Meaningful Mantras
Dear ones,
Today’s self-care strategy can be a secular or spiritual practice: the use of mantra as a path toward increasing positive energy and interrupting worries and other stressful thoughts.
A mantra replaces 10,000 different thoughts by one thought –
a thought that gives peace and awareness.
It allows you to collect your scattered attention,
which is spread thin all over the place, and unify it, thus empowering it.
Mantra is a Sanskrit word derived from two roots: man (meaning “mind” or “to think”) and trai meaning to “protect”, to “free from”, or “instrument/tool/vehicle”. Therefore, mantras are tools of the mind, or tools to free the mind. According to this [long] article, mantras “work as an object of focus” that can help the mind “become more calm and centered.”
Some mantra practices involve chanting or sound-making, which also stimulates the vagus nerve for further relaxation benefits. In Eastern traditions these might be sounds like “Om” or another spiritual chant.
Other mantra practices are more silent and thought-based, imprinting the message of the mantra in place of repetitive negative or stressed thoughts. These mantras can be affirmations, inspirational quotes, a favorite song lyric, or a single word that is associated with feelings of calm, peace, well-being or positivity. Some examples can be found here.
There are two basic pieces to mantra practice: choosing a mantra that has meaning for you, and returning to the repetition of that mantra over and over, any time you notice your mind wandering off or focusing on something negative or stressful. The practice might look like this:
Write down the word or phrase that you feel moved to use as a mantra.
Repeat it out loud to yourself 3 times, then whisper it three more times.
Begin to sync the rhythm of your breath with the rhythm of the mantra.
If you are using a single word, you may repeat it once or several times as you inhale, and again as you exhale.
If you are using a longer phrase, the syllables of the words can be used to count the breath.
Take the mantra with you everywhere you go – literally, and mentally!
I like to take a few minutes of stillness just breathing and repeating the mantra, and then carry the mantra with me into my day – in my pocket, or in my mind, or both – to return to and repeat periodically, either at scheduled times or any time my thoughts move toward the negative or I begin to feel stressed. During this time, things like hand-washing can be triggers to remember and repeat a mantra in sync with our breath.
What is a mantra that speaks to you? Try choosing a word or phrase can be a vehicle for your mind to move toward calm and well-being, and carry it with you throughout your day.
Peace,
Glynn
