Mantras have travelled through the centuries and evidence can be found of their use in nearly all cultures, religions and traditions, especially where the focus is about creating mental discipline, improving one’s virtue, conscious contact (whether that be with a deity or oneself) and achieving some kind of peace of mind and equilibrium. The reason they’ve survived the centuries as a method/strategy for positive change and personal upliftment is quite simply because they work. They engage the heart and the mind and can create an unwavering focus that is helpful to our cause.
Even in our modern world with its demands, stress and bedlam, mantras can carve out a slice of peace in each day. They can help us to find a sanctuary that keeps us safe amidst the storm, an oasis that quenches our thirst and nourishes our being. We have seen in our work over several decades the power they have to transform despair into hope, anger into forgiveness, anxiety into courage and depression into faith and belief. This is why we implore you to wholeheartedly pursue this path. A mantra a day will literally keep the demons away! So our invitation to you is to come up with 7 powerful mantras, one for each day of the week. Take your time to construct them. There are plenty of classic mantras/affirmations for you to choose from. We have plenty in our handouts, worksheets and audio-‐visual offerings, so take a look and see what appeals, but certainly don’t limit yourself to what you can find in our work. What’s important is the 7 that you settle on need to resonate with you, they need to in some way ‘touch’ your core so that the more you recite them the more they make your heart sing.
It would be limiting to say that your mantras ‘must be like this’ or ‘must be like that’, when in fact what they must be is right for you. Some that have universal appeal and may be useful in helping you to kick-‐start this process are listed below. If any of them feel like a good starting point for you, please use them but adapt and vary them where you believe that’s in your best interests.
Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better (or stronger and stronger).
I deeply and completely love and accept myself (or respect myself).
I love and believe in myself and I deserve the best that life has to offer.
I’m a self-‐healing organism and I’m wonderfully well.
I choose to be an instrument for peace and kindness in the world.
I can achieve anything I put my mind to.
Serenity is not freedom from the storm but peace within it.
No effort imbued with good intention is ever in vain.
When I give without counting, everything that counts, gives generously to me.
A mind full of gratitude has no room for complaint.
The list of mantras and positive affirmations is endless… so, give yourself the task of spending a few days, maybe even a week, coming up with your ‘mantra a day’. Remember, if it feels right for you, then it is right. We now know, with the advances in cognitive neuroscience and with the developments in neuroplasticity, that we become what we think and what we believe about ourselves -‐ and that no position is beyond the influence of positive change (see: Brain Matters and What is Neuroplasticity? on our website).
If we consciously embark on changing our self-‐talk, mantras are such a great way to silence the inner detractors and saboteurs. Every time an old idea, habit or pattern reaches for the mic, use your mantra to steer your new course. You write the speech, you take the microphone, you let that one thought ring out again and again and again, until it’s echoing down every corridor of your mind.
And as that mantra rings out and its message resonates with every cell in your brain and your body, the neurotransmitters and countless neurochemicals that are responsible for helping consciousness create unison, well-‐being, inner peace and happiness, will busy themselves rewiring and reorganizing the internal hard drives. Thus creating a better platform for the software of our potential, talents and abilities to express themselves.
One of the best ways to implement this practice is to have a Monday Mantra, a Tuesday Mantra, a Wednesday Mantra etc. and to then begin the whole process again when you reach Sunday. You can of course have more than 7 mantras and change the sequence more often if you choose, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that the more mantras you have the better the outcomes. This simply isn’t true. What is true is that the more you become healthily preoccupied by your daily mantra, turning your mind to it again and again whenever you notice you’re not focused on it, the more you will reach your desired destination.
The key is to become healthily caught up with the process and to remember that the power of mantras and positive affirmations lies in the repetition of those thoughts. So, repeat them as often as you can each day. Don’t worry about how many times you’ve forgotten to do this task once you’ve set it for yourself… simply celebrate each time that you do recite it. That’s what will lead to the re-‐wiring of the brain.
Please don’t take this invitation lightly. Take up this challenge today and you will find that in 3-‐4 months (in many cases before that) the green shoots of positive change will be visible in the garden of your life (see: The Journey of Enough and The Journey of Becoming).
“All that we are is a result of what we have thought.”
Buddha (563-‐483 B.C.)