{"id":1431748,"date":"2023-04-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1431748"},"modified":"2023-04-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T08:00:00","slug":"does-manifestation-work-heres-what-tiktok-gets-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1431748","title":{"rendered":"Does Manifestation Work? Here\u2019s What TikTok Gets Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE LAWS OF ATTRACTION<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Does Manifestation Work, or Are We Just Doing It Wrong?<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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The practice isn\u2019t entirely unfounded, but it doesn\u2019t work the way TikTok thinks.<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Jennifer Hussein<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Channing Smith\/Allure<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Do any of the following statements about manifestation sound familiar?<\/p>\n

Today, I’m going to teach you how to change your<\/em> entire life in 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n

Try this manifestation technique if you want<\/em>\u00a0instant results.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the method I use to make my ex obsessed with me.<\/em><\/p>\n

If bold statements like this pop up nearly every time you scroll through your\u00a0TikTok For You Page, you’re far from alone. Self-appointed life coaches and new-age spiritual enthusiasts around the web have taken over the app to gush about their love affair with manifestation, particularly\u00a0how manifestation works<\/strong>, toting tactics like “scripting,” “the 7-7-7 method,” and “the law of assumption” as instantly life-altering. Some even claim to see their aspirations \u2014 often within the ballpark of a\u00a0crush asking them out, a job offer, or a significant salary increase \u2014 come to fruition as immediately as overnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Skepticism aside, the power to wish something into existence by simply pining for it enough is tempting, especially when there are thousands of people preaching their success stories online. The never-ending supply of\u00a0theories, methods, and techniques for manifesting your deepest desires is unquestionably in demand: currently,\u00a0#manifestation has over 32 billion views on the app. For perspective, that’s more hits than\u00a0#beyonce or\u00a0#rihanna.<\/p>\n

Manifestation has taken many forms after hitting the mainstream with some of the most popular being vision boards, affirmations, and\u00a0journaling. But will the universe guarantee all of your wildest dreams will come true just because you wrote them down numerous times? Chances are, probably not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, we are not\u00a0entirely<\/em> doubtful of the powers of manifestation, or at least the reasoning behind it. Like an onion, there are more layers to it. We tapped experts on spiritual manifestation practices, psychology, and even neuroscience to get the full scoop on the ins and outs of manifestation.<\/p>\n

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Meet the experts:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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  • Tara Swart Bieber, MD<\/strong>,<\/strong> a London-based neuroscientist and author of\u00a0The Source<\/em>, a book that delves into the neurological science and benefits of manifestation practices.<\/li>\n
  • Daniel Selling, Psy.D<\/strong>, a licensed psychologist based in New York City and founder of the\u00a0Williamsburg Therapy Group.<\/li>\n
  • Bri Luna<\/strong>, a Seattle-based tarot card reader, manifestation coach, and creative director of The Hoodwitch.<\/li>\n
  • Tamura Lomax,<\/strong> an associate professor of religious studies at Michigan State University.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    In This Story:<\/strong><\/div>\n
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    • What is manifestation and how does it work?<\/li>\n
    • Where did the concept of manifestation come from?<\/li>\n
    • So, does manifestation work?<\/li>\n
    • Tips for practicing manifestation properly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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      What is manifestation and how does it work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

      Equal parts spiritual ritual and mental health practice, manifestation is, at its core, “setting an intention and aligning yourself to co-create with the universe,” according to\u00a0Bri Luna,\u00a0tarot card reader, manifestation coach, and creative director of\u00a0The Hoodwitch. There\u2019s no linear definition beyond this, as, according to Luna, manifestation can take an infinite amount of forms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

      TikTok-touted techniques like scripting and reciting mantras are technically proper forms of practicing manifestation, but both Luna and\u00a0Daniel Selling, Psy.D, a licensed psychologist based in New York City and founder of the\u00a0Williamsburg Therapy Group, say that the practice\u2019s real benefits are actually anchored in your mindset and relationship with the ideology. Dr. Selling says that understanding that manifestation is setting an intention\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and then working really hard towards that intention\u00a0\u2014 is key.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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      \u00a0\u201cYou’re not going to get your desired outcome by just doing nothing,” says Luna. You have to take the inspired steps to and align yourself with the greatest chances that you possibly can to make this desired outcome come about.\u201d This means repeating mantras or writing down your goals may help keep what you want top of mind, but they\u2019re more like tools to help improve your life. \u201cThis is not just something that you can sit around and buy an oil or a crystal, not do anything, and hope for the best. That’s not manifestation. That\u2019s just delusion.\u201d What does the path to alignment look like?<\/p>\n

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      Where did the concept of manifestation come from?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

      Despite its popularity, the origins of manifestation are still unclear. Though mainstream publications like the\u00a0Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0have credited Evangelical preachers and 19th-century New Thought movement philosophers like Ralph Waldo Emerson for the rise of the Law of Attraction (which is considered the foundation of modern manifestation) both Luna and\u00a0Tamura Lomax, an associate professor of religious studies at Michigan State University, say its roots go much deeper.<\/p>\n

      \u201cManifestation has been going on for centuries; it didn’t start with white people in the 1900s \u2014 maybe that’s when they began framing it in a particular way. But to say that that’s where it started, I would have to disagree with that,\u201d says Lomax. \u201cWe don’t really have a starting point for it. Whenever folks were talking about visioning something for themselves and their communities and believing that it was so, that’s when manifestation began.\u201d Sherri Lynn McFarland Ph.D, a professor of Africana studies, peace and conflict studies, and African spirituality,\u00a0previously told\u00a0Allure<\/em> that some of the earliest signs of affirmation and manifestation were seen in the ancient African philosophy of\u00a0ubuntu<\/em>, a Zulu term that literally translates to \u201cI am because we are.\u201d Through\u00a0ubuntu,<\/em>\u00a0followers of this spiritual practice took a more selfless approach to manifestation and used affirmations (which are also a form of manifestation, by the way) to boost the collective good. According to Lomax, who teaches classes focused on the intersection of Black history and religion, this spiritual technique has been evident in key moments of history ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n

      \u201cIf you look at slave tales, sayings, and poems, they often talk about flying back to Africa,\u201d Lomax says, adding that this was an envisionment of their freedom. \u201cThey knew they weren’t birds, they knew that they could not fly, but they knew that they had to tap into something more powerful than what was in front of them, what was material, in order to gain their freedom,\u201d she says. That was definitely a form of manifestation when they envisioned the freedom that they desired.\u201d Fast forward to the 1990s during the South African transition from apartheid to majority rule, and\u00a0ubuntu<\/em>\u00a0became a major philosophical movement popularized by the teachings of Nobel Peace Prize winner\u00a0Desmond Tutu.\u00a0<\/p>\n

      But in the early 2000s, manifestation took on a new form as a \u201cnew-age\u201d philosophy thanks to the rise of self-help books, such as the documentary-turned-book\u00a0The Secret<\/em>\u00a0by Rhonda Byrne. The rules of manifestation in Byrne\u2019s book are surprisingly simple: ask, believe, and receive, which is based on the quote from the Bible’s book of Matthew: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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      These self-help guides became the new root of the watered-down, more condensed versions of manifestation we see and hear across TikTok today, which focus less on the collective good and more on individual matters like financial gain, relationship success, or career goals.<\/p>\n

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      So, does manifestation work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

      The idea that asking the universe for a specific outcome and receiving it sounds outlandish and a tad\u00a0woo-woo<\/em>, all the experts we tapped agree that manifestation does have its benefits. \u201cI think you could replace the word \u2018manifestation\u2019 with \u2018intention,\u2019 right? It’s not accidental luck or success,\u201d says Dr. Selling. \u201cIt happens because you’re in the right place, because you’re open to it, because you want it, because it connects with who you see yourself to be.\u201d<\/p>\n