Updating Meditation and Mantras for Modern Life
Many people are familiar with the idea or practice of meditation as being a silent and contemplative practice, often performed solo. While the solo option is a traditional way to practice meditation, there are also more modern and unique ways to practice meditation that may be better suited to our technology-driven lives. Modern life has allowed for new ways to engage with mindfulness practices that can be beneficial for busy, often over-stimulated lives. Let’s look at some options to help to tap into the benefits of these age-old practices.
Many people have heard of the traditional mantras which have been used as prayers for thousands of years in ancient and spiritual cultures. The practices of guided meditations and affirmations are deeply steeped in traditional experience and practice and have been proven effective over thousands of years for reprogramming the subconscious mind.
Modern medicine and research have shown that these practices can be adopted and implemented in new ways to be effective and engaging. It is extremely helpful to honor traditional healing practices and meditations, but it is also purposeful to make sure these practices are effective for daily life in modern times. Some techniques can be adapted to ensure that practices are helpful in our fast-paced, do-it-now society.
The Subconscious Mind
The subconscious mind is the aspect of our minds that lies below the surface of our awareness. The subconscious mind is in control of various decisions we make even when we are unaware of them. This is helpful because it allows our brains to conserve energy and streamlines decision-making. Modern life requires so many decisions to be made that
the subconscious mind helps us to manage them and reduce the potential for ‘decision fatigue.’
Imagine always driving with full awareness of the conscious mind – the amount of distraction that would be a part of life as we know it! Instead, we rely on the subconscious mind to help us remember directions and to take over a sort of autopilot as many of us are already deeply familiar with the understanding and physical practice of driving.
Similarly, the subconscious mind can hold onto experiences we have had in the past that were deemed as negative and can use these old ideas as the framework for new decisions. When this happens, it can become harmful to our creativity and our ability to express a new outcome. It’s harder to break a subconscious cycle of negative or counter-productive behavior when you’re unaware that you have a “rut” in your responses.
We sometimes get stuck in a cycle of repeating past choices or actions even though we thought we had learned our lesson. In these instances, the subconscious mind is striving to protect us from harm and is guiding much of our decision-making without our knowledge.
Accessing and reprogramming the subconscious mind is essential for creating a new reality with greater patience, clarity, and success – our true nature, not forced or faked.
Reprogramming the Mind with Guided Meditation & Affirmations
When we participate regularly in guided meditation, we can access the subconscious mind and create a new underlying program for our lives. The subconscious mind is responsible for our underlying belief systems and ideologies, and while it is strong, it can be reprogrammed in our favor.
Instead of allowing our subconscious mind to rule our existence automatically, we can start to program our minds with whatever beliefs and ideas we prefer. Guided meditation is a fantastic way to get started on meditation practice – you don’t have to know how to frame a meditation or puzzle over how long it needs to be. You can choose a subject, a teacher, or a guide, and get started right away. There are programs available for smartphones, tablets, and computers to help you access guided meditations anywhere you might be. Check out our guided meditation offerings here.
Affirmations can be used throughout the day to strengthen our mindset and resolve conflicting ideas in the subconscious mind. Affirmations are positive statements that we create, and then consistently repeat to ourselves to establish a new idea.
When we repeat affirmations to ourselves, our mind begins to believe the new thought and it can override any old patterns of negative behavior. This does not happen immediately, but through devoted practice, we can reprogram the subconscious mind to a more positive outlook. Affirmations can be done anywhere and anytime. They can be said aloud or can be repeated silently to oneself.
Affirmations can also be written repeatedly in a journal to engage both the mind and the body into a new state of manifestation. Practicing guided meditation and affirmations regularly can begin to shift the awareness from conditioned responses to innovative ideas for existence.
