Let me start with a personal story.
I’ve travelled a lot in my life (for work and for pleasure). Everywhere I’ve been, when I’ve felt overwhelmed or out of place, I unroll my yoga mat (I’ve been practising yoga for over a decade) and I sit on it. I don’t really need to practise, just sitting on it it makes me feel at home. I feel secure and at peace. All this years of practising have me make an association with the mat and the good feelings I have while I practise.
This association is called, in psychology, anchoring. And it can be so powerful. Anchoring can be positive or negative, depending on what connection you’ve made. We use anchoring daily without even knowing it. For example, my anchoring with the mat was there before I knew about this concept. The same way that, smelling a perfume or a dish that bring us to our childhood happiness, is anchoring too. Or, in a negative way. When we associate a smell, an image or a gesture to a bad experience.
Why is anchoring so important and why can it be so empowering to harness its power?
So, this means that if you have an anchor to a positive feeling, every time you put yourself in proximity of that anchor (smell, sound, image etc), you’ll feel that positive feeling.
If a mandala could be your anchor, you could have a small one with you at all time and just by looking at it, you could feel serene, confident or relaxed… Or as it happened to me with the mat, you could feel “at home” wherever you were…
You’ll tell me “ok, but if I’m not anchored to a mandala, what do I care?”
Here is the thing, you can anchor yourself to something willingly. You can train your mind to be anchored.
Let me explain how. The process is quite simple but it needs some practise (I really think it is worth it).
- Set the mood you want to anchor: remember a positive feeling, what you felt when you succeed at something difficult, or the joy of being with loved ones, or the relaxed vibe you had in a holiday…
- Choose your anchor: keep it easy to carry or access (a small object or a music for example)
- Strengthen the connection: While focusing on your positive memory, hold or look at your anchor. Try to make the memory feel as vivid and real as possible.
- Break your state. Shift your attention. Do something unrelated.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4: Do this a couple of times a day for several days.
“It is frequent repetition that produces a natural tendency. The more frequently two things are experienced together, the more likely it will be that the experience of recall of one will stimulate the recall of the other.” Aristotle*
Before trying it in a difficult moment, try to see if it works in a moment where the situation is not so intense. Once the connection is made, you’ll have it forever, whenever you want.
Though the steps are not difficult, like with everything else, some practise is required. It won’t work instantly. It is worth putting the time needed though.
I hope this will help you to maintain a state of calm, with that idea in mind, I have a selection of mandalas prints.
*https://www.smartick.com/blog/parents-and-teachers/education/repetition-learning/