November 1st, 2009 | by Jack Reichert

Is Your Mantra Getting You Down?

mantra |ˈmantrə; ˈmän-| (OED)

noun

(originally in Hinduism and Buddhism) a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation.

• a Vedic hymn.

• a statement or slogan repeated frequently : the environmental mantra that energy has for too long been too cheap.

“I can’t do that!”
“I’m SOOO lazy!”
“I’m so STUPID! How could I DO that?!”
“I’m such an Idiot!”

Do these statements sound familiar? If they do, then you are probably hurting yourself.

Mantras were originally used in meditation as a way to aid concentration. What happens is that when you keep repeating a phrase or sentence your conscious mind gets bored and, basically, goes numb. Once this happens, your subconscious can surface, as it does when you are dreaming, and you go into an altered state of mind. This altered state is similar to where our mind goes when it is sleeping or when you are daydreaming.

In the Night Kitchen: What is happening while you are asleep?

During the day we don’t have much time to process what happens to us. Throughout the day, everything we experience – what we say, is said to us, and what we do – is registered in our subconscious. When we sleep our mind puts everything in order.

Now here’s the thing. When you are asleep the part of your brain that is working is the irrational part. That is why dreams often don’t make sense. So unless you know how to meditate, you will not be in control of how you process what you’ve experienced.

So, what messages do you want to be telling yourself?

The time to be rational is when you are conscious of your thoughts. If you start telling yourself that you are a loser, this message is going to sink into your subconscious and then will be filtered into the compartment in your head that defines who you are.

How to HACK Your Brain

Having this in mind, you can use this to improve your self-image. When working with my clients, often one of the greatest challenges for them, and me, is to overcome all of the negative things that they have told themselves over the years. Whether it was echoing their parents, bad “friends”, or just things that they have conditioned themselves to saying.

When you tell yourself these things they stick with you, you start to believe it, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What’s the easiest way to become a loser? Tell yourself you are one. The rest WILL follow.

So here’s the flip-side.

You can use this same “feature” to push yourself towards success.

Start telling yourself the good things. If you want to be successful, stop condemning yourself and start telling yourself that you will be successful. Be realistic. Don’t be cynical, or exaggerate, or you will not believe yourself. But DO tell yourself that you’re a winner. If you do something right, commend yourself!

This does not mean that you should settle for mediocrity. If you do something wrong, there are better ways to make sure you don’t do it again than telling yourself that you’re an idiot. In fact, probably, the best way to make sure that you DO make the mistake again is by telling yourself that you are an idiot.

The Mantra

If you are going to bore your mind into subconscious numbness, do it right. Don’t put yourself down. Make yourself a winner.

I once spent several months repeating a religious mantra. I’ll tell you, I have never seen God more in the world in my entire life. Still today, many years later, that mantra affects me very deeply.

Get rid of your old, self-deprecating mantras and create a new one for yourself. I promise you that you will see changes in how you perceive yourself, and the world around you.

Image souce: David Asch

Tags: brain hacking, meditation, self esteem, success

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