Being anxious and stressed out at work or home is quite common. It becomes problematic when you do not know how to manage stress and anxiety. Everyone needs a break, it’s important to just forget everything and do what you love the most. Or do whatever makes you feel comfy and content. Mantras or positive affirmations help you to manage the stress and anxiety in a certain situations at work or home, 5 minutes of chanting the mantras provide a sense of calmness to go ahead.
Mantra is a phrase or sacred chant in Sanskrit that helps you centre your thoughts and disrupt the pattern of stress or anxiety helping you divert to a positive thought process. And positive affirmations are phrases that help you focus on something positive. This will help shift the mind off of distorted thoughts and from the habit of feeling worried.
Raghu Markus says, “mantras, repeated phrases meant to steady your mind, allow you to steer your thoughts toward a single, focused point.”
The chanting of mantras gives a person in stress a therapeutic experience, similarly, there are other chants and positive affirmations that provide the same experience.
Sometimes, people don’t address the issue but make themselves feel and think it’s just part of life. If this is left untreated, one can begin to experience lightheadedness, nausea, headaches, stomach pains, panic attacks and many more crippling issues. Even the smallest tasks might feel impossible to achieve.
Sudarsana Mantra
प्रतिभटश्रेणि भीषण वरगुणस्तोम भूषण
जनिभयस्थान तारण जगदवस्थान कारण।
निखिलदुष्कर्म कर्शन निगमसद्धर्म दर्शन
जय जय श्री सुदर्शन जय जय श्री सुदर्शन॥
Pratibhatasreni Bhishana, Varagunasthoma Bhushana।
Janibhyasthana Taarana, Jagadavasthaana Karana॥
Nikhiladushkarma Karsana, Nigamasaddharma Darsana।
Jaya Jaya Sri sudarshana, Jaya Jaya Sri Sudarshana॥
Meaning:
Victory and Victory to you, oh, Sudarshana,
Victory and Victory to you, oh, Sudarshana,
The one, who is the fierce enemy of those who wrongs his devotees
The one, who is like a jewel for all those who do good deeds,
The none, who helps man get across the deep and volatile sea of materialistic life,
The master, who perfectly stabilizes the entire universe,
The one, who eliminates all the wrongdoings and sins,
The one, who teaches us righteous conduct.
Hail to that divine Sudarshana, Hail to that divine Sudarshana.
History of the mantra
This mantra is recited to fulfil our wishes and desires. But, I wonder how did the Sudarshana mantra come into existence. According to the mythology, Viswakarma caged the sun which led to excess heat that created three weapons. The trishola, the Shakti and the sundarshana chakra.
The trishola is Lord Shiva’s weapon. The Shakti is Subramanya’s weapon and the Sudarshana chakra is Lord Vishnu’s weapon. Interestingly, the Sudarshana Chakra is worshipped by the Trimurthi because it’s the king of all weapons or usually called as “Hatharaja”.
When chanted the mantra, it’s said that it helps ward away any disease, and also protect righteous people and provide with the wealth of salvation. Each of eight verses describes the various powers of the Sudarshana. It is also a weapon that has zero tolerance towards injustice.
Gayatri Mantra
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥
Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah।
Tat Savitur Varenyam॥
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi।
Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayat॥
Meaning of the Mantra
Oh Supreme one; who is the physical, astral and causal worlds himself.
you are the source of all, deserving all worship
O radiant, divine one; we meditate upon you
Propel our Intellect towards liberation or freedom
The Gayatri mantra is attributed to the sage Vishwamitra. When reciting this mantra it is directed towards Goddess Gayatri, who is not a deity or a demigod but one single supreme personality. This mantra is recited by those who consider knowing the ultimate truth as the primary purpose of their life.
Shloka from Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5
अर्जुन उवाच |
संन्यासं कर्मणां कृष्ण पुनर्योगं च शंससि |
यच्छ्रेय एतयोरेकं तन्मे ब्रूहि सुनिश्चितम् || 1||
arjuna uvācha
sannyāsaṁ karmaṇāṁ kṛiṣhṇa punar yogaṁ cha śhansasi
yach chhreya etayor ekaṁ tan me brūhi su-niśhchitam
Translation: O Shree Krishna, You praised karm sanyās (the path of renunciation of actions), and You also advised to do karm yog (work with devotion). Please tell me decisively which of the two is more beneficial?
Amrita Sanjeevani Stotram
नमो नमो विश्वविभावनाय
नमो नमो लोकसुखप्रदाय ।
नमो नमो विश्वसृजेश्वराय
नमो नमो नमो मुक्तिवरप्रदाय ॥ १॥
नमो नमस्तेऽखिललोकपाय
नमो नमस्तेऽखिलकामदाय ।
नमो नमस्तेऽखिलकारणाय
नमो नमस्तेऽखिलरक्षकाय ॥ २॥
Namo nama viswa vibhavanaya,namo nama loka
sukha pradaya,
Namo nama viswa srujeswaraya, namo nama mukthi vara pradhaya
Meaning
Lord Dhanvanthari was holding a pot of nectar when he rose up from the ocean of milk. He is considered another form of Lord Vishnu and the doctor for all universe.
The first stanza means:
Salutations to him who looked after the world ,
Salutations to him who kept the people of the world in pleasant state,
Salutations to the god who maintained the world ,
Salutations to the God who gives boons of salvation.
The second stanza means:
Salutations to the God who is the reason of arrival of all worlds,
Salutations to the God who gave us all the worlds,
Salutations to the God who is the cause of all,
Salutations to the God who protects all the world.
Asirvadam Mantra
श्रीवर्चस्यमायुष्य मारोग्यमाविधात् पवमानं महियते।
धनं धान्यं पशुं बहुपुत्रलाभं शतसंवत्सरं दीर्घमायुः॥ (1)
ऋण रोगादि दारिद्र्य पापक्षुदपमृत्यवः।
भय शोक मनस्तापा नशयन्तु मम सर्वदा॥ (2)
śrīvarcasyamāyuṣya mārogyamāvidhāt pavamānaṁ mahiyate।
dhanaṁ dhānyaṁ paśuṁ bahuputralābhaṁ śatasaṁvatsaraṁ dīrghamāyuḥ॥ (1)
ṛṇa roogādi dāridrya pāpakṣudapamṛtyavaḥ।
bhaya śoka manastāpā naśayantu mama sarvadā॥
Meaning
Along with your auspiciousness and grace, let there be a shower of enough positive energy, food, wealthy life and purity in my living. With your grace, let me have enough wealth, food, and cattle this can be interpreted as vehicles in today’s scenario, good children to continue my lineage and long life 100 years or more – śatamānam bhavati.
Other positive affirmations help in dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression. These affirmations are usually self-help technique that doesn’t involve any culture or religion. You can make up a few affirmations too if these below do not work for you.
- “With every breath, I feel myself relaxing.” : Inhale by saying this mantra in your head and exhale once you’re done. This mantra helped me when I used to get frustrated while taking care of my child. Your breath is an extremely powerful tool that evokes a feeling of relaxation. This helps release any pent-up tensions.
- “All experiences are helping me grow.”: Recite this several times to yourself aloud. It helps you get perspective when you are lost or in search of answers. This also helps you feel relaxed when you’re overwhelmed.
- “This is just a feeling, it doesn’t control me.”: A self-explanatory affirmation that helps you feel better in some time after reciting it several times. You might feel uncomfortable or uneasy sometimes in a certain situation. This mantra will help you get over it.
- “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it”: It’s very common to feel anxious thinking about the future. Instead of ruminating on what might happen, think of where you are at in the present moment.
Apart from these mantras, you can make up anything that helps you calm down. Make a note of it if you think you’ll forget and paste it where it’s visible. These religious and non-religious affirmations are very powerful to calm you down. These don’t have to work for you as everyone is different. Find what works for you and keep practising them in your unique situation.