My Mantra

Guide students to create an empowering mantra that focuses on positive emotions.
Ages 8-10 / 10
min Activity
Mindfulness
Writing

Objectives

  • ‍Learn about mantras and their positive impact on people’s emotions, confidence, and motivation
  • ‍Create their own mantra that focuses on any emotions they want to foster and/or achieve

Supporting Research

Researchers believe that Mantra-Based Meditation (MBM) can be effective in reducing individuals’ levels of anxiety, stress, and depression, promoting their mental well-being and emotional regulation abilities. This activity aims to foster students’ mindfulness as they identify their emotions and create personal mantras to cultivate positive feelings. 

To learn more about this skill, and how it promotes students’ healthy growth and the development of empathy, please check out our Empathy Framework.

Materials

Activity Partners

Instructions

  1. Introduce mantras to students by explaining: “Imagine having a special phrase that you can say to yourself, like a superpower that helps you feel strong and believe in yourself. This is called a mantra - a short, positive statement that you create to inspire and motivate yourself. Your mantra should focus on an emotion that you want to feel today, like ‵I am focused on my work’ or ‵I am loving towards my friends and family’. When you repeat your mantra to yourself, it will remind you of your inner strength and ability to achieve this feeling.” 
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  2. Display or distribute a copy of the Emotions Chart to students to help them identify how they are feeling today, and how they wish to feel. 

    Then, ask students to use the “Create a Mantra” handout to come up with their own mantra that fosters positive emotions like gratitude, peace, and joy. 
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  3. After students finish their mantras, invite them to share their ideas with the class, and describe any particular situations when their mantras might be most helpful for them (e.g., before taking a difficult exam). 
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  4. Provide space for students to recite their mantras (either quietly to themselves, or as part of an afternoon or morning classroom routine) throughout the day. 

    Alternatively, consider pairing this activity with a meditation exercise, such as “Grounding Like a Tree”, and ask students to focus on their mantras during the exercise.

If students in both classes have individual devices (e.g., mobile phone, tablet, laptop, etc.)...

Use a platform such as Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams which allows you to screen-share during a video call. 
One educator should set up the Kahoot! game and share the code with students in both classes by following this tutorial about using Kahoot! in a remote learning environment, and share their screen so everyone can follow along.

If students in either class don’t have individual devices...

Follow the same instructions above, with one educator starting the game and sharing their screen so both classes can follow along.  
Instead of students joining the game to answer the questions, they can hold up their fingers, call out their answer, or use a paper template to indicate their response.

If you prefer not using Kahoot!...

Use this document (Spanish version) to prompt students.