As Buddha once said, “Rule your mind or it will rule you”.
This quote is especially true when it comes to the correlation between spiritual and physical well-being. It’s easy to become absorbed in your own thoughts, your own worries, and find yourself wound up in stress but what we often forget is that the mind is the ruler of your energy. Stressful thoughts easily manifest physically. Unhappy thoughts can quickly lead to negative outcomes. In fact, an unhappy heart, lethargic energy or aching body are all physical manifestations of negative thoughts in the mind.
In order to escape the habit of getting caught up in endless and mindless inner-chatter, we need to adjust our mindset. A helpful hint is to fill one’s mind and thoughts with positive affirmations and stay grounded with mantras, which will in turn transition into a healthy well-being. But what is the difference between the two and how can we combine them to empower ourselves? Read on…
Mantras vs Affirmations
Mantras and positive affirmations are two unique ways to cultivate self-care and nourish your mind. In order to reset and calm your mind, you must reflect upon and change your pattern of thought flow. By adding positive thoughts, words and actions into your daily life and connecting this to your heart space in an authentic way, only then will you return to love and happiness.
A mantra is a phrase that you repeat either out loud or to yourself in order to bring hope, healing and blessings into your life. These can be through invocations, sounds or words such as ‘om’ ‘love’ or ‘peace’. Mantras aim to liberate the mind from thought in order to facilitate inner peace and can often be interpreted as bowing to our true highest selves.
Affirmations are quite similar - they’re short, powerful thoughts said to create your reality. But unlike with mantra, with affirmations it is the meaning which matters – not the sound. Examples of positive affirmations include phrases such as “I am whole and perfect the way I am,” or “I am radiating with love and abundance.”
Manifestation & Grounding Ritual
The first step to healing is with positive thought, and then action. Choose a regular time each day - like first thing in the morning - to repeat your mantra and affirmation.
Meditate for at least 15 minutes before you start chanting positive affirmations. Ensure that you mind is in a completely tranquil, and deeply relaxed state. You can listen to soothing music to meditate in case you have troubles keeping your mind calm or you can try to focus on a particular object in your vicinity.
When deciding which mantra and affirmation is best suited to your needs, think about what in your life you would like to improve. Is it health? Work? A relationship? Hold these things in your mind as you repeat your mantra. Feel free to write them down in a notebook if it helps.
Try the ritual below:
- Sit or stand in a quiet space with your chosen HANAKO I AM… perfume. For example, for those needing to let go of frustrations, uplift their mood and increase clarity and balance, take the I AM...Bliss Essence and mist it over your body.
- Allow a moment to breathe consciously, set a positive intention in your mind, spray the essence around the crown of your head then repeat your affirmation, “I am calm, centred and at peace. I live from moment to moment. All is well.”
- Repeat a sound to further ground yourself such as ‘Om’.
Repeat this rituals many times as necessary until you start to feel balanced and calm.
And remember, using mantras and affirmations doesn’t mean that everything in our lives is perfect or that we simply need one positive thought to attract what we desire. Rather, it affirms the spiritual truth that in essence we are all love - we are all one. It reminds us to return inwards, to understand we are in the driver’s seat and have the power of choice and mostly, it reminds us that the whole of creation is governed by the all-pervasive and perfectly just law of karma. That anyone, anywhere, all around the world can use the power of mantra and affirmation to see the potential within, and chisel away at our limitations until this potential is realised.
A special note on mantras and affirmations:
Each HANAKO therapy essence comes with a unique mantra to bring a moment of sacredness to your daily routine, and help instill positive thinking back into your life. All our mantras begin, “I am…”, for, whatever you put after these two powerful words creates your reality.
As with all good things in life, patience and practice will see you reap the rewards of positive affirmations. Nothing good comes without a little effort, so make sure you dedicate yourself to repeating your chosen mantra everyday.
Continue to work towards maintaining positivity, by continued practice and continuing to evolve your affirmations to reflect the changes and values in your life. Remember… what we think we become.
