The goal during yoga practice is to leave all of your normal thoughts out of your practice. This gives your mind a break from the constant chatter that goes on
within each of us. These thoughts can be anything from prioritizing a “to-do” list, reviewing your day or sometimes can even be very negative things we tell ourselves.
A mantra is a phrase that is spoken either inwardly or outwardly to help the yogi focus his or her thoughts. Repeating a mantra can help streamline the wandering mind and help one stay in the moment. There aren’t any rules about how to speak or chant the mantra, no number of times it must be repeated, and no tone or way that it should be done. It is simply a tool that one can use to free the mind.
For me personally, using a mantra to clear my mind during my yoga practice helps me to get into poses I would not otherwise. If I let my mind take control, it would tell me I was too old to do a lot of things. Before I started back to yoga last summer, I no longer did backbends and headstands … now, they are part of my daily practice.
There are many different mantras, some are well known and have been used by many. But don’t feel you need to stick to these mantras only. You can choose a verse from the Bible if you prefer or just create a positive thought.
One of my favorite mantras is:
Om. Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu. Om.
What does it mean? If we break it down …
lokah: location, realm, all universes existing now
samastah: all beings sharing that same location
sukhino: centered in happiness and joy, free from suffering
bhav: the divine mood or state of unified existence
antu: may it be so, it must be so (antu used as an ending here transforms this mantra into a powerful pledge)