Manifest
My thoughts on the book Manifest and the power we all have within us to make our dreams tangible.
I believe my first intentional encounter with manifesting was in 2012. My aunt who was fighting a battle with cancer was working with a naturopath named Maria in Illinois who would read patients’ physical and energetic bodies from head to toe having never seen them in person. My aunt encouraged me to see Maria since at the time, I was suffering from a host of gastrointestinal issues and food sensitivities.
During one of my sessions with her, she sensed a romantic relationship in my field that was not serving me. She suggested that I read the book The Soulmate Secret to call in my true partner. I remember, I was quite resistant to this suggestion because I was convinced at the time that the person I was dating was the love of my life. Regardless, I heeded her advice and bought the book after work the next day. I covered it in Barnes & Noble wrapping paper because I was embarrassed to be seen reading it on the subway, and dove in.
I did a few of the exercises in the book—one in particular involved writing letters to all of my past love interests to cut the ties. One night, I wrote two letters, neatly folded them up and closed them into the book. Suddenly my phone buzzed. Lover #1 had texted me to see how I was doing. I hadn’t heard from him in months. A few minutes later, it buzzed again. There was lover #2. I was flabbergasted. It was as if they sensed the cord-cutting I had done. Even though I recognized the power of this book, soon after doing this activity I lost my steam to keep going. I was still very consumed by one of these lovers, and I was caught up in his web, deeply believing that we would work out.
The book sat on my bookshelf for a long time after that. It was only about six years later, during a summer rainstorm, that I was reminded of the book. I had just finished a mediation when I heard a thud from the corner of the living room. I looked over to see that The Soulmate Secret had practically leapt off the shelf and was on the floor. I took it as a sign and that night I sat with the book, reading it from the beginning again. As I made my way through I was sure to do every exercise this time in detail. Including one where I drew out the vision I had of my future partner. I listed out attributes, how I wanted to feel in the relationship, and what my life would look like with my partner alongside me. I finished the book right before traveling to Charleston for work. Y’all know the rest of this story went because I wrote about it back in the springtime in this post, but basically, I manifested my fiancé.
But besides calling in my partner, I would say that my relationship to manifesting over the years has been hot and cold. I go through phases where I’m really into it and remain incredibly intentional, and then fall out of interest, leaning into old habits and negative belief systems. I’ve written plenty of visions down on paper, turned passwords into the amount I wish to see in my bank account, etc, etc. And some of it has come to fruition, but oftentimes I get too caught up in the thought of how powerful we can be if we only just believe in ourselves. Sort of like when you look up into the night sky and remember how tiny and inconspicuous we really are in this wide and wild universe.
But when my friend Sejal sent me a screenshot of Manifest by Roxie Nafousi at the beginning of January, it took me less than 10 minutes to decide that I’d read it too.
In short, I loved this book.
Unlike other manifestation books, Roxie gets straight to the core of what makes a difference in this practice. Of course, she acknowledges the magic and esoterica around manifestation, but she doesn’t linger there. Roxie makes it very simple. Laid out in seven steps, it feels incredibly clear how one would go about building out a solid vision, and then go on to actually manifest those visions in their lives.
I resonated deeply with the work she offers around self-love. Roxie emphasizes how imperative it is to care for yourself throughout the process of living your dream life. Once the vision is set, we must put it away and that’s when the real work begins. Throughout the book, Roxie underlines why identifying fears and locating any seeds of doubt that may have been given space to grow within us is necessary to create an environment ripe for new things to grow. We are taught to realign our behaviors to a higher frequency of love because by doing this we set ourselves up in alignment with the energetic frequency of our visions.
While reading Manifest, I added gratitude writing back into my routine. I adapted her suggestion slightly, writing out a flowing paragraph of gratefulness for future manifestations that haven’t arrived yet mixed in with things that I’m currently grateful for. By combining these things, I feel as though I am getting myself into a beautiful flow state to receive all that is meant for me.
One of the most profound parts of the book was in its final step—a focus on trust. Trust has been a big theme for me the past few months. I’ve been coming into a deeper trust with the flow of my life, putting more faith into my unique process, and allowing for what is meant to come through for me to emerge without judgement or anticipation. And at the end of Manifest, it is clear that in order for manifestations to flourish, we must fully trust. We will be given tests of all sorts, and our job is to continue to believe that the vision is not only possible, but that it is designed specifically and beautifully just for you.
On the last pages of the book, Roxie offers insight on the importance of letting go: “Let go of the person we were, let go of the person we thought we should be, let go of our fears and doubts, let go of the things that no longer serve our most empowered selves, let go of envy, and finally, let go of the need to control the exact direction of our paths.”
“In the process of letting go, we surrender to the universe. Therein lies the magic”.
How beautiful is that?
Please let me know if you’ve read this book—let’s discuss!