Manifestation and Improv: Best Friends Forever
I see you! You’re doing fabulous, sweetie.
How do you feel about manifestation? Seems like these days, a lot of people, whether they have The Law of Attraction on their bookshelf or not, would be open to things going better in their lives.
Improv, of course, is manifestation writ large.
Think about it. You imagine an Octopus Bank Manager with allergies and boom! They’re right there, sneezing on the audience and advising you to deposit as many barnacle shells as you can afford. If you think it, then - with improv - you can make it happen. Immediately.
Enter James R Doty, MD: an American neurosurgeon who unpacks the science of neuroplasticity and the reality of ‘manifestation’. He gives this advice, cementing the possibility - nay, the truth - of manifestation once and for all.
“Write your wish on a piece of paper, read it out loud, read it silently, then repeat it deliberately and visualise it to ‘encode it in the mind’”, Doty advises, “You get clear and fixated on what you want. That’s salience.”
“That files the thing as IMPORTANT in your brain, which then activates your attention network. That releases ‘the bloodhound’ in your brain, activating the executive control network, which will hunt down what you’ve asked for.”
“There is no ‘magic’ here - this is basic neuroscience and it’s something we all have the ability to master. Embed your intention.” James R Doty MD, neurosurgeon
Manifestation is a borderline cliché these days, of course. But Doty reels off four parts of the brain: the Default Mode Network (your inner daydreamer); and the Task-Positive Network, ie. the salience network, attention network and executive control network. These areas of cognition, once set upon a particular path, will quietly do all that’s in their power to make your intentions happen for you.
Hey presto! Set an intention, start small, build good habits and you can change your literal brain chemistry. Support the intention with kinaesthetic learning (yes: improv!) and you will be a Law of Attraction A-lister.
Time to manifest what you want - with applied improvisation and some deliberate intention-setting.
What Comes Next?
Aim: Co-manifest a positive story on any subject.
Outcome: Gain clarity on your goals.
How it works: Person A starts a story with short sentences. Agree on any starting point, such as:
“Walking along the sandy beach we spy a glittering starfish…” or “We decide to create a new type of organic pesto…” Whatever you choose to explore is valid - so long as it piques and sustains your interest! The second person says, at the end of any line, either: “What comes next?” (and the person continues), or a squeaky, playful “Nope!” - at which moment, the storyteller immediately says: “What comes next?” and the person who “Nope!”-d will continue the story in the same way. The result? The tale is co-authored and only continues in a direction that both parties accept. This means that, hopefully, it’s the best possible outcome; the most satisfying story - and, ultimately - excellent practice for you to ideate on and then manifest your best-case scenarios.
Reflections: Did you ask for what you want? Did the manifestation go your way? How do you feel about the story?
