We all see those influencers on Instagram who look like they have their lives completely together, happier than ever waking up at 5 A.M. to workout, ready to start the day, and then they proceed to be productive at every hour (according to their Instagram stories.) But news flash! Health and wellness guys and gals have morning rituals that involve multiple snoozes, caffeine overloads, and of course concealer, just like the rest of us, even if their stories don’t reflect that. But another secret to keep under your belt to set the stage for a good day? Morning mantras!
Mantras have been picking up steam with the cool kids of health and fitness, but what are they? Here’s the rundown on morning mantras and how they impact productivity and confidence.
3. Examples of morning mantras
Mantras, maybe more commonly known as affirmations, are simply positive phrases or statements used to combat negative or disagreeable thoughts. Put another way, they’re used to motivate, uplift positive changes, or boost one’s self-esteem. Long story short, they’re perfect in the morning for starting off a kick-ass day the right way and for channeling your inner badass.
The only “rule” for a good mantra is that it hypes you up in the morning and encourages you to tick off your to-do list like a boss. This can mean empowering, energetic, and compelling words or phrases, or using more reflective phrases that allow you to pause and really discover your intentions. Regardless, these affirmations should be meaningful and repeated to reinforce your self-concept.
Starting your morning with a positive phrase will have a positive effect on the rest of your day, even if being a morning person isn’t your number one trait in life (I feel you.) Experts note that saying morning mantras each day helps to redirect your mind to more energizing thoughts, ultimately encouraging optimism, reducing negative thoughts, and relieving the tendency to dwell on negativity.
It is easy to linger and get caught up in unhappy, self-deprecating, and anxiety-ridden thoughts stemming from our subconscious, demands we face, or just from what society tells us. But repeating mantras have been linked in research to decreased health-deteriorating stress. Additionally, they help us formulate a more flexible, broad sense of ourselves.
Having an adaptable self-concept (how we perceive ourselves) makes us more resilient to challenges we face every day, including those arising from health problems, unknowns, loneliness, or social pressures. Broadening our self-concept has a major impact; it helps with our personal and social abilities, coping skills, happiness, and confidence. It’s easy to remember to take time to work on your physical health and hit the gym a couple of times a week, but remembering to take care of yourself mentally can be a harder habit to get into.
For real improvement, positive affirmations require regular repetition if you want to see changes. Remember, it’s science, but it isn’t magic. The science behind affirmations is based on a psychological theory called the self-affirmation theory. If science isn’t your jam, bear with me!
The self-affirmation theory generally says that we, as people, are inspired to maintain our self-concept as adaptable, moral, stable, and in control, among a plethora of other things. When any part of our self-concept is challenged, we experience psychological discomfort (also referred to as cognitive dissonance if you remember from your psychology 101 class.)
In case you forgot, your brain’s sole purpose is to keep you alive. But keeping you alive doesn’t mean it can’t be lazy! The brain has evolved to make innate decisions about food, water, safety, keep you breathing, etc., not to overanalyze every decision you ever make. With that being said, your brain will continue to take shortcuts in everything it does to get things done efficiently.
So what does this have to do with mantras? Mantras take over and trick your brain’s laziness (in a good way); they train your brain to think differently about the world. They activate reward centers in your brain and if you repeat to your brain over and over that you are “aligned with your purpose,” or you are “diligently working to create the life you dream of,” your brain will subconsciously seek out ways to make these come true.
Some important notes about the self-affirmation theory:
Mantras are incredibly useful for any area you’re currently struggling with or want to improve. These can be areas of productivity, confidence, anxiety, gratitude, or peace.
Before saying your morning mantras, check-in with yourself and really consider what you need to remind yourself of at the moment. Just let them come to mind without overthinking! If you are having a hard time coming up with any, or have never done this before, here are some examples to get you started.
Mantras for productivity
Mantras for confidence
Mantras for the future
Mantras for anxiety
Written by Morgan Taylor
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