Best Way to Meditate Using a Mantra

Just as you need to exercise regularly to keep fit, you need to establish a routine to reap the full benefits of meditation, ideally practising twice a day. Research shows that as well as gaining instant stress relief from meditation, regular meditators cope significantly better than others with the pressures of everyday life.

Silent repetition of a mantra is the most popular form of meditation. A mantra is a sacred or mystical sound, syllable or word thought to possess spiritual potency that affects the consciousness of the person who repeats it. The most famous of all mantras is the sacred syllable om (composed of the three sounds a-u-m), said to be the primordial sound from which the entire universe arises. Other mantras are often preceded by om, such as om mani padme hum, ‘om, the jewel in the lotus’, much used by Tibetan Buddhists, and om namah shivaya, a traditional Indian mantra honouring Shiva.

For the purposes of deep relaxation, however, a meaningless word or sound will do just as well. Choose any word or sound that appeals to you, the shorter the better, or use a positive word, phrase or affirmation, or even your own name. Once you have found a mantra you are comfortable with, stick to it and use it at odd moments during the day to relax you.

How to meditate using a mantra

In a quiet and peaceful room or corner, sit upright in a simple cross-legged position or in any of the meditation positions. Close your eyes and, breathing naturally, mentally repeat your chosen mantra in rhythm with your breathing, once or twice as you breathe in, once or twice as you breathe out. Focus your attention on the mantra and become absorbed in it. Whatever thoughts and feelings arise, just observe them passively. Let them be without engaging with them and gently bring your attention back to your mantra.

Of all mantras, the most celebrated is the sacred syllable om. Its symbolic representation is often used as a focus of visual meditation.