The Art of Manifesting

Diving Deeper with Roxie Nafousi

I recently set off on a venture to the big smoke for a day of promise; a Manifest Workshop with self-made manifesting queen, Roxie Nafousi.

Billed as a day to ‘leave you inspired, motivated, and ready to make your dreams a reality.” I was all in!

Whether or not you believe there’s anything to manifesting you’ve got to admit it does all sound pretty alluring.

I set off on my journey, intrigued for what the day had in store, though after a closed road en-route to the station, and a cancelled train, I firstly needed to manifest a way to get myself there, pronto – as I began to feel a slight panic arise that I would miss the day entirely, I promptly remembered the premise of the workshop; to change my thoughts and think positively, all I had to do was believe right? Miraculously the universe was listening, as if by magic a train appeared and I made it to the venue a good 45 minutes early, I’m starting to believe there’s something in this already!

The art of ‘manifesting’ isn’t a new concept by any means, some of the ideas date back to the New Thought Movement prominent in the early 1800s, which followed the teachings of Phineas P. Quimby, an American mesmerist and healer. And more recently many of the concepts were set out in the Secret, the best-selling book by Rhonda Byrne, published in 2006, which went on to become a wold-wide phenomenon, selling over 3 million copies and inspiring the 2020 movie – The Secret: Dare to Dream, starring Katie Holmes.

The Secret and manifesting draws on the notion of the law of attraction; “That positive energy attracts positive things into your life, governs your thinking and actions, and how you can use the power of positive thinking to achieve anything you can imagine.” Rhonda Bryne.

Manifesting has a strong celebrity following too, with the likes of Oprah and Lady Gaga said to believe that they manifested their careers. (I imagine this belief was combined with a lot of hard work).

Jim Carrey is also a big advocate of the Law of attraction, so much so that when Carrey was a struggling unknown actor at the start of his career he began practicing visualisation; imagining that he had already become a star, and even wrote himself a cheque for ten million dollars for services rendered – he just had to believe that this would all come to fruition.

The actor said “At that time, all it really was for me was kind of making me feel better. I would drive home and think ‘Well, I do have these things; they’re out there, I just don’t have a hold of them yet, but they’re out there’.” Sure enough Carrey’s visualising efforts and belief system paid off when he landed his first big role in Dumb and Dumber and manifested himself, you guessed it, a cool ten million dollar pay check.

After a brisk walk up a steep hill I arrive at Ally Pally, greeted by a welcoming entrance packed with manifesting merch and inspiring quotes (I do love an inspiring quote), there’s a sign post pointing in different directions adorned with inspiring phrases like; ‘Raise your vibe’ and ‘be the author of your own story’ (I later discover there’s a photograph posted on Roxie’s instagram page of me under the latter – I’m at the start of a new venture and I’d like to write a book, is this a sign I wonder?!). An enticing array of manifesting goodies feast the eyes (and dent the purse); books, journals, tee shirts, caps and wellness products all calling for attention.

I find my seat in the packed auditorium, filled to the brim with an army of women (and a handful of men), eagerly clutching their Manifest books, phones and notepads. Roxie glides onto stage, greeted to rapturous applause, sleek, beautiful and charismatic, it’s easy to see her appeal, especially to the younger generation.

After a false start, when her mike isn’t working, and she decides to re-enter the stage, which in all honesty added an element of ‘real life’ to the day – she tells us; “someone once told you you can’t have it all. I’m here to tell you, you can” this is well received to much whooping from the audience.

The day unfolds with Roxie sharing her story with us, how she went from rock bottom, with zero self-worth, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and hooking up with the wrong kind of men – through to her discovery of manifesting, and ultimately how this changed her life for the better – setting her on a path of self development, and leading her to meet the father of her child. Roxie takes us through her manifesting journey, and how this, coupled with a new found sense of self worth and the ability to take action led her to creating her own guide to manifesting and writing her first book; Manifest 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life.

“Life is beautiful, you have the power to make it so.”
Roxie Nafousi

She explains how she firstly created a detailed vision board with specific goals and dreams in mind – the book was on there, as was being a Sunday Times best-seller, along with many other manifesting goals that have since come to fruition. Roxie explains the importance of the vision board to help “get clarity on what you want your life to look like,” she expresses that it’s key that once you’ve created your board with specific goals in mind, to put it away and not to look at it for several months.

Roxie tells us that (unlike the Secret) manifesting isn’t just about dreaming up something and believing it will happen, but aligning our dreams with taking inspired action, alongside being truly grateful for the life we already have; “it’s about the energy we put out there,” she explains, “like attracts like.”

“Within all of us there is a more empowered version of ourselves“
Roxie Nafouis

Roxie goes on to explain how once she’d had the idea for her book she was then very pro-active and hands on with emailing editors and not taking no for an answer. It worked, she secured herself a deal with Penguin, and has subsequently recently released her second book; Manifest Dive Deeper (the blue one).

“Manifesting is about a vibrational trust, we know with magnetic confidence that these things are coming, and (will) make the life you have even better, it’s a guide.“

Throughout the event, Roxie comes across as heart-led, authentic and engaging, as she leads us through the seven steps of manifesting outlined in her first book (the orange one).

How to Manifest;

1. Be clear in your vision

2. Remove fear and doubt

3. Align your behaviour

4. Overcome tests from the universe

5. Embrace gratitude without caveats

6. Turn envy into inspiration

7. Trust in the universe.

The steps are carefully explained and weaved with personal anecdotes from Roxie’s life. In the afternoon we are invited to close our eyes and participate in two deep guided visualisation meditations.

As someone who regularly practices and has recently qualified in meditation and mindfulness, I found these especially powerful, particularly in a large group setting. The emotion in the room, especially when we were led through an inner child meditation, was palpable.

“The manifesting sweet spot is knowing what you want while being grateful for what you already have.”
Roxie Nafousi

Practicing visualisation is an incredibly useful tool, when we learn to harness our imagination by visualising our brains are wired to conjure up strong associated feelings.

“Imagination is as powerful as reality,” Roxie states. A strong view point, though Forbes magazine emphasises this in their article; The Power Of Visualisation And How To Use it; ‘Visualisation has been used for a very long time in sports. Muhammad Ali’s famous quote “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it” already shows that he truly believed in the power of visualization.’

The article goes on to explain how a study in Neuropsychologia discovered that imagining to move certain parts of your bodies almost trains the muscles as much as the actual movement “Our mind is literally very powerful!”

Towards the end of the workshop Roxie comes down off the stage and begins travelling around the floor taking questions from audience; there were hugs, tears and embraces, which was refreshing, and seemed quite American in style, echoing the likes of self help gurus Gabby Burnstein and Brené Brown.

So when a member of the audience asked Roxie what was something that was that was a current manifesting goal of hers, and she replied with; “Oprah, to meet Oprah,” you could envisage this unfolding, like the paving stones were being laid before us.

“The manifesting sweet spot is knowing what you want while being grateful for what you already have. That’s about being able to say, I know where I am headed, but I also have full appreciation for where I am now.“

In my own experience I do believe that there is a lot to the art of manifesting, that the energy we put our there, blended with a strong sense of self belief can help us achieve things we truly put our minds to. When I started out as a photographer, I would practise visualisation, imagining what I’d like to achieve, at the time (having two small babies in tow) some of my dreams seemed far fetched though I’m happy to say a lot of the hopes I had, and the things I visualised came to fruition however this was alongside an awful lot of hard work (and hypnosis to help with my confidence), which, I think sometimes in the age of manifesting the hard work element can be glossed over, and manifesting can seem like an alluring quick fix, our genie in a bottle.

And what if we were too rely too much on ‘manifesting?’ Could there be a worry that on the flip side we blame ourselves when ‘negative things happen, when sometimes life and circumstance present obstacles beyond our control? The human experience means many of us are all likely to experience varying levels of trauma in our lives and that will require deeper work.

Roxie does address the importance of doing deeper inner child work, and explains that cultivating a strong sense of self worth and self love is a key components to being able to manifest successfully.

In essence, and in tandem with a healthy practice of self love, the principles behind the Manifest steps are an inspiring guide to living a more fulfilling life. And like the saying goes; ”Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.’ Henry Ford.

Throughout the day Roxie spoke quite a lot about how she met the father of her young son Wade in her quest for unconditional love, who much to the delight of the audience was there with their young son, Wolfe – though I later realise that they are no longer a couple and are instead focused on having a healthy relationship as co-parents. had I missed this part in her talk, can we not have it all, after all? It got me thinking about having it all… maybe the having it all doesn’t always look the same for everyone, that life and happiness isn’t always neatly tied up with a bow.

I think sometimes there is a pressure on women in particular to feel like we need to ‘have it all’ – a need to prove we can do everything, be everything; have a family, be a great mum, carve a successful career, have a healthy bank balance, a lovely home, the perfect figure, look forever young, have it all figured out – it’s exhausting. Maybe instead of striving to have it all, it’s time to take our foot off the gas?

Perhaps we need to redefine our own definition of success? For me, these days, success is happiness, it’s wellness, love, and acceptance, it’s about quality of life – having a sense of freedom, and feeling inspired, creative and fulfilled. It’s about balance. And the more I think about it, I’m not sure in all honesty I believe having it all is possible, at least not at the same time, particularity if you have a young family. Isn’t it more about asking yourself; ‘what is your priority?’ and ‘how do you want to feel?’

Perhaps when we set ourselves dreams and goals we need to make sure they align with what nourishes our souls, not what society says we should strive for, and embrace our perfectly imperfect, beautiful messy lives, without the ‘I’ll be happy when ‘ component creeping in. For me It’s about whole hearted living, and finally realising that ‘I am enough, just as I am.’

Overall I found Roxie’s workshop inspiring, uplifting and motivating, and Roxie’s steps a great resource for living a more fulfilled life, particularly the work around our belief systems and self-worth. I really enjoyed her first book, it’s an easy read and makes a lot of sense. And I’m looking forward to reading the second, I shall keep you posted.

The day came to a close with Roxie quoting; ‘Life is wonderful, you have the power to make it so.’

And in an age where we are all navigating life post pandemic, perhaps one of the reasons Roxie Nafousi’s message and the joy of manifesting is landing so well with so many – is that it gives us back that element of hope, it puts us back in the driving seat of our lives, and surely that has to be a good thing!

Discover more about Roxie’s workshops, books and manifesting at; https://www.roxienafousi.com/