Author: Karuna Poole

I am recently retired psychotherapist who now spends much of my time working as a forest and habitat restoration volunteer. For decades, I have focused much of my attention on watching for and learning the lessons life sends my way. I share my stories and reflections, both past and present, in my blog Living, Learning and Letting Go.

Sunset: Two Suns???

Amma’s mother passed away this week. (Amma is my spiritual teacher.) Her mother was 97. On the day she passed, Vedavati snapped this sunset photo. It looks like there are two suns but it is more likely to be a reflection of some kind. Still, it seems significant that it happened on the day Amma’s mother passed.

Freeing the Mind

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, (Using Affirmations as Mantras), mantras are usually short Sanskrit sentences that translate often into some form of “I bow to God.” People łiving in religious communities that use mantras are encouraged to say their mantra all day every day. Saying a mantra quiets people’s minds and in so doing they are better able to focus on God.

Months ago, while I was living in a senior residential community, I faced a situation where that knowledge was useful.

I was beginning to have more trouble walking. One day, as I walked, my foot became caught in a paper bag. I was increasingly frustrated. No matter what I did, I couldn’t free my foot from the bag. Since then I’ve been told that that kind of experience and the accompanying frustration is typical in Parkinson’s patients.

About this same time, I started saying “I can’t do it” a lot. Eventually, I realized that I was immersed in negative thinking.

Whenever I heard myself say “I can’t do it. I changed it to “I can do it.” or “I will do it.” At times, I even used the line from ”The Little Engine that Could. “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”. And once I achieved the challenging task, I said “I did do it.”

I decided if i was going to free my mind from negativity it could be done with a positive mantra. Tochange what I was saying to myself,I would change my mantra. While I knew that it’s best to say the mantra all day every day, I also knew that in therapy group we only expected clients to say it 1000 times a day. For this purpose I would say it anytime I was facing a challenging problem where I was tempted to say “I can’t do it” and if I still had problems I would bump the mantra repetition up to 1000 times a day.

I soon noticed that I was more successful in meeting my goals when I said the positive mantras, i.e. “I think I can” pretending I was the little engine chugging along the tracks or using ”I can do ït” or “I will do it” or “I did do it” as a positive mantra.

(Note: ”I will do it“ is the mantra that is most likely to be successful while “I can do it” and “ I think I can” tend to be less effective. Whatever the mantra is that brought you to success should be changed to “I did do it”once you’re successful. It is important that you reward yourself in this way.)

Using Affirmations as Mantras

Mantras are most often used by Eastern religious communities. They are frequently a short Sanskrit sentence that means “I bow to God.” People are encouraged to say their mantra all day every day. Saying a mantra quiets people’s minds and in so doing they are better able to focus on God.

During the years that I was a psychotherapist who did group therapy, my co-therapists and I had clients use affirmations as mantras. They were encouraged to say the mantra/affirmation at least 1000 times a day for 21 days. Some affirmations you could consider using in this wayl are “I am Love.””I am beautiful through and through.””I deserve respect. “”

Saying mantras/affirmations this way can also be used to change self-defeating beliefs and behaviors. An example of this type of affirmation will be found in the next post.

If you decide to try this process out, please leave a message in the comment section below to let us know how it worked for you.

Nirmala (AKA Gavi) and Carlos’ Boat Journey to the San Juan Islands (US) and the Gulf Islands (Canada) August 2022

Nirmala in summer disguise!
Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

Picture is showing sandstone formations known as Malaspina Galleries on Galiano Island,

The next three photos were taken from the top of Mt Galiano in the Gulf Islands in Canada.

A day on Stuart Island, hiking six miles to lighthouse and back to boat. The photos below are from that day.

North Carolina Waterfall

Here are some more notes from Vedvati’s trip. The words and photos are hers except a few updated words for the blog format.

Sooo fantastic!! It is named Dry Falls which is crazy because these falls are definitely not dry. The Falls are near Franklin, North Carolina.

We walked behind the falls.

The photo below shows the rocks under the waterfall. See how they are a bit smoother than the rocks nearer the front in the video?

This reminded me so much of Amma, my spiritual teacher, and how she patiently smoothes away our rough edges.

Look at the water drops. When the water falls down, the drops look like the water is dancing! Sooo much fun!!

The river after/below the falls.

Driving on the mountain road after leaving the falls. Sooo wonderful!