For years, manifestation has been taught as a mindset practice.

I work with clients on the idea of manifestation because they reach out to me wanting something new in their lives.  Whether it’s a new relationship, increased financial abundance, new career opportunities, or improved wellness and well-being, they are reaching for something.

So many of the older teachings on this topic have focused mainly on thinking positively. They taught us that we can think our way toward our pursuits. Further down the line, we’ve learned about visualization–which is also a very powerful and important technique.

But, more and more, new research is pointing us in the somatic direction. We’re learning that we need to feel safe to receive our true desires.

 

The Body Experiences Reality Before the Mind Interprets It

One of the most important things I’ve learned, both personally and professionally, is this:

The body experiences reality first. The mind follows.

This reminds me of the famous quote by Joe Dispenza: “The brain thinks, but the heart knows.”

Our minds are constantly, busily jumping from topic to topic. I love how Maya Raichoora of Visualize: Think, Feel, Perform Like the Top 1%, talks about how our minds behave like untrained puppies. So we must use them as powerful tools, but approach inner wisdom in a new way.

In Mind Magic, Dr James Doty teaches that the brain is a survival organ first. Its primary job isn’t to make you happy; it’s to keep you alive. So when your nervous system senses danger (real or perceived), it prioritizes protection over possibility.

This means that even the most beautiful vision can be quietly resisted if your body doesn’t feel safe enough to receive it.

So, even if you want something deeply, believe you deserve it, and visualize it daily… if your nervous system associates that desire with risk, loss, or pain, it will override your intentions.

Why Manifestation Can Feel Exhausting

When we want something so badly and feel our minds are in charge of our future outcomes and possibilities, we can choose to work harder and harder, strive more, and dig deeper. But what if that isn’t really getting us there?

We may feel:

• Tense

• Hyper-vigilant

• Afraid of disappointment

• Nervous to get our hopes up

• Afraid of being hurt again

This is a reminder that we need to switch gears. It’s a sign that the body still doesn’t feel safe.

When safety is missing, manifestation often turns into striving instead of softening. And paradoxically, the harder we try, the more the nervous system braces.

Resistance Isn’t Sabotage–It’s Protection

One of the most liberating reframes in this work is this:

Resistance isn’t sabotage. It’s protection.

I love this because we can look at the resistance with kindness and appreciation for the fact that it has been there. Just trying to keep us safe. It’s wanting us to feel like our feet are on level ground, and its intention is to keep us steady and secure.

So, when you find yourself pulling back from opportunities, hesitating when something good appears, or feeling strangely overwhelmed by the very thing you say you want, it doesn’t mean you’re blocked.

It means a part of you is trying to keep you safe based on past experience.

This might show up as:

• Difficulty receiving compliments, love, or support

• A persistent need to control everything

• Hyper-vigilance, even when things are going well

• A feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop

• Feeling uneasy about success, visibility, or abundance

Your nervous system isn’t asking, “Do I want this?”
It’s asking, “Is this safe?”

Compassion Is a Biological State

“Self-compassion has the power to heal the parts of us that make us feel chronically unsafe and unloved and transform them into vital sources of wisdom and compassion to share with others.” – James R. Doty MD

Here’s the part that changes everything.

Compassion isn’t just emotional–it’s physiological.

When you meet your fear with compassion instead of pressure, the nervous system begins to downshift. Compassion restores coherence between the heart, the brain, and the body. This signals the safety we seek.

This is why self-compassion isn’t indulgent or weak. It’s transformative.

Instead of asking, “Why can’t I manifest this?”
Try asking, “What part of me doesn’t feel safe yet?”

And then listen with kindness.

When I think of myself in this area, I sometimes see a wounded little girl who doesn’t know her worth. She doesn’t believe to the core that she is worthy of the things she desires. And my response to her is to connect with her, embrace her, and tell her the truth: she is worthy. This is a practice.

**Another important part here is to see the relationship between fear, imagination, and dreaming. When we are in that state of fear or fight-or-flight, we lose access to our expansive, hopeful, big-dreaming imagination. So we now have the key to unlocking this: self-compassion.

No amount of positive thinking can override that biological reality.

My Own Turning Point With Love

For many years, I tried to manifest a relationship while living in a state of internal conflict.

I wanted a partnership deeply, but I was also afraid of being hurt again. Afraid of disrupting my life. Afraid of putting my daughter through another loss.

So even though I was “doing the work,” my body didn’t feel safe.

What changed everything wasn’t trying harder. It was finding safety within myself first. Through therapy, coaching, and deep inner work, I found a grounded sense of safety. A home base inside.

From that place, love didn’t feel threatening anymore. I experienced safety as a feeling of lightness and energetic openness. It’s the polar opposite of fear (my state for many years leading up to this point), which entails putting the walls up so high that nothing can come in.

And when safety came first, things began to flow with far less effort.

A New Order of Manifestation

What if manifestation didn’t begin with visualization or action?

What if it began with safety?

Here’s the sequence I’m now working with:

1. Safety – Does my body feel safe wanting this?

2. Regulation – Calming the nervous system

3. Desire – What do I want when I feel safe?

4. Intention – Clarifying what matters

5. Aligned Action – Moving forward without force

When safety leads, manifestation becomes less exhausting and far more natural.

Coaching Reflection Questions

If something you desire feels just out of reach, try sitting with these questions:

• What do I want right now?

• Does my body feel safe wanting this?

• What part of me feels afraid of receiving it?

• What would make this desire feel less threatening?

• How can I meet that part of me with compassion instead of pressure?

Final Lens Shift

Manifestation isn’t about tricking the universe.
It’s about calming the body enough to dream, embody, and receive.

And when safety leads, manifestation follows; naturally, gracefully, and in its own time.

Want Support?

If this resonates and you’d like guidance on learning to create safety in your body so your desires no longer feel overwhelming or threatening, you can explore working with me through The New Lens Method™.

👉 Learn more at triciarosestone.com

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