Transcript

Ani
Hi, and welcome to the Somatic Coaching Academy podcast. Hey there, Brian.

Brian
Hello, Ani.

Ani
How are you?

Brian
I’m doing great. Good. And yourself?

Ani
Pretty good, thanks. Yeah, we are at episode 94 today, yeah? Yep.

Yeah. And we’re on a roll to 100 here.

Brian
And today we are talking about manifestation.

Ani
Ooh.

Brian
That whole topic of manifestation, it can seem really wondrous sometimes, can’t it?

Ani
People get excited about manifestation. I feel like we should like toss confetti in the air when we say it. Manifestation, woo!

Brian
And I think because of that, other people are like, hooey, like manifestation, like…

Ani
I don’t believe in manifestation.

Brian
Yeah, you’re out there, people, like, kind of thing.

Ani
I had someone the other day tell me that their friend said to them, it was kind of like a bold thing, like, I don’t believe in manifestation. And the person kind of took offense to it, because they feel like they do manifestation as a coach with their clients. And I just thought it was funny, because I’m like, what do you mean you don’t believe in it?

It’s like saying, I don’t believe in dogs, like, right?

Brian
Like, don’t believe in air.

Ani
Yeah, yeah.

Brian
Don’t believe in…

Ani
Okay, like, so what? It exists, it’s a thing.

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
I don’t believe in it. Like, by saying that, you’re like, I don’t know, it’s like a horcrux or something from Harry Potter.

Brian
Yeah. Well, the funny thing is, is like, I wonder if that person ever makes dinner for themselves.

Ani
I believe they probably do.

Brian
Because if they are, then by definition, they’re making something manifest.

Ani
Yeah, exactly.

Brian
So… Oh, ooh. Ooh.

Ani
We know what’s coming, don’t we, folks? I think that was some foreshadowing that we have a definition.

Brian
We have a definition on its way. But basically, what we’re going to talk about today is the manifestation principle that people most often miss. And that might actually lead back to what your friends or client’s person said around, they don’t believe in manifestation.

Yeah. Because there are all kinds of things that we think manifestation is supposed to be. But let’s go to the definitions.

Ani
Go to the…

Brian
When you look up what it means to manifest in the dictionary in Webster’s, here’s the definition. Readily… So when something is readily perceived by the senses, and I thought this was interesting, and especially by the sense of sight.

Ani
Readily perceived by the senses. Okay. Oh, and especially the sense of sight.

Brian
So it just lends itself to, as human… We are really sight-dominant creatures.

Ani
You don’t see it here. I see it to believe it.

Brian
Yeah, right. If I see it, then it’s real. Yeah.

Isn’t it interesting how sight-dominant we are as humans? In terms of validating what we believe, like just what you said, I need to see it to believe it. Which is interesting because we’ve got these other faculties also that become a part of it.

Ani
No, that’s totally true. I’m laughing because I think sometimes when you hear manifest it, you think like a magic trick, like it’s not there. And then all of a sudden, poof, I can see it.

Brian
And I think that’s why people would say they don’t believe in manifestation, because I think partly that’s the misconception. We have a manifestation as it goes immediately from the invisible to the visible. Now, that very rarely happens.

Ani
Except with white bunnies and magicians.

Brian
Yeah, well, with magical thinking and that sort of thing.

Ani
Well, what pops in and out of our experience? The only thing I know that does that is my clients on Zoom. I’m serious, though.

Brian
That’s funny.

Ani
Yeah, they weren’t there and then they’re there. Virtual background. You call up the meeting, you see the virtual background, and all of a sudden, poof, the client appears.

And it’s like, oh, I will never get used to that ever.

Brian
That’s funny.

Ani
That’s really funny.

Brian
The only thing in my experience that I- Then they become readily perceived by your sense of sight. That’s interesting. Well, by definition, they have just become manifest to you.

Ani
Right, right. I couldn’t see them and then all of a sudden, I do.

Brian
That’s interesting.

Ani
But that’s the only time I can think of that something goes- That happens immediately like that. That’s, yeah, not how things work.

Brian
So let’s, a little more of a definition here. Another part of the definition is when something is easily understood or recognized by the mind. And there was a word after that, obvious.

So there’s a sense that there was something apparent or something obvious that happened with that. So manifest also kind of means to come to the hand. That’s kind of like the idea that all of a sudden it appears, it’s real.

It’s apparently not only tangible, but we see it.

Ani
Obvious.

Brian
It’s obvious. And it’s obviously there. Now, I think what’s interesting, what’s occurring to me right now is where we are sometimes in the world right now is that we have alternate facts.

Some people believe in alternate facts, like something is apparent and the other person’s like, it’s not apparent. That’s real. That’s not real.

So that becomes a challenge when it seems like we have people living in different realities, actually. Well, yeah. So do we have to agree that the thing is obvious?

Not necessarily for someone’s personal manifestation process.

Ani
This has something to do with perception. Read that again.

Brian
When it’s easily understood or recognized by the mind.

Ani
So that’s really interesting right there, because something can be recognized by, like you’re saying, like your mind, but not recognized by my mind because of perceptual differences.

Brian
Correct. And that was mind too. I mean, that’s the whole, like, let’s talk about the next four podcasts about that.

Ani
Right, right, right. Yeah. But perception would then tell us that one person could say that something’s manifest and another person would say it’s not.

Brian
Correct. Exactly. Which can sometimes be interesting because we do have blind spots in our mind.

Ani
Yeah.

Brian
Our perceptions, we have perceptual blind spots called scotomas, and those happen with our subconscious conditioning. And lots of times when we’re working with our clients and our students, something is obvious to us that they’ve manifested, but they don’t see it because it’s in their perceptual blind spot or scotoma. Likewise for me, I might say, I would love to have something come into my life.

And you’re like, it’s right there. And I’m like, I don’t see it.

Ani
Actually, that’s a really interesting point too about manifestation, because sometimes people can think that things go poof from nowhere to appearing. Like the book, The Secret that was so popular years ago kind of made it sound like that’s what it was.

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
Right. And then after it came out, people were talking about how it’s not like that. Things are in our experience.

We just aren’t aware of them yet. And that’s what that reminds me of.

Brian
Yeah. Yeah. So that whole process of manifestation, the idea with the book, The Secret, I think it activated a lot of people’s awareness of the possibility for manifestation, but it also left a lot out of the process, actuality.

And I think it set people up for a lot of disillusionment, which created a lot of- Who would crack it. Exactly. Which brings us to the most common misconception or missed part of manifestation, which leads back to, I think, why this person said, I don’t believe in manifestation.

Ani
Are you done with the definition?

Brian
I am done with the definition.

Ani
Okay. Just making sure.

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
I’m done with the definition. All right. On to the next part.

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
Yeah. So yeah, what’s that?

Brian
What is it? It’s because, again, does it go poof? But let’s just talk about it right now.

Like the most misperceived or missed principle of manifestation, in my mind, is that when people think manifestation is a passive process.

Ani
Right.

Brian
And I think that probably leads back again to what you were saying about this person when they say, I don’t believe in manifestation. We actually walk through them what manifestation actually is. They’d probably like, oh, that’s what you’re talking about.

Because we’re going to walk through it right now. It’s very clear. Like how you manifest something is pretty clear.

Right. How you go about doing that. And it’s not a passive process.

It’s actually a very active process.

Ani
Yeah. I relate to this because I used to think that manifestation was sitting on a cushion, visualizing what I wanted, saying mantras.

Brian
And then it goes poof.

Ani
And then waiting for it to appear. Yeah. Exactly.

Or waiting for me to attract it.

Brian
Now, we’re not discounting that there’s not a part of a manifestation project, which is visualizing what you want to create. That definitely is a part of it. But if you stop there.

Ani
Right.

Brian
And you think that all I have to do is visualize it and it’ll happen. You’re likely to be very disappointed.

Ani
Yeah. Because there’s action associated.

Brian
There’s action associated.

Ani
Making something manifest.

Brian
Right. So if we look at our definition again, something is manifest when it becomes apparent to the senses. When it’s obvious that it’s there.

Now, also baked into this idea is that once we didn’t perceive it, now we do perceive it. So that’s what it means to make manifest. At a certain moment in time, we don’t perceive it.

And then we do perceive it. Now it has become manifest. So it’s kind of moving from the invisible to the visible.

Ani
Sure.

Brian
Because if the definition says, you know, especially the sense of sight. And by the way, I’m not saying that that’s the only way something can become manifest. I’m just looking at the, because it says especially, not only.

Ani
Right. Well, yeah, it’s mentioned with all the senses.

Brian
But if we talk about sight, visible and invisible, that has to do with the sight. So when something moves from the invisible to the visible, then it has become manifest. One of my favorite examples, Ani, is an example you use all the time when we teach about manifestation, which is about making dinner.

Ani
Yeah. Yeah. So if you want to manifest dinner, the first thing you do is you think about dinner and then you sit on your cushion and you visualize dinner and it goes poof and dinner ends up in your kitchen.

Right? No. First, you think about what you want to make.

Then you gather the ingredients for it. And then you go to action in the kitchen. You put the ingredients together and it makes dinner manifest.

Right.

Brian
Yeah. So a dinner first started as an idea. Correct.

Right. Started as an idea. Invisible.

Right. So I’m visualizing, you know, a hamburger.

Ani
You’re making me hungry now.

Brian
Right. So I’m visualizing a hamburger. And for those of you here who are vegans or vegetarians, I’m visualizing a black bean burger right along with you.

Okay. So a holistic burger everyone can buy into. Okay.

And if you don’t like that, then visualize a hamburger. Anyway, so you’ve got a burger in your… I’m visualizing.

Right.

Ani
It’s invisible. Brian’s smash burgers.

Brian
Okay. Brian’s smash burgers. I do make some amazing smash burgers.

Hulk smash burgers. Right.

Ani
Yeah. Okay.

Brian
So you can visualize those things. Now, by the way, you might not have all those ingredients in your cabinet.

Ani
Right.

Brian
You might have to go…

Ani
Get them.

Brian
…to the meat market like we do eight times a day. Right. I forgot this.

I forgot that. We go back to it.

Ani
Yeah.

Brian
We go back. Right. Kind of thing.

So we go down to the village meat market eight times a day. They keep picking up what we need sort of thing. Or the kids can drive now.

So sometimes the kids drive down there and pick up something and come back. Anyway.

Ani
They should just leave an open tab for us or something and close it out at the end of the day.

Brian
Right. So you might have to go get the thing.

Ani
Yeah.

Brian
So those ingredients, by the way, they’re not in your visual range and they don’t just go poof. You have to go get them. Yeah.

Okay. So you go collect all the ingredients and then you mix them together, turn them into a burger.

Ani
Well, and it makes something new, right? Exactly. Because you have these ingredients that are one thing and then you mix them together and they make a different thing.

Brian
But at one time, those black beans that are in your black bean burger were in the… The greens grow on the ground or on a tree, on a plant. Oh, now we’re getting…

Keep going back. Right. So they came off of a plant and then before that, they were in a seed.

And before that, they weren’t even in a seed. They were in a seed of another plant. So if you just keep going back, at one time, the black beans were invisible.

Ani
So if you believe in plants, then you believe in manifestation. Like literally, the bean was in the seed and then the seed was in another plant? I mean, come on.

Brian
And then it turned into a bean. So everything’s moving. Everything is moving from the invisible to the visible and then back to the invisible again because when I eat the burger, it’s gone.

Right? Yeah. So the burger started as an idea, made the burger, it became visible, it became manifest.

I just manifested a burger, not by sitting on a couch and hoping it was going to happen. I actually went to work, used my own energy and skills and whatever, made a burger. And then I ate the burger and then the burger went back into the invisible again.

Ani
Yeah. So even if the burgers manifested our house, somebody had to do it. Right.

And if it’s a Smashburger, it was Brian. That’s right.

Brian
In our house.

Ani
But somebody had to do it.

Brian
Exactly. So manifestation always includes some type of action. It’s not a passive process.

Ani
Yeah. And that makes sense because we live in the human world where there is humans and muscles and objects and things.

Brian
And things.

Ani
Exactly. And I think one of the things that can sound like, okay, I don’t even want to listen to this episode anymore now because they’re making manifestation sound so practical and boring. I want to be in the magic of manifestation.

Listen, there’s so much magic also in manifestation. How does the burger become these ingredients into this yummy, amazing thing that tastes so good? Is there no magic in there?

That’s magic. Also, part of manifestation is becoming aware of things that you can’t see right away, but are already in your presence. They’re already in your field.

Like the ketchup that nobody saw last night when we went to have dinner and it was literally right in the refrigerator, but nobody saw it. And I know that sounds kind of silly and we’re laughing about it, all the ketchup. But literally that is what it’s like when there’s opportunities in your field and you’re trying to manifest something and it’s right there.

It’s just like the ketchup that the teenagers can’t see in the refrigerator.

Brian
Yeah. So are all manifestation projects like that straightforward? No.

However, when you understand that that’s the basic process of manifestation, it helps you understand how bigger projects kind of can happen. And it helps you hold space for understanding that when you do have a manifestation intention and the way you create the intentions is important, by the way, right? So there are other processes within a manifestation project that’s really, really important because the ingredients that you use to make the burger is going to determine the quality and the experience of eating the burger.

Exactly. And the intentions that you use when you are finding the ingredients to make the burger is going to affect the quality of the burger. So it’s our intentions.

It’s our attention. It’s our energy. It’s all kinds of other factors going to play to really end up with the results of the manifestation project that we really, really want.

But manifestation is within itself a natural process that’s going on all of the time, literally constantly.

Ani
Constantly. We’re always manifesting. You can do it unconsciously or you can learn how to do it consciously, but we’re always manifesting.

Brian
And we’re really always manifesting based on, well, if you want to kind of get into this, our beliefs. Our subconscious beliefs are always the drivers of what we’re manifesting. And in our lives, we’re often manifesting on autopilot and on repeat results that we don’t like.

And they’re not just appearing. They might look like they’re just appearing out of nowhere, but the fact is we are engaging in the world in such a way where we are actually fostering the repeat of those results that we don’t like.

Ani
Yeah. So people might say, oh, I want to manifest. Like it’s not something they’re doing already, but we’re all always manifesting.

Really what they’re saying is I want to learn how to consciously manifest.

Brian
Exactly. And it’s the very first thing, the myth that we kind of have to just take away or the misconception is this is not a passive process. It’s not a passive process.

I think it’s exciting, Brian.

Ani
That’s exciting. We get to engage with life as it should be.

Brian
Now, yes, absolutely. And I think it even makes it a little more exciting because then if there is any magic to manifestation, and even though I understand the mechanics of manifestation, there are some things about it that still kind of thrill me, I guess, or that seem a bit wondrous. And some of those things are that when you are in an active manifestation project and you set an intention and then you begin acting on the intention in certain ways, and as you’re moving forward in the project, just when it seems that you’ve hit some type of block or some type of wall, like there’s some type of resource lack, like there might not look like enough money or look like enough support, or you might need something from someone or something or someplace or something, like always right at the right time, it shows up and then it appears.

And sometimes in hindsight, when I look back, I can see, oh my God, I can actually see now how that thing was coming into my life. Sometimes I can’t see how it was coming into my life all the time. But that’s, I think for me, what makes it so wondrous are the synchronicities in manifestation.

And so for me, that’s what feels magical. But what I also know is that by getting into action is what activates those synchronicities. I can’t just sit on my cushion and visualize what I want because synchronicities won’t happen.

I have to be in action to activate the synchronicities.

Ani
Yep. Me too. I think that’s my favorite part about manifestation.

And it really is that wondrous feeling as the synchronicities play out. And it’s one of those, you can’t make this stuff up kind of things. You have to look through it like, whoa, whoa.

It does require that action component.

Brian
Yeah. And sometimes that thing that shows up in synchronous is something that you don’t think you want.

Ani
Yeah.

Brian
And then you realize like, oh my God, there it is.

Ani
That was the exact thing.

Brian
It’s almost like the universe is really just playing a joke on you. And it’s like reflecting back to you, like you just said, kind of thing. And then you have to be like, oh yeah.

And it’s so obvious. You’re like, oh my God, like there it is. Okay.

So I guess now’s the time for me to do that thing that I’m afraid of doing or I don’t want to do. And I think that’s why we like to have it be a passive process. It’s because really transformational manifestation projects will challenge us to grow.

Ani
That’s transformation. Yeah.

Brian
They do.

Ani
Yeah. That’s transformation.

Brian
Right. Because just making dinner, if you’ve made dinner a whole bunch of times in your life, it’s not going to make you grow to make dinner. Right.

I mean, you’re going to just make dinner, but it’s not going to be a challenge. It’s not going to challenge you to change your belief systems. Unless you’re making a different kind of dinner for a different kind of person for a different kind of reason or something, then it might force you to change your belief systems.

But most of the time, just when you’re on repeat, you’re not challenging your belief systems.

Ani
Right.

Brian
And that’s why we want to, it seems easier to sit on the cushion, visualize the beach house that I’m going to visualize and just expect it’s going to drop in. I mean, you have a client you’ve worked with who visualized a beach house. Yeah.

And got it. She had to get into action though. Yeah.

It didn’t just land on her lap while she was visualizing it, right?

Ani
No. And the process, especially right before it became hers was really like a growth opportunity. There were a lot of growth moments on the way, but especially right before it became hers was a major growth opportunity.

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
But I think that’s part of the magic of it. If we just had the manifestations where things just landed, guess what? That would feel routine.

And then it would lose its sizzle.

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
Wouldn’t it?

Brian
Yeah.

Ani
You know, if things just went poof. So it’s the part of the growth process that can be like a little bit of a rollercoaster ride at the amusement park. You know, there’s wheeze and there’s oh, yeah.

But it’s part of that variability actually that makes it the fun we crave.

Brian
Yeah. You’re right. And then you lose that thrill or that wonderment of actually seeing it all come together.

Ani
Yeah. If it didn’t have all of those ingredients, it would just be predictable and we’d think about things and they just go poof.

Brian
Yeah. And we would also give up our capacity, our willpower, right? So I’m really kind of thinking about that part of ourselves that when we take action, how much that reinforces our own sense of empowerment in the world.

Like, oh my God, I took an action and it got a result and how proud of ourselves we feel in a healthy way that we did that. And it reflects back to us, our self-worth grows, our capacity to engage grows. And then all of a sudden we’re like, oh my, now I can do that again and again and again and again and again.

Ani
Yeah.

Brian
And I can just manifest that on repeat. But every manifestation project, again, requires action, requires us to step into a greater version of ourselves, requires that we let go of limiting beliefs, requires that we let go of these limiting concepts and prove to ourself that’s what the manifestation comes in, right? Where it’s obvious, obvious that we can manifest that result again and again and again and again and again.

And then once we do that, we’re like, oh, I’m ready for another result. And then we start thinking about manifesting something else.

Ani
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I’m just laughing at myself because for me, it’s like right before the thing I’m working on becomes manifest or just as it’s becoming manifest, I start to get the new vision for the next thing.

Brian
Yeah. And probably here’s a difference between you, Ani, and people who have that misconception that it’s a passive process is that you know how to manifest that next thing.

Ani
Sure.

Brian
Because you understand the process of manifestation.

Ani
Right.

Brian
Where if you were to sit on a cushion and just manifest it, and even if it went poof and you have no idea how that actually happened, then you can’t repeat that. You can’t. And so then you’re like, well, maybe I got lucky.

Maybe it was by chance it showed up. And so I’ve had people who sit on the cushion and maybe something doesn’t go poof like that appear. Right.

But something approximate to what they wanted happens.

Ani
Yeah.

Brian
And then they’re like, oh, I want something else. They sit on the cushion again for months or years.

Ani
Because they think that’s the cause and effect.

Brian
They think that’s the cause and effect of it. But when you actually understand the process of manifestation, which is what we practice and what we teach, then you can manifest anything you want.

Ani
Yeah. And then you become the cause of the effects.

Brian
Yeah. And then it’s not even to the point of the manifestation process isn’t even the thing that you’re manifesting. The point of it is it getting better and better and better at the process itself.

Ani
Yeah.

Brian
Because when you know the process itself, you can just keep doing it again and again and again. And again, it’s just like the same idea of making dinner. You’ve got the idea.

You get yourself into action. You pull together the ingredients and mix them together. Out pops the burger or the result.

You’re going to eat it and it’s going to disappear again, which is another part of the manifestation process, actually, that most people don’t want to engage with.

Ani
Right.

Brian
Is whatever they manifest is eventually going to go away.

Ani
And when you know how to manifest, that’s okay because there’s this continual process of manifestation. But when you don’t, that can feel really daunting and scary.

Brian
Exactly. And that’s why a lot of us don’t actually take action to manifest things.

Ani
Yeah. Because- We don’t want it to go away.

Brian
We don’t want it to go away. So there’s underlying attachment to whatever it is that we’re creating. Right.

But since nature continues to cycle again and again, it’s always formulating and letting go of, always formulating and letting go of with no attachment. But as humans, if we have any attachment to it, we actually will muck up the manifestation project to begin with.

Ani
Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, gosh, Brian. All this talk about manifestation and burgers is really making me hungry. I think it’s time for lunch.

I think it’s time for lunch. I think it’s time for us to manifest some lunch.

Brian
Yeah. I’m right there with you. Cool.

So if this topic was, I don’t know, what can we say?

Ani
Fun for you.

Brian
Fun for you. Or if it brought anything up for you, if you’re thinking about manifestation projects, of course, reach out, put a, what do they call? Comments down there below, wherever the comments are.

Check us out on social media, send us an email. We want to know what you’re thinking about this stuff.

Ani
Yeah. And share it with somebody you know who’s trying to manifest because these are conversations we have all the time, you know? So share it with a friend and then they will know more about manifestation too.

And you will be manifesting an even deeper relationship with your friend.

Brian
Right. So get into action, get out there and do it. And we’ll see you next week on the podcast.

Ani
Bye-bye.