If you’re new to mantras, you might think that standing in front of your mirror, saying statements like “I love myself” is childish and ridiculous. And I’ll hand it to you, if you don’t know why or how mantras actually work, they totally seem silly.
And that’s why we’re here today. I want to show you why and how mantras actually work to shift your beliefs and therefore, change your entire life.
You see, the premise of a mantra is that you make a statement that you desire to be true, then by repeating it, you being to believe it and when you believe it, you act as though it is true and therefore your life changes because you have changed the way you perceive yourself.
It might seem complicated but it’s so simple.
You do and think all the things that you do and think because that is how you perceive yourself and your life.
For example, if you believed you were God’s gift to men, and therefore acted as though you were God’s gift to men, then men would probably be all over you. And alternatively, if you believed you were shy and unattractive, and acted as though you were shy and unattractive, then there’s a good chance men might not even notice you.
Because the outcomes you get in life are directly impacted by the actions that you take and the actions that you take are directly determined by the beliefs you have.
It’s all connected, and that’s why mantras are so powerful because once you change how you see yourself, your whole world shifts.
To understand all of this better, we first need to talk about your mind.
The Difference Between Your Conscious and Subconscious
Your mind has two parts; your conscious mind and your subconscious mind. Your conscious mind is the one you’re consciously aware of. It’s the one that seems to make the decisions, for example, if you saw a top you didn’t like, your conscious mind would be the one that says “that blue and orange blouse is so tacky”.
Your subconscious mind is more all-knowing. It’s the place where all the information you’ve ever collected is stored. It’s also the place where beliefs are formed.
In the example of the tacky shirt, your subconscious mind would be the one who told your conscious mind that blue and orange gives you a bad feeling because when you were 6 years old you watched a cartoon that you came to dislike and the main character and wore a blue and orange outfit.
Basically, your conscious mind is controlled by the beliefs of your subconscious mind.
A lot of what we believe was formed in childhood before we thought to question why certain things made us feel certain ways. When we are young, we are sponges and we pick up on a lot of information, and that’s how we form the beliefs that shape our lives.
The only saving grace here is that we actually have control over our beliefs and we can use our conscious mind to change our subconscious beliefs. That’s where mantras come in.
Repetition is Important
You can communicate to your subconscious mind through a variety of ways, but it all comes down to repetition. Your subconscious mind learns from repetition. That’s why you can’t just say a mantra once and expect it to sink in. You need to coax your subconscious mind into believing something different than what it currently does.
Your subconscious mind has created beliefs through repetition, and that’s the only way you’re going to change them.
The best way to use mantras to change your limiting beliefs is to repeat them daily.
But hold up, saying a statement out loud every morning won’t have a great impact if it isn’t pair with the other communication styles of your subconscious mind.
Speak Her Language
Your subconscious mind has a language; your senses. The more senses you use to communicate with her, the more effective your message will be.
That’s why I highly recommend pairing your mantras with a visual and a feeling. These three modalities are the strongest way to influence your subconscious mind.
When you say your mantras, be present! Don’t rattle them off so that you can move onto the next thing, really take your time and say them with conviction.
Your subconscious mind won’t believe it if you don’t. So when you say your mantra, pull up a visual of what it would be like to live with that statement being your reality.
For example, if your mantra is “I am a confident lady boss and I crush my goals” then pull up an image of what it would look like for you to be a confident lady boss who crushes her goals.
Make sure you see yourself in this visualization. The whole point is to train your subconscious mind that you, specifically are a lady boss who crushes goals, not just that there are lady bosses out there that crush goals. Make sense?
And when you pull up that visual, make your subconscious mind really believe it by allowing the feelings to come through.
In this example, you would allow yourself to feel confident, proud, professional, successful and fulfilled, any other feeling you might have if that statement were your reality. This is how your mantras are really going to get through to your subconscious mind.
Pair it With a Current Belief
Ready for the real trick? Pair your new mantras with statements that you already believe to be true.
This goes along with the last point about making your mantras believable. Your subconscious mind cares more about how a statement makes you feel, so if you are mixing statement that your subconscious mind already believes with statements that you would like her to believe, then she’s not going to be able to differentiate which ones align with her beliefs and which ones don’t. And that means you’ve found the fast track to shifting your beliefs.
For obvious reasons, when choosing statements that you already believe to be true, choose the ones that give you a positive feeling. Find things that you love about yourself and mix those in with your new mantras.
For example, if you already believe that you are organized and self-motivated (excellent qualities) then you could mix those in with your new mantras about being successful.
“I am always organized and on top of my workload”
“I am a confident lady boss and I crush my goals”
“I am motivated by my own successes”
You’re sandwiching your new mantra in with two strong beliefs that you already have about yourself, and that will cause your subconscious mind to absorb that new belief as well.
And that, my friend, is how mantras actually help you change your self-image and therefore, your life.
As a side note, make sure you are always saying your mantras in the present tense, you want to tell your subconscious mind that this is already true, not that it will be some day.
And remember that repetition is key! Make your mantras part of your daily routines and use all your senses to influence your subconscious mind. Before you know it, you will actually believe you are the kick-ass woman that you want to be –and you will be!