How to Create Personalized Mantras

Hi, I'm Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach.

What do you think of when you hear the word mantra? Do you conjure up images of Buddhist monks chanting while sitting in a lotus position? If so, you’re not wrong. Mantras have been used in both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions for millennia. 

Traditionally mantras are a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation.  My yoga teacher often leads us in breathwork and meditation practices while repeating several mantras such as,  satnam meaning truth is my essence, or soham, meaning I am one with the universe.

In our modern world, mantras have grown in their definition to also mean any statement or slogan repeated frequently.  For instance, the environmental mantra that energy has for too long been too cheap. 

It's easy enough to google mantras and find many suggestions both of traditional mantras like satnam and more slogan or affirmation style mantras like I am enough, or I matter.

That said,  how do you create a mantra that genuinely resonates with you and addresses challenges you are striving to overcome?

I suggest taking the permission-giving thoughts exercise one step further.

The permission-giving thoughts exercise I explored in detail in a blog I created several months ago. This exercise is one of the most effective tools in my coaching repertoire.

I  ask my clients to write down the habitual thoughts they tell themselves that allow them to break their healthy new habits, commitments, and goals.  Another name for those beliefs or ideas is permission-giving thoughts.  Some possibilities are:

It’s just one small bite; it won't affect my weight! Or, It’s been such a long day. I deserve a break from my workout! Or, who cares about 8 hours of sleep? This movie is so good. I’m not going to turn off the tv.

Then I ask my clients to write down the answers to:

When I give into the permission-giving thought, this happens:

And

When I don’t give in to the permission-giving thought, this is what happens:

Using my first example, It’s just one small bite. It won't affect my weight:

The answer to when I give into the permission-giving thought is I feel terrible that I caved yet again.  I have no integrity, and one bite leads to the next and then usually a binge.  And the binge isn’t with fruit and veggies; it's almost always junk food.  So yes, that small bite still affects my weight in the end. 

And the answer to when I don’t give in to the permission-giving thought is  I’m empowered and in my integrity.  I’m one step closer to losing the weight I want.  Eating healthy food feels so good.  It’s energizing.  I’m walking my talk!

The permission giving thoughts exercise is a valuable tool for seeing your WHY's and illustrating your deep-seated desire to change. And it is a document you can pull out at any moment when you want to shore up your motivation.   

This exercise in and of itself is powerful; however, you can now take it to the next step and create a mantra or phrase to counter each permission-giving thought.

Let’s go back to my examples:

It’s just one small bite; it won't affect my weight! A mantra you could create for this thought could be bites off-plan lead to binges.  Or my food plan as-is gives me all the food I need.

Some mantras for it’s been such a long day. I deserve a break from my workout might be I deserve a fit body, or my workouts are the break.

And, several mantras for who cares about 8 hours of sleep? This movie is so good. I’m not going to turn off the tv could be sleep is my foundation. Or nothing feels as good as a restful night’s sleep.

Sure, you can research mantras and find many helpful suggestions; however, they may or may not be a good fit with your specific challenges and needs.  I suggest you either pull up your old permission-giving thought exercise or fill out a new one and then create a particular mantra that’s short and sweet and rings true for you for each of your permission-giving thoughts.  Then the next time your permission-giving thoughts are whispering or screaming at you, you can then fight back with your tailor-made mantras. 

I’m Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and thank you for reading this blog about how to create personalized mantras.  If you have any questions about this blog, about health and wellness, or wellness coaching with me, please reach out via my website at lizmosercoaching.com

Bye for now, and be well,

Liz