The Power of Mantra Meditation

Interestingly, the output from yesterday's class on anxiety and stress was a set of mantras.

A mantra is something you say aloud or in your mind that you may repeat.

Used in your day-to-day life, Mantra is reprogramming. You are replacing an unhelpful narrative with a helpful one.

If your mind runs an unhelpful narrative, it gets confirmed each time it plays out. Life then becomes like watching a movie so often that you see the characters' experiences in your daily life. In the same way that movies portray life, you will find your internal narrative in your life.

If you recognise something that Keanu Reeves once said in your life, it doesn't mean you are in The Matrix.

If you experience an unhelpful outcome in your day-to-day life, it doesn't mean you actually are "not good enough", "a bad person", or "always unlucky".

The inner narrative becomes self-fulfilling.

Beware of the 'positive affirmation' fallacy.
The idea, however, that you can pick any so-called "positive" narrative and repeat it to create your reality is unhelpful nonsense.

You can't lie to your mind!

A mantra must be consistent with reality for it to be powerful. It's also important that the narrative doesn't set up internal conflict, friction or resistance.

Repeating to yourself, "I am the greatest salesman in the world", may not give you what you want and could result in more problems than it solves.

An example of a powerful mantra is the self-compassion mantra (below). It is powerful because it does not set up any resistance in your mind. It does not create expectations and applies to everyone and every experience.

May I be Well,
May I be Happy,
May I Find Peace of Mind