Manifestation is often met with skepticism, and I get it. Common ideas of manifestation deemed as too “woo woo” include the concept of attracting people, places, and things into your life by writing them down on paper or idea that you can create your dream life just by closing your eyes and visualizing yourself living it. But what if I told you there’s a form of manifestation that isn’t “woo woo” at all–and it’s actually scientifically proven?
Neuroscientist, speaker, and author, Dr. Tara Swart, does exactly this in her book The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain. Once a skeptic herself, Swart leaned on scientific research to investigate manifestation and its role in our lives, and what she found is that not only can manifestation be proven by science, but it can also be strategically practiced through a few concrete steps.
Recently, I hit a rut in my manifestation practice, and I’m a huge advocate in switching things up when things don’t feel inspiring anymore. So I turned to Dr. Swart’s book for some new ideas and practices to reinvigorate my routine and to see what would happen with a neuroscience-backed manifestation practice. I’m sharing the scientific research behind manifestation, Dr. Swart’s science-backed four-step method to manifesting anything, and what happened when I put her advice to the test.
What is the science behind manifestation?
Manifestation involves two things: engaging all our senses to visualize our intentions and goals, and taking sufficient action to get the results that we want. So manifestation actually fully occurs in the brain, or what Dr. Swart refers to as “the source.” There are two main physiological processes in the brain that explain manifestation. The first is selective attention, which refers to the cognitive process of the brain choosing to focus on the relevant information we receive through the five senses, while filtering out the rest.
For example, when we first meet someone, our brain takes in data (like the image of the person in front of us and our observations of their body language) while filtering out irrelevant data (like the color of the car behind the person we’re talking to). Selective attention is essential to manifestation because “you can’t manifest what you don’t consciously notice,” Dr. Swart wrote. Being aware of selective attention helps us prime our brains to be on the lookout for opportunities that are aligned with our desires.
The second physiological process that happens during manifestation is value tagging. Value tagging is the importance our brains assign to every piece of information, such as people, places, smells, and memories it is exposed to (think: the smell of a vanilla scented candle may jog up memories of your childhood, while the same scent doesn’t trigger any memories for a stranger). Similar to selective attention, being conscious of value tagging helps us tag more value to the things we actually want in our lives, as opposed to negative tagging potential opportunities out of fear.
For instance, a painful breakup or self-esteem issues resulting from a layoff may make us place value on thoughts, feelings, and events that “confirm” that we will never find love again or can’t successfully make a career shift. However, with awareness of value tagging (and thanks to our brain’s amazing ability to rewire itself), we can shift our mindset to valuing thoughts, feelings, and events that confirm that we are worthy of finding love again or capable of seizing opportunities for career changes.
Dr. Tara Swart’s 4-step method to manifesting
1. Take the time to identify your limiting beliefs
This step is all about becoming self-aware so that unproductive selective attention and misguided value tagging doesn’t hold us back from becoming our best selves and creating our dream lives. To raise our awareness, we need to take some time for introspection and reflection to notice what mindsets, attachments, and behaviors may be holding us back. Swart suggests journal exercises that get to the root of self-limiting obstacles.
One exercise in the book that stood out to me was one that simultaneously identified my limiting beliefs while challenging them: I created three columns in my journal. In the first column I wrote down six self-limiting beliefs, in the second column I wrote the “evidence” for believing them, and in the third column, I wrote evidence that fought against the limiting beliefs. This exercise helped me gain clarity on the daily conversations I have with my inner critic that hinder me from taking action while empowering me to shift my mindset.
2. Create an action board
An action board is exactly what it sounds like: a physical representation of the things we are taking action to manifest. For this to work, Dr. Swart encourages us to be intentional and honest when creating it because “images track instantly to your brain’s visual centers, bypassing conscious thought, which means the brain’s filtering system can’t edit them out or dismiss them.” In the past, I’m guilty of rushing and creating vision boards that didn’t deeply resonate with me, such as pulling images that look pretty or would be nice, instead of true representations of my most important goals. Sometimes they were representations of a life I thought I should want or representations that weren’t specific enough to encourage sustained action. So I took a different approach. I became clear on my intentions and goals, scourged the internet for two weeks for images that resonated, took the time to organize it until it felt right, and then made an action board (not just a vision board) that I have displayed on my laptop and phone.
3. Develop a simple mindfulness practice
Mindfulness practices don’t come in a one-practice-fits-all, and Dr. Swart advises us to find a simple one that works for us (even if it’s in the form of being mindful during a conversation with a friend, being present while eating dinner, or engaging in a walking meditation). According to Swart, a regular mindfulness practice increases foldings in our brain in an area responsible for processing and regulating data from the outside world. According to Dr. Swart, this is beneficial for manifestation because it gives us “a new clarity of perspective on what and who are your real priorities in life, supporting ‘higher lever’ brain regulation and improving your resilience, making you more considered and balanced in your approach.”
I’ve always loved meditation and yoga, but I saw these practices as a way to reduce stress, rather than part of my manifestation practice to achieve my goals. But now that I know how important presence and stress relief is for manifestation, I’ve made it a daily routine by incorporating a range of practices—like doing a five-minute breathing exercise while I’m on the train from work or doing a 30-minute guided yoga practice—to ensure that I’m supporting my brain to manifest optimally.
4. Take aligned action every day
Action is an indispensable part of manifestation. For me, the problem isn’t taking action, it’s taking consistent action. Oftentimes, I know what actions I need to take (and I’m reminded of it because of my action board), but after a few weeks, the surge of motivation I had when I made my action board starts to fade, resulting in me reverting back to old patterns and behaviors.
That’s why Dr. Swart recommends daily practices to keep motivation and help us sustain our efforts toward goals. She reiterates getting clear on the behaviors and patterns you want to cultivate, and then integrate personal affirmations into your routine, exposing yourself to new experiences (like trying a new recipe, taking a new route to work, or reading a genre you previously haven’t ventured into), visualization (like viewing your action board and fully immersing yourself in your ideal future), and aligned action (can be as small as going for a run instead of doomscrolling or as big as finally launching that podcast you’ve been wanting to create). The purpose is to make these practices a regular part of our routine and habitually take small steps towards our goals everyday.
My experience trying Dr. Tara Swart’s manifestation method
For the past two months, my mission was to see if I felt any different with these new practices and if Dr. Swart’s method contained some secret ingredient that was missing from my manifestation routine. The results? There wasn’t a life-changing secret ingredient, but the exercises did help me gain more clarity and focus on what I want in life while guiding me to create a refined action plan to achieve them. Dr. Swart’s action board practice was a game-changer, along with her self-awareness practice to identify my limiting beliefs. As for actually manifesting anything on my action board? It’s still a work in progress. But as Swart pointed out, “trusting the process and allowing things to unfold naturally in their own good time” is also an important part of manifestation.
Aaliyah Alexander, Contributing Writer
Aaliyah is a writer, content creator, and blogger based in Brandon, Mississippi. She attended San Diego State University where she received a degree in journalism and worked as an editor for the award-winning student newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Aaliyah covers a range of topics including slow living, her favorite vegan food spots, minimalism, self-growth, and entertainment.
Feature graphic images credited to: Emily Mahadeo | Dupe, Tryfonov | Adobe Stock
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