Shhh! Stop and listen!
What are you thinking right now?
If you listen carefully enough, you will hear the whisperings of your inner mantra.
We tend to think of mantras as being mysterious sacred sounds passed down by yogic gurus in a manner synonymous with the secret stone mason hand shake. My concept of mantras extends into the more everyday realm of repetitive thoughts.
What is a Mantra?
To me, a mantra is any word, sound or thought that draws our focus through the process of repetition. Perhaps you are already familiar with some of these not so sacred, yet ancient mantras:
I'm so stressed
Quick, hurry
If only I had….
She / He’s an idiotI'm so fat / unattractiveIt’s so hard
I don’t have enough time / money / friends
I’m so crap / pathetic / bad at that
It’s not safe
It’s their fault Recognise any of these?
My personal favourite is around not having enough time to do everything I want to do. What's yours? What is the message you repeatedly say to yourself about your Self, those people or things around you, or the ways of the world? More importantly, what energy is your mantra sending out into the world and attracting back into your life?
The repetitive messages we think and put out into the world can either help or hinder us, depending on whether they feed us with energy based on love and abundance, or fear and lack.
You can Change your Mantra
The great news is that you have the ability to choose your mantras. You can choose thought patterns or mantras that will help take you forward in life and support you in positive ways. You can create positive mantras in all areas of your daily life and experience how incredibly powerful they are at shifting you out of negativity, uplifting your energy and creating better and better experiences in your reality.
When I'm jogging I repeat two mantras or positive affirmation: ‘I value myself’ (on the in breath) and ‘I take my time' (on the out breath). This shifts my focus away from any strain I may be feeling or shortness of breath and boosts my energy to give me a positive focus and direction. As I do this my entire being falls into a natural, harmonious rhythm. I stop focussing on my perceived limitations and I end up running twice as long as I would otherwise.
I also have a mantra I repeat when I am stuck in traffic or getting uptight. I have one for when I am short on time or feeling pressured in any way. One for when I am doubting myself or losing sight of my true value and worth. And even one when I am faced with doing a domestic task that I'm not that keen on doing.
Mantras change the energy with which we resonate, shifting it from the negative, limited and unproductive vibratory pattern to being a positive, expansive, ‘can do’ frequency. When we do this, our internal pattern immediately shifts, giving us renewed energy, direction and a sense of gratitude and optimism.
Creating Better Mantras
Make your mantras short and sweet. Only a few words or a short phrase, stated in the positive, transforming your difficulty into ease. It is not so much about creating a mantra which you totally, whole-heartedly believe to be 100% true. This is usually not the case, at least not until you have become familiar with your mantra for a while. Mantras are more about changing your internal frequency, creating clearer energy for your body and entire being.
Whatever your mantra is, be it conscious or in most cases unconscious, it will be aligning your physical, mental and emotional energies and directly contributing to your state of well being. The power of mantras lies in your ability to change your internal frequency by modifying the patterns of your thoughts and in turn shifting that which you are resonating with in the world around you.
If you are stuck in the groove of a negative thought pattern or perspective on things, try one of the following mantra antidotes. Simply identify the negative mantra you currently run and then repeat the corresponding positive mantra either silently or out loud as many times a day as possible, at least 10 times at a go. Alternatively, make up your own and notice how differently you feel after you have repeated it for a while.
Limiting Mantras:
I don’t have enough time
I don’t have enough money
I don’t have enough friends
Damn traffic
If only I had ...
She/He's an idiot
It's so hard
I'm so crap/pathetic/uselessI'm ugly/fat/unattractive
It's not safe
It's their fault
Expansive Mantras:
I take my time
I have an abundant flow of money
I am surrounded by friends
I flow with ease with the traffic
I have plenty of ….
He/She copes the best they know how
I flow with ease and grace
I am capable
I am beautiful as I am
I am safe and protected
I take responsibility for what is mine
You can repeat your positive mantras any time, any where. Use them when you are in the shower, exercising, in a meeting, in a stressful situation, or as you drift off to sleep. Think them, say them, sing them or even hummm them.
What ever the situation, there is always a positive mantra that will lend you a helping hand. So get started, grab a mantra, and feel what a difference it makes to your body, your sense of well being and to your day.
Until next time…
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'Written by healer and author Juliet Martine, www.julietmartine.com'