You’ve probably heard before that manifesting is turning your thoughts into your reality, or something along those lines. From there, it’s not hard to jump to the conclusion that dwelling on unpleasant thoughts is going to cause a lot of terrible things in your life. Suddenly, you may want to have nothing to do with manifesting so that you don’t accidentally bring harm or danger on yourself.
But can that actually be? Is manifesting dangerous, or is it still okay to include this practice in your life?
Manifesting is not an inherently dangerous practice. When you choose to consciously practice manifesting, you will move toward things that align with what you want for your life. Even still, it’s worth learning more about what manifesting is and how it works so that you can make the most of it.
Is Manifesting Dangerous? The Short Answer
One time in college, my girlfriend called me up in a bit of a panic. “You know how manifesting works,” she began. And then with worry in her voice, she asked, “What if I’m thinking about bad stuff? Am I gonna manifest bad things in my life?”
She’s not the only one who’s expressed worries like this before. Perhaps you’ve had the same concerns. I’m here to tell you what I told her: In short, no, that’s not something to worry about. In other words, you aren’t going to hurt yourself from manifesting.
Once you understand the ins and outs of manifesting — how it actually works — you’ll have a better grasp on why the practice isn’t going to end up causing you harm.
How Manifesting Works
In manifesting, you focus your energy on something, and you bring it into your reality. You are focusing your energy on things, and you receive the payoff of whatever you focus your energy on.
You can learn more about the concept of manifesting in our article “Does Manifesting Work?” Once you read that, you’ll realize that, overall, manifesting is pretty simple.
There’s a lot that undergirds the practice though. If you really want to get manifesting, it’s worth digging in to learn more. Then you’ll understand why you aren’t going to hurt yourself in the process of doing this.
Beginnings and Ends
Manifesting is living into the reality of something. You start to believe and behave as though you believe in a different reality.
In this, you are tapping into the truth that there is no such thing as an end or a beginning. Everything is just a loop inside a loop inside a loop inside a loop.
Sure, that’s a really deep concept. But let’s simplify it to this: There’s an infinite amount of reality. There’s always more to it.
And because of that, you’re free. You are free because there’s nowhere to be. Everything is perfect exactly as is.
Again, there’s no beginning or end. There’s nowhere to get to. Everything is always just here, right now. And you get to be.
Tapping into Reality
In manifesting, you are tapping into a certain part of that being — the right here, right now. You are noticing a certain part of what we are calling a reality.
As Byron Katie says, “Reality is already the best thing that could be manifested. When you realize this, you’re home free.”
You know, “reality” is just a word. A simple word that we use to describe something that we can’t really even fathom. We get only the sliveriest of slivers of what it really means. It is the “is-ness” that is everything.
By “everything,” I really do mean everything. It’s you and it’s me. It’s the space between us. It’s the board and the players and all the rules of the game. All of it.
And it goes on forever and ever and ever. Any discomfort that you have develops from your believing that you’re not that thing. You’re holding yourself off from it.
But manifesting works because it’s all there — that thing that you’re manifesting — all the time. To have that thing come into your experience, you just get to point your experience in the direction of what you want.
Willingness to Believe
Whew, I know this is really philosophical. So let me take a minute to explain why in the world I’ve taken you on this deep dive.
Understanding this concept of manifesting takes a certain willingness to believe it. There’s a choice involved — the choice to willingly wrap your head around all of this.
That’s why it’s worth figuring out the philosophy behind the whole thing. You’ll do well to have a philosophical baseline of reality for yourself — preferably, one that isn’t totally unsettling to you.
Perhaps this story that I’m telling you isn’t true. That’s not the important part. What does matter is whether it’s useful. If you find it to be a useful framework for the world, then it’s worthwhile for you.
Is Manifesting Dangerous? The Longer Answer
Now that you have a better idea about reality and its relationship to manifesting, I think you’re ready for the longer answer about whether manifesting is dangerous.
Manifesting is looking in new directions. When you do it, you are looking for new evidence. It’s a hunt for it. It’s an active process.
That means getting outside of our comfort zones. It’s pushing ourselves outside of what’s comfortable and known to us.
In other words, there’s more to manifesting than just hanging out in your head. You’re not just willing yourself into a new reality. Sure, that’s part of it, but in a larger sense, you’re acting in alignment with your beliefs.
For manifesting to truly harm you, it would involve acting in alignment with harmful beliefs. Even if your thoughts feel out of your control right now, you probably aren’t acting fully in line with dangerous beliefs.
I get your concern, though. As I’ve worked with people, I’ve seen again and again how this line of thinking goes. Maybe you’re currently experiencing something like this:
Your thoughts seem to be out of your control. You feel trapped in a cycle. Anxious thoughts are flooding into your brain. It seems that you’re constantly focusing on things you aren’t too fond of, such as:
Death
Illness
Loss
Fear
Essentially, it all comes back to anxiety around your identity. You are worrying that you’re going to come up against something that will lead to losing your identity.
Now, because those are the things that you’re experiencing in your mind, you may start to feel concerned that they are the things you are manifesting.
Sure, in a way that is true. You are focusing your attention on those things. You are making them bigger than they really are. And in some ways, you are acting in alignment with them.
Whether or not you’re a person who chooses to consciously practice manifesting, you will be doing that anyway. That’s just what happens when you dwell on things like worry and fear.
But when you consciously choose to manifest, you can turn this around. It only makes sense that you will choose to manifest things that you actually like.You will make the deliberate choice to act in alignment with things that are desirable for you.
So, IF you make the choice to be a person who consciously manifests, you do not need to worry about the dangers of manifesting.
Is Manifesting Dangerous? What About Not Manifesting?
As I’ve shared, many people don’t consciously manifest. I wouldn’t say that that’s dangerous, per se. But I also think that there’s a benefit to choosing to manifest the reality that you want to have.
Let’s face it. There’s not really a way out of manifesting. You can’t stop doing it. It’s always going on. Whether or not you actively choose to manifest, you are always manifesting something.
If you’re not making a conscious choice to manifest, then guess what? You’re going to be doing it unconsciously.
I know, I know. You may suddenly be back to worrying about accidental manifestations of terrible things. It feels like the pressure is on: “I need to manifest incredible stuff all the time or who knows where I’ll end up!?” No, no.
Just because you don’t practice manifesting consciously, that does not automatically mean you’ll manifest things you don’t like.
Even still, we have the technology, and the know-how, for manifesting. (Looking for tips on how to be conscious about your manifesting practices? Check out our article “How to Manifest Writing Down?”) So why not put your understanding of effective manifesting to use for you? You might as well practice manifesting things that you like!
It’s not because manifesting is dangerous otherwise. It’s simply because manifesting consciously can be a useful practice for your reality. Through manifesting, you choose a reality that serves you. You move toward the vision of the reality that you want for your life.
Now, even though you can release your worry about the inherent dangers of manifesting anxious thoughts, why let your troubles have control over you? For your next step, head over to our article on “How to Get Out of Your Head” for tips on adjusting your thought patterns.
Benjamin Easter is the Founder and Head Coach at Lucid Shift Coaching. He helps people connect with their authentic selves and grow in wisdom and freedom. Ben has undergraduate degrees in philosophy and religion and a master's degree in traditional Chinese medicine. He has studied kung fu, tai chi, dance, social dynamics, learning, and uses these and many more disciplines to help people unlock their potential.
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