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I experienced a huge shift in self-understanding when I started healing my nervous system.

In manifesting, we hear a lot about mindset and thinking better thoughts, but few manifestation teachers talk about the importance of an regulated nervous system.

If you experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, or a negative environment growing up, chances are that your nervous system views receiving as “unsafe.” Until you give the nervous system a new experience, you’ll find yourself in the same patterns.

Let’s dig in on how you can clear your manifesting blocks and create an regulated nervous system.

Fact #1: It is impossible for a child to deem their parents or caregivers as wrong or incorrect.

When we’re growing up, we depend on our parents or caregivers to make sure we stay alive.

If you grew up in an environment of trauma, abuse, or neglect, guess what? You decided this was your fault and this belief got stored in your nervous system.

On a chemical and biological level, it is impossible for children to make their parents or caregivers wrong. Why? Because we need them to survive. If you deem your parent to be wrong or incorrect, guess what? You could die!

As children, we blame ourselves and assume our parents behavior has something to do with us—that we are wrong, bad, or unworthy of love.

This unworthy setting is the basis for everything we allow ourselves to receive— it is the baseline for what we are capable of letting in.

Does receiving feel dangerous or dysregulating, even if it’s something you really, really desire? That’s your nervous system tying to keep you safe. On some level, it learned that receiving is dangerous or life-threatening, and it’s blocking stuff so you don’t get hurt.

Understanding that you did nothing wrong is the first step in awakening your nervous system to a new and more abundant experience.

Fact #2: Your nervous system doesn’t care about your goals and dreams.

Your nervous system cares about three things: keeping you safe, alive, and with your group of origin.

That’s it.

It doesn’t care about your goals, dreams, meditations, spiritual practice, morning routine, affirmations, or anything else.

It wants you safe, alive, and with your group of origin. (This is why many people have a challenging time moving away from unhealthy or lackluster family relationships— it’s their nervous system trying to keep them safe and alive).

Now that you know this, you can start to work with the nervous system and show it that receiving more is safe.

Get to know each nervous system state and when you’re in each one. You can be in two nervous system states at the same time!

Once you get better at identifying what state you’re in, you can start to expand what’s called your “receptive capacity” so you can attract and hold more.

This involves giving your nervous system a real-time experience of receiving something you want and feeling safe in your body.

You can start with something small, like a hug from a friend. As you enjoy the hug and feel safe in the experience, the nervous system’s settings begin to expand to accommodate this new setting of safety.

Mindset work and affirmations are not enough here—you have to give your nervous system a physical experience that is positive and feels safe to receive.

Fact #3: Mindset work is not enough to change your nervous system’s set points.

You may know about polyvagal therory, which states that 80 percent of energetic information travels up from the body to the brain, while only 20 percent travels from the brain down to the body.

Boom.

That’s great, but what does it mean?

It means that mindset work, affirmations, visualization, and everything else you practice to change your mind is only 20 percent of the work.

You have to include the nervous system, which is 80 percent of the information you’re processing.

Get this: all those thoughts you think? They are sourced from your nervous system!

Your nervous system senses every change in your environment and sends that up to the brain, which interprets the information as a thought.

This is why it’s important to get to know what each nervous system state feels like in your body so you can learn how to regulate yourself and send a new signal.

You will naturally move through each nervous system state throughout the day. We all do.

The work is about knowing how each state feels for you so you increase your resilience.

The goal here is to show your nervous system that receiving your manifestations is safe now.

Remember this: your nervous system loves you! That’s why it works so hard to keep you safe, alive, and with your group.

Thank your nervous system throughout the day and notice how calm that makes you feel. Give it a lot of love and nurturing and create a routine to keep establishing safety, especially around receiving new things.

Here’s to your regulated nervous system!

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