Feed Your Mind with Mantras

At one point or another, you’ve probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s true that eating a healthy breakfast can help fuel your body. But did you know that your body isn’t the only thing you can feed?

You can also give your mind a meal in the morning and throughout the day as well!

Positive Affirmations and Mantras

Feeding your mind is just as important as feeding body. You can feed your mind by using positive affirmations and mantras.

Positive affirmations are statements that help challenge negative thoughts. Repeating affirmations often can help you correct self-sabotaging beliefs, boost your confidence, and maintain an optimistic attitude.

Similarly, mantras are words or sounds that can be repeated during meditation. They can help you concentrate or focus on a particular topic. Some people consider mantras to be more sacred or spiritual than positive affirmations.

Both positive affirmations and mantras are forms of positive thinking. Whether you choose to use positive affirmations or mantras, there’s no right or wrong way to use them. Positive self-talk can be used anywhere and at anytime.

For the purpose of this article, we’ll use the terms “affirmations” and “mantras” interchangeably to give you flexibility to choose the style that’s best for you.

Adding a Mantra to Your Meals

While there’s no right or wrong way to use mantras, we recommend using them during meals. After all, everyone has to eat, right?

Make the most of mealtime by pairing it with a mantra.Using mantras while eating is an easy way to include them in your daily routine. Taking time to meditate during a meal can help you reflect, relax, and eat more mindfully. Feed your mind and your body!

You can even make your own mantras. Making a mantra with a meal helps you form a positive habit. Here are some quick tips to help you make your own mantras so you can meditate with your meals.

How to Make a Mantra Mind Meal

Mantras for Good Days

Mantras can be used when you’re having a good or bad day. For example, let’s say you wake up and you’re having one of those mornings that’s straight out of a fairy tale. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there is a blissful aroma wafting through your window as you get ready for the day. As you eat, take a moment to be thankful.

Here are some guides to help you form your mantra:

1. Identify something you’re grateful for.
2. Acknowledge that thing you are grateful for.
3. Allow yourself time focus on that gratefulness for a comfortable self-determined amount of time.
4. Allow the goodness to continue to flow.

For example:

1. Identify something you’re grateful for. This can literally be anything you want to give thanks for. Example: not burning the toast like you did yesterday. 

2. Acknowledge that thing you are grateful for. This can be done out loud or in your head depending on your preference. Example: thanks for the unburnt toast today.

3. Allow yourself to focus on that gratefulness for a comfortable self determined amount of time. There is no "perfect" amount of time to meditate. And with today’s busy lifestyles, sometimes it’s just not feasible to spend 3 hours meditating on how nice it was to have unburnt toast for breakfast. Setting a comfortable amount of time for yourself to repeat a mantra is still meditation.

4. Allow the goodness to continue to flow. Repeat your mantra throughout the day to keep yourself in that thankful mindset. If you have trouble maintaining that thankfulness, try a mantra at every meal. One at lunch to keep you going and one at dinner for the day that has passed.

Mantra for Bad Days

Mantras can be especially helpful on the tougher days when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. These can be used throughout the day, however, they’re easier to remember when done with a meal. Each day's a new challenge and there is not a mantra that fits all the struggles of life. However, this allows you the opportunity to make your own chant to cheer yourself on, calm yourself down, or remind yourself that things will be okay.

Here are some guides to help you form a mantra for positivity:

1. Choose an action/affirmation.
2. Allow yourself time focus on that mantra and repeat it to yourself.
3. Accept the things you can not change and change the things you can.
4. Acknowledge the good that happened when you’re done with your day.

For example:

1. Choose an action/affirmation. Example: No matter what, today I choose to smile. OR Today I WILL do the thing.

2. Allow yourself time focus on that mantra and repeat it to yourself. This can be done out loud or in your head depending on your preference and surroundings.

3. Accept the things you can not change and change the things you can. Though you may not have control over all the events during your day, you DO have control over how you react to them. A helpful way to do this is to adapt your mantra if need be. Example: You made a mantra to help you through a meeting in the morning, but not it’s not even the afternoon yet and there’s a new problem. Rephrase your mantra and repeat it.

4. Acknowledge the good that happened when you’re done with your day. After your day is done, look back and acknowledge your efforts to fulfill you mantra. Find things to be thankful for and reflect on them.

Whatever the situation, positive affirmations and mantras are great tools. They can be short sweet little chants to help you get through the day, maintain an optimistic attitude, and so much more.

Using Your New Mantras

Remember that affirmations and mantras can be:

• Used anytime and anywhere
• Applied to any situation
• Adjusted as needed

To learn more about how to use the power of the spoken word to your advantage, check out my post on how to use positive affirmations.

Happy munching with your mantras and may the positive vibes be with you!