I have a new favorite mantra that I shared in my yoga classes this week. I wish the words were my own, but they are the beautiful and inspiring words of Buddha.

What You Feel, You Attract. I put the mantra right to work on Monday morning, when I started to think about all the projects I’m working on and feelings of anxiety came right along with those thoughts. I didn’t want to attract stress into my life, so I started imagining a week where I accomplished a huge chunk of my to-do list and still had plenty of time to rest and have fun. I have to tell you it is a lot more fun and productive to start Monday with positive vibrations instead of facing the day with dread. I ended up accomplishing a lot of tasks, had the courage to say no to a few things, and even made the time to hang-out and play with my great-nephew Riley.

What you think, you become.What you cropped

What You Imagine, You Create. I’ve always had an active imagination, so this mantra is easy to put into practice. I used this mantra when I stepped on my yoga mat, and in virabhadrasana imagined a joyful, creative, and confident warrior. My warrior is not one with fear or stress, but one who is peaceful, fully present, and full of bliss. Try this out next time you stand in one of the virabhadrasana poses and imagine the kind of warrior you want to create.

What You Think, You Become. Do you thoughts include anger, jealousy, judgement, or fear? What story have you attached to? Are you worried about something that hasn’t happened, and may never happen. I don’t know about you, but my mind is really great at torturing me, so I’m using this mantra to remind me to let go of the negative stories, to tame my monkey mind, and to let go of those fearful thoughts and replace them with love.

“I have known a great many troubles,

but most of them never happened.” – Mark Twain

You gotta love a blog post with quotes from Buddha and Mark Twain, a nice little mashup of East meets West spiritual wisdom.

What are you creating yogis; a life of struggle, or a life of bliss? Try out this mantra this week and see what you create!