Our mind is constantly reflecting, analyzing and overthinking about the incidents that we came across our life. When you were a child, you might have often heard the teacher criticizing you or a particular student by saying: ’your body is present but your mind is absent.’ Even when stuck at an important conference or lecture, where it is crucial that you pay attention, you might often find your mind wandering away after a time, and you would make a conscious effort to focus back on the speaker. Contrary to what we might think, this ‘wandering’ does not happen only during stressful, cumbersome or boring events, but also during fun or long conversations with friends. This is because our brain is constantly performing a mental checklist of things which we need to do and remember.
How do you get your mind to focus and stay motivated?
The key to getting yourself together is not to empty your mind, but to get it focused and motivated. We can only get ‘rid-off’ or ‘empty’ our minds when indulging in front of the TV or some other visual medium like scrolling through photos on social media. In other words, the only time our mind appears not to be distracting us is when it seems completely ‘empty’ or pre-occupied when we are lazy and wasting time in a lethargic activity.
To get yourself motivated, let us turn go back to Vedas, our yogi rishis (sages or seers) practiced in the art of meditation. It is thought that when the yogi rishis retired to forests and mountainous regions to meditate, their mind tuned into the healing/protective sounds or reverberations felt through their natural surroundings. The sound was interpreted as a divine voice guiding the forces of nature, and the yogi rishis’ gift of tuning into these natural sounds and reverberations was passed on to us in the form of spoken mantras, which re-created these reverberations.
Music mantras and motivation
Music mantras are incantations that would be in any form of harmonious music, be it classical, string or nature sounds. The music along with the repeated chants not only helps us to relax or enough to free our mind from distractions, but it also put us in a heightened sense of being where we are able to surrender to the work on hand. The ultimate purpose of music mantras is to unblock our mind and make us to get connected with either divinity or nature or our work and life.
One of the core components of a mantra is intention. For motivation, choose one specific component that helps you to focus steadily and removes negativity and stress from your mind. As a beginner, you can engage in music mantras on your own by chanting it loudly or softly in your mind. To get benefits of music mantras, it is recommended to take the guidance of professionals who have developed expertise in this and are better equipped to help you do it mindfully.
Benefits of music mantra
When you listen to music mantras and/or chant along, you will be immediately filled with a floating sense of lightness and an increased perception of your surroundings. This is why it is often suggested that you withdraw yourself to a quiet room away from other people engaged in different activities so that your perception is not bombarded with the noise of everyday life. Similar to the modern use of affirmations but more powerful, music mantras have a healing effect on your mind, body, spirit and feelings. The healing power of music mantras are felt both physically, by levelling the heart beat and blood pressure, and mentally, by clearing all your negative energy.
About the Author
Vineet Tandon is India’s first and only guitar playing motivational speaker. Vineet has over 18 years of corporate experience and have worked with global organizations. He is also a regular columnist in Dainik Jagran (India’s No#1. Selling Newspaper in terms of Circulation & Readership) and write on career guidance, motivation, success, leadership and so on. Vineet can be contacted on his twitter @vineettandon or by e-mail on mail@vineettandon.com.