How to improve your day-to-day peace of mind

About a third of children and young people in Switzerland experience stress (study in German). This doesn't surprise me. Depending on the person, serenity comes with maturity... which comes with age. Parental pressure, the quest for performance, study choices, the search for meaning: the culture of hyperproductivity particularly affects young people. The good news is that meditation mantras can help you develop serenity at any age.

Mantras are phrases or words that we recite to ourselves silently or aloud. It's common to chant these words during meditation exercises. Yet meditation helps you to calm down, reorder your thoughts and enter a state of serenity.

The sound of the mantra acts on the body and mind

Used wisely, meditation mantras can bring more oxygen to the brain, reduce heart rate and blood pressure, which all together contribute to your good physical and mental health. As they say, it's scientifically proven.

At least, that's the conclusion of Professor Jai Paul Dudeja, Director of Amity University in Gurgaon, as he writes in his scientific paper Scientific Analysis of Mantra-Based Meditation and its Beneficial Effects, in 2017.

In his study, he refers mainly to the positive effects of certain sound frequencies on the body and mind. On the other hand, he explains that the word "mantra" comes from Sanskrit. "Man" means "spirit" and "tra" means "liberation". A mantra is therefore a combination of transcendental sounds designed to free the spirit from all the anxieties of material life.

According to ancient Hindu writings, adds Mr Dudeja, the mantra plays the role of transformation into potential energy. The "mantra" could be the divine name; it could just as easily be "Om" or "Brahm Nad" or any other word from other beliefs and religions.

Positive effects

Western ears sometimes doubt this foreign concept, which has its origins in the Far East. I suggest you take a look at an article from the National Library of Medicine, the world's largest medical library, based in the USA. It summarises the results of many other studies on the health impact of mantras combined with meditation sessions.

In short, the health benefits of mantra-based meditation are considerable. Investing up to 20 minutes a day over a period of three to six weeks will significantly improve your health. If you say the right words to yourself at the right time in the right situation over an extended period of time and combine them with meditation, this can have a positive effect on stress, anxiety, high blood pressure and also on the functioning of your immune system.

In this practice, it's less the meaning of the words than the sound of the mantras that counts. Repeated recitation helps you focus on your breathing and immerse yourself in meditation without being distracted by distracting thoughts.

No need to chant the mantra 108 times either, as some old yoga texts suggest. The secret is regularity. In this study in German from the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Neurological Sciences in Leipzig dating from 2021, the scientists found that it was only after six months of continuous meditation training that a significant reduction in stress was observed in the test subjects. Indeed, after three months, the effect measured by the level of cortisol present in the hair was minimal.

Sentences that resonate

What exactly do you have to say? The best-known mantra is the "Om". There are many variations, depending on the culture, religion and field. Typically, it is pronounced "Om" or even "Aoum" out loud, taking care to accentuate the final "m".

In its traditional sense, the word reflects the original melody of the universe.

As well as many classic mantras, such as "Om Shanti Shanti Shanti" (a Sanskrit mantra that represents peace), there are also modern versions that can help you in your everyday life. Studies agree that mantra-based meditation helps reduce stress, not least because it forces us to pause.

Think of them as tools for strengthening your independence and yourself in the calm and pleasant frequency of spoken words. You can adapt them to suit your needs, which to some extent amounts to developing your own mantras. The scientifically proven benefits are: refocusing on yourself, gaining distance, strengthening yourself and preparing for the various situations life throws at us.

Traditional mantras

• Om/Aoum: the "Om" represents the sound of the universe and symbolises absolute reality. It calms you by relieving stress and anxiety and slowing your pulse.
• Om Shanti Shanti Shanti: "Shanti" means peace in Sanskrit. Combined with "Om", it is often used at the end of yoga sessions to bring peace and harmony within and around you.
• Hare Krishna: this mantra is addressed to the god Krishna, who embodies love, playfulness and devotion. Reciting it helps to open your mind to greater things.
• Sat Nam: this one means "I am true". It can be called upon to assure ourselves of the truth of ourselves and the world. In a way, it brings us back down to earth.
• So'ham: this one is like saying "I am that". It's good for meditation exercises that focus on the breath. Pronounce "so" as you breathe in and "ham" as you breathe out, so that you become one with yourself and your body during conscious breathing.

Modern mantras

If these traditional mantras seem too esoteric, other formulations can also give you strength for everyday challenges and all of life's situations. You can just as easily invent your own phrases and make them your personal mantra. It's important to phrase things in a positive way, replacing "I have no worries" with "I'm carefree", for example. Modern mantras attach more importance to meaning. The content often takes the form of an affirmation, as in the examples below:

• I am enough;
• I am in control of my thoughts and emotions;
• I am resilient;
• enjoy the journey and not just the destination;
• every day is a gift and a new chance;
• progress, not perfection;
• I am satisfied with my past, my present and my future;
• I am grateful for what I have;
• I choose to be happy;
• I don't say "maybe" when I mean "no".