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A newsletter came into my inbox that talked about why the main reason people couldn’t manifest was that their nervous system was dysregulated, and then they started to sell their yoga and breathing exercises to help regulate your nervous system. Now, I love yoga, pranayama (yogic breathing) and yoga nidra for regulating my nervous system, but also I’ve had some pretty amazing opportunities come my way and while I am doing much better, there still are times when my nervous system gets disregulated. I have generalized anxiety disorder and cPTSD, not to mention living as an AuDHD’er; I’m going to get disregulated. A lot. More often than I’d like. Which is why when I was reading this, much like how doing “more yoga” could cure any chronic illness or disability (pro tip – it can’t!), the implication was if you weren’t manifesting what you wanted, then you just weren’t doing enough yoga or breathing enough.
Say what?
There was something more insidious hiding in that statement, the ableist belief that someone can regulate their nervous system all the time and that having a disregulated nervous system means that not only is there something wrong with you, but also that you can’t “manifest”. That’s like a whole eugenics, ableist, prosperity gospel bullshit pie that’s not allergy safe for anybody. We should all be so disgusted by it that we immediate repudiate anyone who proclaims such capitalist crap from our marketplaces because their only intent is to sell things and cause harm.
I’m serious. I’m a whole lot pissed off.
Now, there’s a lot to unpack, more than I could say in this blog post, but I’m going to do my best.
I have a rocky relationship with manifestation. On one hand, I’ve had some wacky amazing universe things line up, such as the animal chaplaincy program that I’m starting this fall, but the truth is, most likely my desire to find something authentic to me, my ability to look outside the box, and the ability to follow footnotes and go “who is this? what’s that org?” is probably what brought the opportunity to me. And I can tell you that since the discovery happened in the last semesters of grad school, I was disregulated as an unbalanced washing machine. There was no emotional regulation to be found anywhere in my vicinity. And yet, I’m starting veterinary chaplaincy school this fall. Yay me.
To me, manifestation is simply about being able to see opportunities and to seize them. That takes a lot of interconnected pieces, many of which we have no control over. It’s part knowing the right groups or the right people, and in my case it was a total fluke that a grief certification I was taking was connected with this group. It’s part having the skills to take advantage of the opportunities, such as being able to apply, write essays, and such. I’m thankful to be able to do that. I know not everyone is. But a lot of it also means having a fairly regulated nervous system to begin with.
Let me explain.
First, let’s look at the meaning of the word “manifestation”. Merriam-Webster dictionary lists several definitions.
- the act, the process, of manifesting. (Hey, I was taught in school we weren’t supposed to define the word with a form of the word. I’ll get back to this.)
- something that manifests or is manifesting (like a ghost)
- one of the forms in which an individual is manifested
- an occult phenomenon
- A public demonstration of power and purpose
Okay, so now we’re going to go back to manifest. This definition is much simpler. It is “readily perceived by the senses and especially by the sense of sight”. Or “easily understood or recognized by the mind” and a second definition is “to make evident or certain by displaying or showing” (link)
This is getting long, but I’m getting to the point. I promise. Most people want to manifest money, health, relationships, or status symbols. Things they think would make their lives easier because well, more money means less stress over having your basic needs met, a relationship might help you feel less lonely, health is pretty obvious, especially since our culture ties so much into youth and health, and status symbols mean power and people look up to you. Manifesting is a way for many people (not all) to go from “not enough” in some regards to enough.
And I’m not going to lie. Having emotional regulation, being able to regulate your nervous system helps with that. A lot. But there’s also a lot of other things that go into manifesting, because for many of those things it’s a matter of being aware of what’s around you, taking advantage of opportunities (saying yes, when your friend offers to introduce you to someone, for example), and having the confidence and awareness to do so. It might also mean having insider knowledge (not what you know, but who you know and what they tell you), or being able to parlay some money into a bigger opportunity, which supposes you have money to begin with to do so.
I’m not saying that manifestation is a complete and total lie. What I am saying is first, the universe operates in ways we don’t understand because we’re in our physical bodies and using our senses to understand things, which leaves some information out, (We can’t see quarks or neutrons for example with our eyes or even a strong pair of reading glasses.) What I am saying is that the way manifestation is being sold to you, to all of us, is meant to do one thing: put money, esteem, and acclaim in the pockets of whoever is doing the selling.
Let me be very autistically blunt and perfectly clear here: If someone is using ableist or “favor of a deity” type language to sell you manifesting, rather then a broader “hey, I can help you feel better about yourself or your body or even feel less stressed”, then they may be very nice people, but they’ve fallen into a capitalist tiger trap, and I encourage you to bypass whatever they’re offering.
Your ability to manifest has nothing to do with your disability status or lackthereof, and yes, mental health concerns like anxiety and trauma (cPTSD/PTSD), and neurodiverse brains (which is not a mental health concern, but a simple fact of existence), can impact our ability to regulate our nervous system and take advantage of opportunities, but no one is not tossing you a winning lottery ticket because you’re anxious and on the verge of a panic attack. Okay?
What can we do about this?
I encourage you to call out ableism where you see it. Push back. “Hey, you said this, and this is the impression that you gave. Is this what you meant? Are you telling me that I can’t manifest because I have GAD, cPTSD, and am AuDHD?” (or fill in whatever you like). The person may ignore you. Or they may get flustered and hem and haw and throw around a word salad to try and make you think that they weren’t at least internally ableist. They might even get defensive, because no one wants to be ableist, even though it’s baked into our culture and we all have internalized ableism that we need to confront from time to time.
I also encourage you to continue to use whatever methodologies work for you. If sending reiki to something (which is like praying, honestly) feels better to you, or you prefer to meditate on something or you just want to brainstorm about it. Keep doing what works for you and makes you feel good.
I also really want to close this long article (guess I had a lot to say) by saying that there is nothing wrong with you. Whatever you’re dealing with right now, whatever is disrupting your emotional and nervous system regulation, doesn’t make you a bad person or somehow inherently wrong. It means you’re going through a tough time right now. You need support, not someone who is preying upon your greatest fears to take a large number ending in 97 from you. I’m not saying that these people don’t care. They do, but what they don’t realize is that they’re only marketing to people like themselves, people with their own lived experiences, and honey, that’s a mighty shallow pool in which to swim. And I encourage you to come explore the ocean.
