Ready to manifest your future self?
+ Did you know your comfy clothes are a feminist statement?
A grown-ass lady’s guide to manifesting
How you can enjoy the benefits of manifesting your future self through a science-based, no-BS approach
“I now understand that my thinking is what creates my physical world. The thinking of today creates tomorrow.
So, my physical world right now, in this moment, is the product of past thinking. When you really grasp this concept, it becomes life-changing. The control you have in your future starts right now with the control of your mind.”
— Kathleen Cameron, coach and best-selling author in Becoming The One
In her book, Cameron chronicles her profound shift from a burnt-out nurse to a high-powered coach whose purpose is to help others live out their soul’s desires. This excerpt calls out the practice of manifesting and its transformational role in her life.
Essentially, Cameron makes the case that becoming “the one” is less about uncovering earth-shattering truths about the universe, as framed in books like The Secret: It’s more about trusting in yourself and your ability to reach your goals.
More than wishful thinking
That’s in line with what Andie Hines-Lagemann tells her clients. Hines-Lagemann is an emotional intelligence practitioner and founder of Tidewater Coaching. She holds numerous certifications and recently completed a master’s degree in positive psychology. Manifesting, she says, comes out of this branch of science. It’s a goal-oriented and forward-thinking approach to moving forward. While therapy is focused on the past, EQ (emotional quotient or emotional intelligence) work can help take concepts or themes discussed in sessions and put them into motion.
“I always tell my clients that our brains are so dumb,” she says. “They believe whatever we tell them. But the wonderful thing is, we have so much control over our thoughts, even when we feel like we don’t. We all get through difficult times where we can kind of spiral a little bit and it gets hard to get back control. But our thoughts really do control our physiological responses.”
For instance, we’ve all had those moments when we’re stressed and we get a pit in our stomachs. Those are physical manifestations of distress. On the upside, we can rein in control and get on with what she refers to as “an upward spiral.” People on this trajectory are willing to put in the work, even if it’s going to be uncomfortable and unpleasant at times. They also lean on tools to help them bridge the gap.
Growth (mindset) begets growth
For example, Hines-Lagemann says engaging in a best future-self exercise can lead to increased optimism, resilience, and better quality of interpersonal relationships. And there’s even evidence that adopting such a practice can help with physical ailments. As Hines-Lagemann explains, some people have found that complaints like chronic tension headaches and back pain were resolved after changing their thinking.
No more restrictions
How clothes became more comfy
By Heather Kenny
As we get older, comfort often becomes more important in what we wear — sometimes to our chagrin. We may love the look of heels and cinched silhouettes, but aching backs, thickening waists, and hot flashes mean we start to understand the appreciation for Eileen Fisher, elastic waistbands, and natural, breathable fabrics.
It’s hardly a new insight that historically, uncomfortable, restrictive clothing like corsets and hoop skirts literally prevented women from taking part in many physical activities — which was a feature, not a bug. It’s not a coincidence that such clothing came to be a signifier of wealth. Bustles, hoop skirts, hobble skirts (it’s right there in the name!) — all of these sent the message that women should not exert themselves. Instead, they were meant to stay at home doing quiet, domestic tasks. (Unless you were a working-class woman, a servant, or an enslaved person, of course, in which case your job was to do all the work to prop up this image of wealth, or make it possible.)
Today, of course, we don’t need to wear corsets and heels (unless we want to!). And that’s thanks to suffragettes and other early feminists in the 19th and 20th centuries who advocated for less restrictive styles, pointing out that more comfortable clothes were better for women’s physical health.
Coco Chanel famously helped popularize more comfortable clothing by designing and selling wide-legged pants, sailor shirts, and simpler, more fluid dresses. Such clothes also had the benefit of being faster and easier to put on than fussy dresses with dozens of buttons, and simpler to care for, too. No longer did you need a lady’s maid to tighten your stays.
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