First popularised by the bestselling New Age book The Secret, manifestation has remained a cultural phenomenon for decades, championed by people from Oprah Winfrey to Deepak Chopra. Advocates claim you can attract whatever you want — whether that’s a romantic partner, a new business opportunity or even a material object — by asking the universe for it and believing that it can deliver. Some practitioners propose physics-defying explanations that evoke mysterious vibrational forces to explain its effectiveness.
This article is part of a special series exploring the radical potential of the human imagination. Read more here.
This is clearly nonsense, but neuroscientist Sabina Brennan was nevertheless intrigued. What might be the real reason that the practices involved in manifesting can benefit people’s lives? She realised that there were several fascinating, evidence-based explanations for why such interventions can rewire the brain in ways that help you achieve what you desire. In her new book, The Neuroscience of Manifesting, Brennan unpacks some of the mechanisms behind this enduring practice.
Helen Thomson: Can you start by telling me what manifestation is?Â
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Sabina Brennan: Manifesting is the practice of transforming thought into reality by visualising your goal and then developing the discipline to stay focused on and take action to achieve that goal. You can’t magically make things happen — you can’t defy physics — but you can change your reality and your future through focused action.
Manifestation is easy to disregard as unscientific nonsense – why did you think differently?Â
There are a few reasons why manifesting is dismissed by some academics. One is the misconception that manifesting is just wishful thinking rather than the focused discipline of taking action to attain goals. Another relates to the fact that some people who earn a living from helping people manifest their futures invoke quantum mechanics to explain manifesting. This has led some leading scientists to label it as quackery.
It was clear to me that there were parallels between manifestation and components of CBT
Some [manifesting advocates] propose that our thoughts and feelings transmit powerful messages that are received by the universe or some higher power, who then sends back life experiences to match the original thoughts and emotions. That’s obviously not scientifically accurate. Another reason manifesting is dismissed is its associations with magic and mysticism.
I am concerned for vulnerable people who may pay hundreds of pounds to “manifestation coaches” [who teach them to buy into such beliefs]. But there’s absolutely no need to invoke any of those explanations – there is existing science that adequately explains what’s happening. For instance, it was clear to me that there were several parallels between manifestation and components of CBT [cognitive behavioural therapy].
Can you tell me more about that aspect?Â
CBT is a well-researched, scientifically-grounded psychotherapeutic treatment that helps individuals understand the thoughts and feelings that influence their behaviours. Similarly, manifesting holds that by consciously directing our thoughts and emotions, we can influence our actions and, consequently, the events in our lives. Manifestation works, just not for the reasons that many people think.
OK, let’s start with what you describe in your book as manifestation’s first step: self-compassion. Why might that help us achieve our goals?Â
It’s hard to silence that voice in your head that constantly criticises you, but there’s evidence to back up the benefits of being kinder to ourselves. When we use imaging tools to look at the brain while people are thinking self-compassionate thoughts, we see reduced activity in the amygdala, a brain region involved in fear and stress, which suggests that self-compassion may help soothe these states.
We also know that if you practise loving-kindness meditation, which is related to self-compassion, it lowers stress and emotional responses. Uncontrolled stress can hinder learning, harm memory and adversely affect your brain’s structure and function. This all makes it more likely that we fall into unhelpful behaviours and habits that may prevent us from attaining our goals.
Part of manifestation is regularly thinking about what you want from your future, such as by making a vision board, a collage of words and pictures illustrating your goals. How does this help?Â
I believe this has to do with overcoming your brain’s cognitive biases. It’s to do with a theory called predictive processing.
You might think that everybody sees an objective reality, but neuroscientists know that’s not true (see “The four types of imagination and how they create our worlds“). The brain is constantly bombarded with billions of bits of data from your senses and predictive processing theory suggests that, in order to create your perception of the world, your brain needs to filter the important bits and combine that information with your past experiences, your biases, your ideas of the world. The brain uses predictions and best guesses to build our perception of an external world that it doesn’t directly experience.
The brain uses predictions and best guesses to build our perception of an external world
To filter the relevant data, your brain first focuses on information key to your safety and survival. It also filters unusual or unexpected data. Then it will filter whatever is relevant personally to you. Take this example: just before I got married, our car caught on fire and my partner suggested we buy a Mazda 323. Suddenly, I’m seeing them everywhere. It wasn’t that I attracted them to my life. They were always there, they just weren’t relevant to me.
Understanding predictive processing helps you to understand why this step of manifesting works. Having clarity of vision supports focused attention, activating the [brain’s] salience network, filtering in information and new opportunities that are relevant to you achieving your goals.
So, manifesting unlocks a new perception of reality?Â
Yes. We couldn’t survive if our brain didn’t take shortcuts. But that means we tend to see and do the same things all the time. When you make a vision board, you’re changing the message to your brain – saying, “This is what I want to see” – so that your brain is tagging that as salient information. [Because of how our brain filters information,] it is possible for us to completely miss opportunities that are right in front of us.
Manifesting sounds more difficult than I thought!Â
Manifesting harnesses neuroplasticity, our brain’s capacity to adapt to change in the world. But this requires conscious effort and action, which is hard. Our brains favour the status quo, their primary function being to keep us alive, and with change comes uncertainty and risk. We also have a natural tendency to resist change because it’s more effortful than engaging in habitual, routine behaviour.
Can you give our readers some things they can do to best harness the power of manifestation without going down the magical thinking line?Â
Each time you catch yourself in a self-critical thought, take a moment and make a conscious effort to reframe it as if you were speaking to a much-loved friend. Over time, this gradually rewires the brain to choose self-kindness over self-criticism.
Self-awareness is also foundational. Try answering these questions every evening for a week: “What did I enjoy today?”, “When did I feel most like myself?” and “What thought today might no longer serve me?”.
Manifesting is fundamentally about change, so choose one small, new behaviour that supports your goal and commit to practising it daily for a week. This helps overcome the brain’s resistance to change and reinforces action-driven transformation through consistency and novelty.
Gain clarity by starting each week by identifying actions you need to take and check in with this reminder each day. This sharpens the brain’s salience network, and ticking off things you’ve achieved at the end of the day gives you a dopamine hit, keeping momentum going.
Coherence is vital. Each evening, quickly review your day by considering whether your actions reflected your long-term goal and what adjustments you might make the following day.
Finally, you need to “create” your best life using scientifically grounded techniques. Each morning, do a 5-minute practice that involves one affirmation, such as “I have what it takes, I’ve put in the work”; one sentence of gratitude (“I’m grateful for my health”); and one tiny reminder to act “as if” you’re living the way you want to, like: “stand confidently”.
This routine strengthens self-belief, rewires neural pathways through repeated positive reinforcement and helps you live into your desired reality each day.
