Anxiety and stress have become our constant companions as we push through tough days at work, kids’ schedules and life as a whole. While regular exercise, a healthy diet and mindfulness practices like meditation can help reduce stress and anxiety, have you considered chanting calming mantras as a mode for natural anxiety relief?
Benefits of Chanting Calming Mantras
The word mantra finds its origin in Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language, and means an “instrument of thought.” It is now used to define words or phrases that are chanted repeatedly to invoke relaxation. Mantras can be as short as “Om” or longer like “I might not be okay right now, but I will be okay soon enough.”
Meditation and mantras go hand in hand and the concept of using mantras may date back to the origin of meditation itself. While ancient practitioners often chanted Om, experts today use various positive, affirmative phrases to help steer the mind away from anxiety.
Studies and tests have shown that the repeated chanting of positive words or phrases can impact the mind and realign the body’s energy to focus on the phrase and forget the negativity associated with stress and anxiety.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of people chanting a mantra are said to have shown a significant reduction of activity in the brain’s “default mode network,” which is responsible for the thoughts and imaginations that crowd the mind when it is idle. Meditation and continuous chanting of a positive mantra might slow the mind’s wanderings and help relax.
Incorporate Calming Mantras Into Your Routine
Just like meditation involves sitting comfortably in a silent environment, it may benefit you to create a similar setting when using a calming mantra too. It is advised to focus on your breathing, chant the mantra with each breath and feel the breathing slow down as you slowly relax. And, it does not matter whether you say the mantra first thing in the morning, as the last thing before you sleep, aloud for everyone to hear or in your mind, the benefits will still be felt.
While these mantras may counter bouts of anxiety caused by a particular incident, they can be beneficial when used as a daily routine too, especially for those who are going through tough times in life.
Some popular calming mantras that experts swear by are:
- Just for today
- This is just a moment of suffering
- This too shall pass
- Let it go
- I am breathing in, I am breathing out
- I am enough
- Anxiety is just a feeling
- I am bigger than my fear
- Worrying is a waste of my energy
- Everything will be OK
When done right, calming mantras can provide you with the ultimate relaxation and calmness to deal with everyday problems of all sizes.
The content of this Website is for informational purposes only, is general in nature and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, and does not constitute professional advice. The information on this Website should not be considered as complete and does not cover all diseases, ailments, physical conditions, or their treatment. You should consult with your physician before beginning any exercise, weight loss, or health care program and/or any of the beauty treatments.
References
Borchard, T. (2017, May 11). 10 Calming Mantras That Can Ease Depression. Retrieved from https://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/therese-borchard-sanity-break/10-calming-mantras-that-can-ease-depression/
A. (2018, July 21). 52 Mantras for Natural Anxiety Relief. Retrieved from https://anxiety-gone.com/52-mantras-natural-anxiety-relief/
