May 15, 2024 • 17 mins
George Noory and Dr. James Doty explore his work with manifestation, how the brain can help create the life you want to live, and the importance of serving others to bring happiness to yourself.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on iHeartRadio, Paan.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome back to Coast to Coast. George Noory with you.
Back with doctor James Dotie will take calls with him
next hour here on Coast to Coast as we talk
about mind magic, the neuroscience of manifestation and how it
changes everything. James give us an example of manifesting.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well, let me preface it by making a statement that
traditional ways of manifesting, typically that's promoted or promoted from
books like The Secret as an example, we're all self focused.
I want to be a millionaire, I want a mansion,
I want a car. And what happened to so many
(00:45):
people who in fact manifested some of these things is
they realized when everything was focused on them, it did
not create happiness or at least any type of sustained happiness.
And also when you're self focused, oftentimes this in and
of itself activates the sympathetic nervous system, which actually decreases
(01:09):
the efficiency or shuts down certain cognitive brain networks. So
it limits your ability also to manifest maximally. And so
when you're in a calm state or engage your pair
sympathetic nervous system. That actually is when you're able to
manifest its best because your cognitive brain networks function at
(01:32):
their best and as a result, you're more efficiently able
to if you will file your intention into your subconscious
and have the bloodhound of your subconscious work day and
night to manifest and this then results in the reality
(01:53):
that what the subconscious seeks, the conscious finds.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Now finds it. How do you know you've accomplished it?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well, of course there's different techniques to embed that into
your intention are inter subconscious. But what you have to
do is you have to use all of your sensory organs,
if you will, as an example, you write it down,
you read it silently, you read it aloud, you visualizing
(02:25):
you in that position. And what happens is the more
this repetition occurs, the more neural circuitry gets a stimulated.
And this is why there's this saying that what fires
together wires together.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
How much of manifestation James is related to the brain
or is outside of the brain.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, this is what I try to emphasize in the book. Now,
if you're talking about looking to the universe, I think
I commented on that, but really this is all occurring
in the brain because so many people have limited beliefs,
and as you know, once you say it is not possible,
(03:15):
I cannot, I am not worthy, then by definition you
have answered the question. So one of the things you
also have to do is to stop being hypercritical and
give yourself also positive affirmations, because again, being hypercritical of
yourself stimulates your sympathetic nervous system. The way we evolve
(03:38):
as humans, though, is really to live with our parasympathetic
system engaged, which allows not only our brain function to
maximize it, but also our physiology. And in fact, if
you are able to focus through positive thoughts and efforts
(03:59):
and looking at the world through the lens of being
of service, generosity, kindness, this is how we were designed
and this is when our brain networks function at their best.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Why can some people manifest and it works, other people
try and it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well, there are a couple answers to that question. One
is what a lot of people don't appreciate is and
I even mentioned this earlier in my own experience. Our
childhood often results in many people carrying baggage of those
that childhood, and if the baggage is negative and people
(04:45):
keep repeating it because they haven't paused to understand what
they have been manifesting and actually how they've been doing
it wrong. As an example, I'm sure you've met people
who will sit there and they'll say, geez, I don't
understand it. My third marriage here, and I keep picking
an alcoholic and an abuser, and it's oftentimes due to
(05:07):
that trauma. So the first thing is you have to
understand what you're manifesting today and gain insight into that
and understand the baggage that is motivating those behaviors. But
also you have to clarify what your intention is. And
as I said earlier and this happened to me, is
(05:27):
I made my list of what I intended to manifest
and it was all about me. And this is the
difference between what we call hedonic happiness or hedonism or
seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, and this results in a
very shallow, short lived happiness, while if you focus what
(05:54):
you intend to be of service to others, this activates
the cast how do the brain networks, and results in
what we call udamannic happiness or purpose and meaning, and
this is long lasting sustained happiness. And while all of
us are trying to manifest, oftentimes it's incorrect or leads
(06:21):
us to the point to realize that what we thought
we wanted isn't really what we need and doesn't make
us happy. So you also have to reflect on that
aspect of it. What will make you happy and what
will happen to many people is when they change the
narrative from being self focused. And here's the difference in
(06:44):
thinking I want to be a millionaire versus I want
to live a life where I can support my family
and be supportive of others to make their lives better.
It's a completely different narrative and it actually activates your
brain networks maximally. But manifestation number one takes work and two,
(07:09):
it doesn't mean it's one hundred percent, and it does.
It also mean that it works on a specific timeline.
I have some projects that if you will, I have
been manifesting for well over a decade, but I believe
that they ultimately will. But I don't control the time clock,
(07:29):
and this is one of the problems. Also is that
so many people have attachment, and with attachment or craving,
this results in suffering for so many people, So you
also have to not be attached to the outcome. And
oftentimes the greatest reward for people is actually to recognize
(07:50):
that they are on a journey, and often with others,
and oftentimes this is the greatest part of the goal setting.
It's not always just obtaining the goal. And I'm sure
you know many examples where people climb the mountain and
there at the top of the mountain, but they're by themselves.
(08:10):
They left carnage of disrupted or families or divorces or
unhappy people in their way. So what was the purpose
of that journey?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I've always said, James, always all my life, and I've
used this example, just like you've pointed out that if
you get to the mountaintop alone, it's not fun.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Exactly. And you know, I look at my own situation,
as I mentioned, I grew up in poverty. Here not
only was I able to go to college, to medical school,
become a neurosurgeon, become a professor, become a successful entrepreneur.
And I was and here I had a mansion a
(08:53):
Newport Beach, I had a multiple car Ferrari's porsches. I
had a pithouse in San France, Cisco. I had a
villa in Florence. I was buying an island, a sixty
five hundred acre island in New Zealand. I was dating
beautiful women and all my friends would tell me how
great my life was. And I was never more unhappy
(09:16):
at that time. Really, I wasn't ever worth no I.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Was Why were you unhappy?
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Because it was all about me. Everything I focused on
was about me. And when I got to the top
of the mountain, yes I got external affirmation, but it
didn't change how I felt about myself, the shame, the insecurity,
the anxiety, because only you can give yourself happiness. If
(09:45):
you seek happiness outside of yourself, you're going to be very,
very unhappy. As we've talked about you, you only can
give yourself happiness, and that actually is through mind training
and being not self critical. So many people are hyper
critical of themselves, and that's how we evolved, unfortunately, what
(10:08):
we call negativity bias, because as we evolved the course,
the environment was very harsh, so things that were negative
stuck to us or things that caused fear, and unfortunately,
oftentimes that ends up resulting in being hypercritical of yourself.
(10:29):
And if you're hypercritical of yourself, you're never going to
be happy. So you have to be able to change
the dialogue from one of negativity to one of positivity.
As I said earlier, statements such I am such as
I am worthy, I deserve love, I deserve to be happy.
Those things change the lens through which you see the world.
(10:51):
And I would suggest to you that when you change
that lens and become less hypercritical of yourself, you understand
that others are suffering, that we are all part of
a whole, and that when you are of service to
others and place your focus there, one, your needs change. Two.
Many of the things that you may have looked at
(11:14):
from a hedonic point of view you may get, but
fundamentally the thing that makes you happy and whole and
gets rid of that emptiness. So many of us feal
is to care for others. And there's a whole lot
of research such as the Blue Zones, which many people
are familiar with, or the workout of Harvard, this eighty
(11:35):
five year long study that often people call the Happiness
longevity study. When you activate the parasympathetic nervous system, where
if you live there, you live longer, Your physiology works
its best. You often have the release of hormones or
(11:56):
neurotransmitters such as oxytocin or the love or ailiation hormone,
and these things make you feel better about yourself about others,
and they also result in you having your own self
agency and empower yourself when you're in this state.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Do some people manifest better than others?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Well, that is true, and just like in life, there
are people who have natural attributes and as a result,
may But the other reality is it's like training for
a marathon. You don't start out day one running twenty
six miles. So you have to educate yourself or be
(12:44):
educated about the processes that are necessary to maximize your
ability to manifest. And one of these is also not
putting too much pressure on yourself. I mentioned you don't
go out day one and so I'm going to wake
up at six and run five miles, And I have
(13:05):
a tendency to think that way, like I'm going to
get out that I'm going to really push it. But
the most important thing is what we call tiny habits
or baby steps. And once you repeat and again I
talked about this repetition when you do an action which
you repeat over and over. It starts to create neuropathways.
(13:29):
So when you're able to get into the mood if
you will by relaxing by breathing, which is outlined in
the six week program in the book, this shifts you
from this fear state which so many people have in
modern society, this chronic low level activation of their sympathetic
nervous system. It shifts you over into your parasympathetic nervous system,
(13:53):
where you're open, you're thoughtful, you're connected, and all of
your brain networks work at their best, and your physiology
is working at its best.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Could you say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that
manifesting done properly is an amazing tool.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Absolutely. The problem is people don't understand the power that
they have. And in some ways, what this book teaches
you is how powerful your mind is. When you're able
to overcome the beliefs that limit you, then you unleash
(14:34):
this amazing power. And you'll see people who have done this.
And it may not necessarily be specifically about manifesting a
thing if you will, but you look at some athletes
or wim Hoff, the fellow who runs in shorts, everest
(14:56):
or water exactly, or to bet monks who can control
their body temperatures well and their heart rate. And even
from my own practice, I have been able to change
my heart rate twenty or thirty bats a minute just
through relaxation techniques and mind training. And this is analogous
(15:17):
to so many other aspects when you embed an intention,
because this is one of the hardest things. We have
ten million bits of information coming to us through our
century organs of which the vast, vast majority are associated
with maintaining what we call homo homeostasis of our systems.
(15:39):
But we are able on a conscious level to deal
with about fifty tow one hundred bits of information. But
it's done correctly through the practices outline and through repetition
and using the techniques I had mentioned earlier. What happens
is the brain has limited capacity on a sub conscious level,
(16:01):
and therefore it's selective. Once you're able to embed that,
that activates certain brain networks. One of those is called
the default mode network, and this is associated with mind
wondering or dreaming, and it's very self referential and it
(16:21):
also defines what we want. And once that system then
connects to what we call the salient system. What is salient,
what is attractive to the unconscious. Then it focuses our
attention through the attention network. Once that system is activated
(16:42):
when you are in your parasympathetic mode. This part of
our brain or network is called the executive control network,
and that's in the frontal areas, and that is then
what creates what is in your subconscious To bring it
into
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Reality, listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight
at one am Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on iHeartRadio, Paan.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome back to Coast to Coast. George Noory with you.
Back with doctor James Dotie will take calls with him
next hour here on Coast to Coast as we talk
about mind magic, the neuroscience of manifestation and how it
changes everything. James give us an example of manifesting.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well, let me preface it by making a statement that
traditional ways of manifesting, typically that's promoted or promoted from
books like The Secret as an example, we're all self focused.
I want to be a millionaire, I want a mansion,
I want a car. And what happened to so many
(00:45):
people who in fact manifested some of these things is
they realized when everything was focused on them, it did
not create happiness or at least any type of sustained happiness.
And also when you're self focused, oftentimes this in and
of itself activates the sympathetic nervous system, which actually decreases
(01:09):
the efficiency or shuts down certain cognitive brain networks. So
it limits your ability also to manifest maximally. And so
when you're in a calm state or engage your pair
sympathetic nervous system. That actually is when you're able to
manifest its best because your cognitive brain networks function at
(01:32):
their best and as a result, you're more efficiently able
to if you will file your intention into your subconscious
and have the bloodhound of your subconscious work day and
night to manifest and this then results in the reality
(01:53):
that what the subconscious seeks, the conscious finds.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Now finds it. How do you know you've accomplished it?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well, of course there's different techniques to embed that into
your intention are inter subconscious. But what you have to
do is you have to use all of your sensory organs,
if you will, as an example, you write it down,
you read it silently, you read it aloud, you visualizing
(02:25):
you in that position. And what happens is the more
this repetition occurs, the more neural circuitry gets a stimulated.
And this is why there's this saying that what fires
together wires together.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
How much of manifestation James is related to the brain
or is outside of the brain.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, this is what I try to emphasize in the book. Now,
if you're talking about looking to the universe, I think
I commented on that, but really this is all occurring
in the brain because so many people have limited beliefs,
and as you know, once you say it is not possible,
(03:15):
I cannot, I am not worthy, then by definition you
have answered the question. So one of the things you
also have to do is to stop being hypercritical and
give yourself also positive affirmations, because again, being hypercritical of
yourself stimulates your sympathetic nervous system. The way we evolve
(03:38):
as humans, though, is really to live with our parasympathetic
system engaged, which allows not only our brain function to
maximize it, but also our physiology. And in fact, if
you are able to focus through positive thoughts and efforts
(03:59):
and looking at the world through the lens of being
of service, generosity, kindness, this is how we were designed
and this is when our brain networks function at their best.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Why can some people manifest and it works, other people
try and it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well, there are a couple answers to that question. One
is what a lot of people don't appreciate is and
I even mentioned this earlier in my own experience. Our
childhood often results in many people carrying baggage of those
that childhood, and if the baggage is negative and people
(04:45):
keep repeating it because they haven't paused to understand what
they have been manifesting and actually how they've been doing
it wrong. As an example, I'm sure you've met people
who will sit there and they'll say, geez, I don't
understand it. My third marriage here, and I keep picking
an alcoholic and an abuser, and it's oftentimes due to
(05:07):
that trauma. So the first thing is you have to
understand what you're manifesting today and gain insight into that
and understand the baggage that is motivating those behaviors. But
also you have to clarify what your intention is. And
as I said earlier and this happened to me, is
(05:27):
I made my list of what I intended to manifest
and it was all about me. And this is the
difference between what we call hedonic happiness or hedonism or
seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, and this results in a
very shallow, short lived happiness, while if you focus what
(05:54):
you intend to be of service to others, this activates
the cast how do the brain networks, and results in
what we call udamannic happiness or purpose and meaning, and
this is long lasting sustained happiness. And while all of
us are trying to manifest, oftentimes it's incorrect or leads
(06:21):
us to the point to realize that what we thought
we wanted isn't really what we need and doesn't make
us happy. So you also have to reflect on that
aspect of it. What will make you happy and what
will happen to many people is when they change the
narrative from being self focused. And here's the difference in
(06:44):
thinking I want to be a millionaire versus I want
to live a life where I can support my family
and be supportive of others to make their lives better.
It's a completely different narrative and it actually activates your
brain networks maximally. But manifestation number one takes work and two,
(07:09):
it doesn't mean it's one hundred percent, and it does.
It also mean that it works on a specific timeline.
I have some projects that if you will, I have
been manifesting for well over a decade, but I believe
that they ultimately will. But I don't control the time clock,
(07:29):
and this is one of the problems. Also is that
so many people have attachment, and with attachment or craving,
this results in suffering for so many people, So you
also have to not be attached to the outcome. And
oftentimes the greatest reward for people is actually to recognize
(07:50):
that they are on a journey, and often with others,
and oftentimes this is the greatest part of the goal setting.
It's not always just obtaining the goal. And I'm sure
you know many examples where people climb the mountain and
there at the top of the mountain, but they're by themselves.
(08:10):
They left carnage of disrupted or families or divorces or
unhappy people in their way. So what was the purpose
of that journey?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
I've always said, James, always all my life, and I've
used this example, just like you've pointed out that if
you get to the mountaintop alone, it's not fun.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Exactly. And you know, I look at my own situation,
as I mentioned, I grew up in poverty. Here not
only was I able to go to college, to medical school,
become a neurosurgeon, become a professor, become a successful entrepreneur.
And I was and here I had a mansion a
(08:53):
Newport Beach, I had a multiple car Ferrari's porsches. I
had a pithouse in San France, Cisco. I had a
villa in Florence. I was buying an island, a sixty
five hundred acre island in New Zealand. I was dating
beautiful women and all my friends would tell me how
great my life was. And I was never more unhappy
(09:16):
at that time. Really, I wasn't ever worth no I.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Was Why were you unhappy?
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Because it was all about me. Everything I focused on
was about me. And when I got to the top
of the mountain, yes I got external affirmation, but it
didn't change how I felt about myself, the shame, the insecurity,
the anxiety, because only you can give yourself happiness. If
(09:45):
you seek happiness outside of yourself, you're going to be very,
very unhappy. As we've talked about you, you only can
give yourself happiness, and that actually is through mind training
and being not self critical. So many people are hyper
critical of themselves, and that's how we evolved, unfortunately, what
(10:08):
we call negativity bias, because as we evolved the course,
the environment was very harsh, so things that were negative
stuck to us or things that caused fear, and unfortunately,
oftentimes that ends up resulting in being hypercritical of yourself.
(10:29):
And if you're hypercritical of yourself, you're never going to
be happy. So you have to be able to change
the dialogue from one of negativity to one of positivity.
As I said earlier, statements such I am such as
I am worthy, I deserve love, I deserve to be happy.
Those things change the lens through which you see the world.
(10:51):
And I would suggest to you that when you change
that lens and become less hypercritical of yourself, you understand
that others are suffering, that we are all part of
a whole, and that when you are of service to
others and place your focus there, one, your needs change. Two.
Many of the things that you may have looked at
(11:14):
from a hedonic point of view you may get, but
fundamentally the thing that makes you happy and whole and
gets rid of that emptiness. So many of us feal
is to care for others. And there's a whole lot
of research such as the Blue Zones, which many people
are familiar with, or the workout of Harvard, this eighty
(11:35):
five year long study that often people call the Happiness
longevity study. When you activate the parasympathetic nervous system, where
if you live there, you live longer, Your physiology works
its best. You often have the release of hormones or
(11:56):
neurotransmitters such as oxytocin or the love or ailiation hormone,
and these things make you feel better about yourself about others,
and they also result in you having your own self
agency and empower yourself when you're in this state.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Do some people manifest better than others?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Well, that is true, and just like in life, there
are people who have natural attributes and as a result,
may But the other reality is it's like training for
a marathon. You don't start out day one running twenty
six miles. So you have to educate yourself or be
(12:44):
educated about the processes that are necessary to maximize your
ability to manifest. And one of these is also not
putting too much pressure on yourself. I mentioned you don't
go out day one and so I'm going to wake
up at six and run five miles, And I have
(13:05):
a tendency to think that way, like I'm going to
get out that I'm going to really push it. But
the most important thing is what we call tiny habits
or baby steps. And once you repeat and again I
talked about this repetition when you do an action which
you repeat over and over. It starts to create neuropathways.
(13:29):
So when you're able to get into the mood if
you will by relaxing by breathing, which is outlined in
the six week program in the book, this shifts you
from this fear state which so many people have in
modern society, this chronic low level activation of their sympathetic
nervous system. It shifts you over into your parasympathetic nervous system,
(13:53):
where you're open, you're thoughtful, you're connected, and all of
your brain networks work at their best, and your physiology
is working at its best.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Could you say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that
manifesting done properly is an amazing tool.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Absolutely. The problem is people don't understand the power that
they have. And in some ways, what this book teaches
you is how powerful your mind is. When you're able
to overcome the beliefs that limit you, then you unleash
(14:34):
this amazing power. And you'll see people who have done this.
And it may not necessarily be specifically about manifesting a
thing if you will, but you look at some athletes
or wim Hoff, the fellow who runs in shorts, everest
(14:56):
or water exactly, or to bet monks who can control
their body temperatures well and their heart rate. And even
from my own practice, I have been able to change
my heart rate twenty or thirty bats a minute just
through relaxation techniques and mind training. And this is analogous
(15:17):
to so many other aspects when you embed an intention,
because this is one of the hardest things. We have
ten million bits of information coming to us through our
century organs of which the vast, vast majority are associated
with maintaining what we call homo homeostasis of our systems.
(15:39):
But we are able on a conscious level to deal
with about fifty tow one hundred bits of information. But
it's done correctly through the practices outline and through repetition
and using the techniques I had mentioned earlier. What happens
is the brain has limited capacity on a sub conscious level,
(16:01):
and therefore it's selective. Once you're able to embed that,
that activates certain brain networks. One of those is called
the default mode network, and this is associated with mind
wondering or dreaming, and it's very self referential and it
(16:21):
also defines what we want. And once that system then
connects to what we call the salient system. What is salient,
what is attractive to the unconscious. Then it focuses our
attention through the attention network. Once that system is activated
(16:42):
when you are in your parasympathetic mode. This part of
our brain or network is called the executive control network,
and that's in the frontal areas, and that is then
what creates what is in your subconscious To bring it
into
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Reality, listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight
at one am Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
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