Studies show that as little as 5 minutes outside in nature can balance your nervous system. And when your nervous system is balanced you can begin to “manifest.”
Dr. James Doty’s recent book Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything is worth the read and fits beautifully with your practice of spending time in nature or green spaces.
The word manifest may put you off, but I like James Doty (MD)’s definition of manifesting. He says, “once the body and the mind are in a state of balance, we have the power of manifestation, we can start thinking clearly about what we want to manifest.”
This Is Not Self-Serving Get Rich Quick Manifestation
Doty’s idea of manifestation is not the self serving get rich quick scheme, tarot cards, crystals, or pseudoscience. Doty’s view is based in “significant developments in brain imaging that allows us to watch the brain transform on a cellular, genetic, and even molecular level. We can now speak about manifestation in terms of cognitive neuroscience……and the brain’s extraordinary ability to change, heal, and remake itself, known as neuroplasticity.”
Manifesting, according to Dr. Doty, in the process of intentionally embedding thoughts and desires into your subconscious. For this he suggests visualization and picturing powerful positive emotions of your desired goal. Why? Because your brain will not know the difference between the real and the imagined.
As James Doty, MD says in his book Mind Magic, once your body and mind are in a state of balance and peace, you have the power of imagination to manifest.
This is a perfect fit for when you are in nature and Taking Back Your Outside Mindset. In green spaces you get that attention and focus that calms your mind. Being outside in nature sets you up for manifesting your goals and desires.
Your Attention Is Your Superpower
The truth is, your thoughts affect your reality, and you have more control over your thoughts than you think you do. In my last article for Sixty and Me, I wrote about the recent research of Norman Farb, PhD, which shows that just a few seconds at a time of dropping into your senses can change how you see the world. Farb’s research shows that using your senses (a lot more than normal) is where the magic lies… and that “your attention is your superpower – what goes into your awareness matters, and you can select what that is.”
Both Farb and Doty use mindfulness, noticing and paying attention to what matters, as their strategies to change your brain pathways the way you think about the world.
The Mind Magic of Manifestation
Dr. Doty says that “Every day is an opportunity to change how you perceive and react to the world. The magic of the process is that it is the same hardware… when you set your mind to a good result, the pathway is exactly the same, but the software is updated through positive neurofeedback – by building inner power. This is step one (of manifesting).”
Balancing Your Nervous System for Manifestation
Dr. Doty explains that when you are in the rest and digest state – like when you are in your favourite place in nature – this is when you can achieve the process of mindfulness and experience clear and focused thinking.
Manifestation Requires Self-Compassion and Compassion for Others
He goes further to say that manifestation must be based on self-compassion and compassion for others. This is the only way Doty says that manifestation will work. He explains it this way:
“One of major adaptations is the evolution of the dorsal vagal nerve in the myelinated parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) which links the organs to the central nervous system. The reason this is so significant was that it formed the basis of the affiliative and care response which in turn supplied the physiological pathways for our ability to express compassion. This part of the vagus nerve is the basis for well-being in which we are calm, focused, in flow and able to care responsibly for others.
The Green Zone
This is also a state – which Doty calls the “Green Zone – which our consciousness can muster most effectively to visualize and pursue our goals. When PNS is activated, the tone of the vagus nerve increases and a state of well-being that facilitates general health and releases beneficial hormones such as oxytocin that are key to immune and defense systems – which helps with learning, critical thinking, creativity by enabling the flow state and basically optimizes human experience.”
The rest and digest state, when your parasympathetic nervous system comes into play, is the very same state of well-being that you experience when you spend time in nature and green space. Both Doty and Farb practice meditation as well. In his book, Doty describes relaxing body scan practices. Dr. Doty explains that “your heart is a muscle, and you can control your heart rate and heart rate variability.”
Your Balanced Nervous System Gives You Agency
Both Doty and Farb provide the research to show that The PNS brings with it the ability to process emotions, memories, plans, which then allow us to be much more thoughtful and discerning in your reactions to your experiences.
Doty says that this spacious processing ability provided by the PNS is the key to reclaiming your agency to change how you react to the world itself. And that this state of calm sets the stage for manifesting your desired goals.
Let’s Keep This Conversation Going:
Have you ever tried to manifest your desired goals? Have to tried to visualize these goals when you are in a relaxed state? Have you tried to think about manifestation through the lens of self-compassion and compassion for others?
