, and actions.” It’s the idea that dreams and desires can be willed into existence through aspirational thoughts.

The science

For the skeptics out there, this isn’t just wishful thinking; it has a scientific basis: “Our brain is constantly creating neural connections based on our thoughts, emotions, and experiences. When we focus intently on something, whether it’s exercising or manifesting our desires, these neural connections become stronger and more prominent. Therefore, when we concentrate our thoughts and energy on a particular goal or desire, the brain can actually rewire itself to take action toward making it a reality.”

In greater detail, “manifesting” is “essentially the process of intentionally embedding the thoughts and images of the life we desire into our subconscious, allowing various cognitive brain networks to be activated and work in sync.”

This is according to neurosurgeon James Doty, who is clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University, and founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.

What manifesting is not, Doty states, is it “is not looking for some magical being outside of yourself to fix everything for you.” It’s about how the brain works – the controller of everything – and maximizing the possibilities.

The concept

Doty is an expert on the biological processes that define how the human brain functions. His studies on the foundations of compassion, manifestation, and empathy as well as the inner biology of the brain show the connection between manifestation and neuroscience.

He explains that each individual has a conscious present, which actually responds to their external world. Plus they have a subconscious, which they have some access to. The subconscious is managed by the salience network, responsible for attention, and by the default mode network. The latter “defines” who a person is. These networks are combinations of areas in the brain that are activated with certain thoughts or events.

The default mode network is where the act of mind wondering originates, including where thinking positive narratives about oneself or what one wants to achieve happens. The brain’s salience network works to focus attention, constantly monitoring the external world. It’s relentlessly attuned to internal and external stimuli. It’s also important in processing pain, emotion, reward, and motivation.

According to Doty, manifesting is about using your conscious networks to place your desires and goals in the unconscious ones. For a person to embed an intention into their subconscious, they must act like their salience network and become attuned to the surrounding events that can help manifest that intention.

Doty gives an example: “I’ll tell a patient that they have a particular diagnosis and, invariably, the patient will say, ‘I have never heard of that before.’ I’ll see them six weeks later and they’ll say, ‘It’s the most amazing thing. I’ve seen five people who have the exact same thing. I had never heard of it before.’”

That’s called “synchronicity.” It’s the “phenomenon of simultaneous occurrences that bring delight or make us sit up and take notice.” Examples include “thinking of a friend right before they text us. Receiving a pearl of wisdom and then hearing it repeated over and over. Noticing repetitive symbols, signs, and dreams. Spontaneous encounters. Being at the right place at the right time.”

It requires time and effort to become attuned and use the brain’s conscious networks to embed desires and goals in the subconscious networks in order to help manifest ambitions. But with training it becomes a natural process.

The true gift of visualizing our intention again and again is to go through life with a buoyant sense that things will work out for us, which liberates us to be both responsive and resilient no matter what our external circumstances bring.”
– James Doty, “What We Get Wrong About Manifesting”, TIME Magazine, May 7, 2024

What are the steps?

• • Engage in a serous analysis of yourself, examining what you need and is best for you and not just what you want.
  • Create an environment that makes you calm and happy (“to be centered, which is to think through the lens of being, of service and of positivity”).
  • Make a list of what you wish to manifest.
  • Read that list aloud.
  • Close your eyes and imagine receiving that.

Repeating these steps will produce results because repetition strengthens neural pathways that help to manifest these things.

Quoting Doty: “Every one of us, every day, no matter our circumstance, has the power to improve the lives of at least one other person. And if that is your focus, that action in and of itself will put you in the mindset and the mind frame to actually help you manifest your intentions.”

Books on manifesting by James Doty include Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How it Changes Everything (2024) and Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart (2017)