Creating Your Own Mantra
Mantras and malas go hand-in-hand in helping to create fuller lives with more focus on what matters to you. Creating a mantra to use while making your mala is a powerful way to set intentions for your life and learn to speak love to yourself. You can find lots of mantras online, and we will share a few with you below, but we believe that mantras are most powerful when they are created by and for you. To help you pick a positive intention for yourself, let’s chat about what a mantra is and how you can create your own.
What is a mantra?
A mantra is a word or a phrase which affirms something we want to embrace and increase within ourselves. It is a way of shifting our focus into the positive rather than dwelling on what we believe is negative. Mantras are truths that we speak to ourselves, like little love-letters, to help us focus on what matters most to us. Because modern lives can often become so fast-paced and overwhelming that it is easy to forget to take care of ourselves, creating regular practices where we can affirm who we are can be so beneficial in sustaining our peace and encouraging more positive expansion. Not only do mantras help us remember our highest selves, they also help us to slow down, which decrease stress and invites in more happiness and a deeper awareness.
How to create your own mantra.
Only you can know what truth you need to speak to yourself right now. It is important to remember that our mantras can change often. We can use a single mantra for years, for a day, for a season, for a specific situation, and so on. We can intermingle different mantras through our days. There is a lot of freedom to try out which mantras resonate most with you and how you like to use them.
Let choosing your mantra be a fun, relaxing, and sacred experience of checking in with yourself. We encourage setting aside some time in a safe space to slow down and notice how you are feeling. If you process through writing, you can journal about what you are feeling in your body, mind, and spirit. Through this process of noticing, try to stay neutral in your response to what is coming up. There is no need for processing things as “right” or “wrong” right now. You do not need to polish yourself to create answers you think are more acceptable. Like you would sit with a friend when they are struggling, give your presence to yourself in this moment without judgment. The more honest you can be with yourself about what you are experiencing, the more powerful the mantra you create will be.
After you have sat with what you are feeling for a bit, ask yourself what you would like to invite more of into your life. Are you needing more self-love? Are you struggling to feel like you are enough? Maybe you need assurance that you are on the right path. Don’t be afraid to get messy and ask yourself these hard questions. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers.
Examine what you come up with and then ask yourself this question: “If a friend had told me they were struggling with ________, what words of love and encouragement would I share with them to remind them of their own light?” Fill in the blank with what you are experiencing. Because we often speak to ourselves in ways we would never speak to someone else, this question will help to create a self-talk narrative full of love. In this space of love is where you will find your mantra. As Gillian Welch soulfully sings in her song, Everything Is Free, “If there’s something that you want to hear, you can sing it yourself.”
Here are a few of our favorite mantras to get you started:
Love.
I am worthy.
I am exactly where I am supposed to be.
I am deserving of love and happiness.
I release what does not serve me.
I am doing my best.
Everything I need is within me.
I am courageously healing.
I am free.