Mantra:
Please God help me with my intention to be happy.
or
Please God help me with my intention to heal my anxiety.
or
Please God help me with my intention to be prosperous.
or
Please God help me with my intentions.
or anything else you wish to ask for
A “mind of its own”
The human mind is fascinating; it often behaves as if it had “a mind of its own”. Often my clients tell me that they mix up the words in the mantras or they forget them entirely. They are fully intended on doing their mantras and yet they cannot manage to remember the words or to do them! We suggest that you use post notes in your calendar or agenda starting the following day after you have learned about the mantras three days later, a week later, two weeks later and a month later. Use post notes or jot in your calendar a reminder at those times. Some people have their blackberry or phones programmed to remind them at a certain time of the day to do their mantras. Find a system that works for you particularly in the beginning when you are just getting use to incorporating these mind strengthening exercises into your daily routine.
Again, the tendency for the mind to wander interferes with your ability to stay focused to doing the ten, twenty, twenty-fives mantras that you want to do at one sitting. We recommend the use of a mala, which is a type of Buddhist rosary or an actual rosary to hold in your hand and count beads as you say each mantra. The holding of an object in your hand ensures that you will not disassociate and mentally wander away from your intention to do your mantras.
How many times should I repeat the mantras?
To continue the “healing” process, you can repeat the mantra 100 times a day (I recommend this number of repetitions, although it is not requisite) for several months. You can even repeat the mantras while you are in the process of falling asleep, if you wake up in the middle of the night, during your exercise routine, or while you drive to work. The objective is for you to incorporate the mantras to your daily routine. You can do the mantras using a mala or rosaryhelping you to be present in your intention. Touching the beads helps you to dissassociate less.
When to do the mantra?
You can do the mantras at any time of the day or night. Believe it or not, you do not have to think about the mantra for it to work. You simply have to repeat the words in silence and with rhythmic breath. Because the mantra is effective even when repeated in a robotic mode you can do this mantra while watching dishes, blow drying your hair, doing the laundry or any other routine chore. I often put myself to sleep holding a mala or prayer beads, while silently chanting a specific mantra. If I wake up during the night the mala reminds me to return to it until I fall asleep again. Some clients tell me they prefer to sit quietly at a predetermined time of the day to do their mantras. Others program their phones to remind them to do their mantras. I suggest you play around with it and determine what works best for you.
Mantras and Compulsive Thoughts
Little did I know when I started to incorporate mantras into my life that I would be substituting mantras for compulsive thoughts. I admit that it took a while before my pattern of compulsive thoughts was eliminated. Today when I find myself obsessing about something I quickly formulate a mantra and go for it. I feel that this is possibly the greatest gift that mantras have given me. And being it that our mind and its thoughts that create reality this is a pretty big gift.
Your body may “move”
In the process of extracting from your mind emotional congestions, thoughts and memories you may find that you can feel slight movements in different parts of your body. You may feel pressure in different parts of your body. You might feel a grabbing, usually of the neck. All of these are indicators that that particular part of your body has an emotional congestion. That congestion is blocking your intentions, have no doubt of it. The only reason it was influenced by the mantra was because it was in the way of the natural flow of your intentions through your mind.
Sometimes, you will feel a shiver, a trembling and then a release. At that point, your mind has let go. For those of you who do not believe in the spirit world or spirit attachments, you have just released a negative energy. For those who do believe in spirit attachments, this release can be the release of an attachment.
Triggering a memory
Sometimes when doing the Purification Mantra or Intention Mantra, a memory will be released. The mantras move your mind, uncovering emotions and memories that have been restricted, often for decades. Many times the memory is surprising as in ‘I didn’t remember that’ and often is an explanation for something that has been bothering you, sometimes for decades.
It is good to discuss these memories as a form of processing and integrating that information into your waking consciousness. These released memories were repressed memories. We want them to be released, not repressed but we do not want them to be forgotten again. Discussing them helps put the information in its proper place in your personal history and in your mind. If you are very private and would prefer not to disclose your personal history, then we suggest you write a letter to yourself, in that way you can process.
When are you finished with that mantra?
How do you know when you no longer need to do a particular mantra? I can tell I have released the issue when I cannot finish the words of the mantra, as if there were no energy for me to be saying those words. As an example, if I no longer need to do the Purification Mantra about being angry about not having enough money, as I repeat the words my mouth feels funny. It is almost like the words drop out, they disappear. It is definitively a subtle energy experience. You need to develop sensitivity to your breath and to the effects of the words and when you have developed that, you will know when you no longer need that particular mantra. You may need to go back to it later as circumstances change. If you have to go back to a mantra, it does not mean it did not work, it means at that time you no longer needed it and now you do. You will be the judge.
