I use mantras to hypnotize myself to sleep, to change my mindset, to prepare myself for a challenging task. I make them up to suit my needs and then repeat them regularly. Within a short time my body/mind/spirit responds and shifts my current situation. When I lay down to nap or sleep or even when I am walking, my go-to mantra is “I am well, I am happy”. Two very basic foundational states I want to believe. The repetition relieves any stress, worry, or distraction I might be experiencing and clears that path to focus and be calm. The extra bonus is to combine breathwork with the mantra. Four counts inhaling and repeating “I am well”. Four counts out repeating “I am happy”. Practice this with your own mantra for 10 minutes. Keep it simple and don’t get sidetracked with outside thoughts.

Here is an excellent article on mantras by Stacey Lawson published in the Huffington Post:

What is a Mantra?

Often thought of as a sacred word repeated in prayer, “mantra” actually translates from Sanskrit as “protecting the mind.” The word mantra derives from two related words: 1) ‘manana’ or ‘manas’ which mean thinking or mind, and 2) ‘trana’ which means protection. A mantra protects the mind by infusing it with potent sacred energies and directing one’s thoughts from the profane to the sublime.

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, he says, Yoga Citta Vittri Niroda. Yoga is stopping the modifications of the mind. Mantra is used to control the fluctuations of the mind by fixing it on a single object or energy. Rather than allowing the mind to generate anxiety, stress and fear, jump from thought to thought, or engage in senseless mind chatter, the mantra interrupts these patterns and injects the mind with a powerful sacred sound.

The energy in a mantra is like a mini atom bomb packing explosive power to redirect and elevate the mind. In fact, most mantras derive their power from the name of a god/goddess, archetype or higher state of consciousness. Jesus told his followers to do everything in his name. Jesus’ name is a mantra. Similarly, the Quran reveals the 99 names of Allah – all of them are mantras.

Why Use a Mantra?

Those who have explored mantra understand there are many reasons to work with these magical sounds. While I can share a few reasons here, these cannot be fully understood through words. It is only by direct experience that one can truly discover their power.

First, mantra is a divine tool for manifesting our deepest desires. The creative power of the “Word” is an ancient notion. In Genesis, the scriptures say, “God said: let there be Light and there was Light.” God speaks and things appear. In the Hebrew scriptures, the divine “Word” is also conceived as having creative powers. The entire manifest universe springs forth from the Word of God. From Unity flows the Many, from the first utterance of God the entire world process is initiated. Mantra is a sacred tool for empowering creation, both at the individual and cosmic level. Through the use of mantra, we can accelerate creation of our desires and consciously shape our reality.

Second, mantra can fundamentally restructure and elevate our consciousness. The mind is made up of sound – sound in the form of language and meaning. Each mind has a conscious and unconscious sound pattern. According to the ancient yogis, if you want to change your mind, change the sounds in your consciousness. You become as you think. By frequently thinking about the Divine, you become divine. By changing the sounds within the system, you can free yourself from limiting patterns of mind. Ultimately, mantra is a tool of one’s own liberation.

How does Mantra work?

Whether using mantra for material creation or spiritual liberation, mantra works in a very special way. Mantra holds together mind and matter, word and object, cause and effect. Mantra collects the attentional energy of the mind, which is typically scattered across hundreds of disparate thoughts, and focuses it so intensely on the object at hand that all duality between subject and object dissolves.

In other words, mantras are like seeds. A seed holds the entire tree within it in potential form. If you sow the seed, it sprouts and matures into a full-grown tree on its own accord in due course. The seed and the tree are one and the same — they exist as one packet of energy. Similarly with mantra, the word and the object exist as a single packet of energy. The mantra is both cause and effect. Why is that? The mantra interrupts the normal modifications of the mind, fixes it on a single target, and collapses the sense of duality (dissolves any distinction between word and object). The mantra is at once both the seed and the tree.

According to the yogis, to gain significant changes in your life, all you need to do is to rearrange the sound patterns of your own consciousness. This is what mantras do. To seek the direct experience of mantra, and to become attuned to the subtle vibration of these sacred sounds, is a profound exploration.