Revised and Updated Oct 1, 2018.

Slogans are short, easy-to-remember phrases that help you develop a skillful viewpoint, attitude, or behavior. This article provides guidance on how to do slogan work effectively and efficiently. It also lists a variety of possible slogans to work with.

We start with six tips on how to use slogans. In this article, we explain how to work with slogans using the example, “Breathe.” “Breathe” is a great first slogan. This slogan reminds you to take short, one-or-more-breath-long, mini-meditations throughout your day. These frequent mini-meditations help you be more calm, patient, understanding, flexible, and peaceful.

1. Choose a slogan that helps you adopt a skillful viewpoint, attitude, or behavior. Listed at the end of the article are several possible slogans you can use, or your can create one of your own. Pick a slogan that helps you skillfully address a common challenge you routinely face . Think about the difficulties that occur in your life day after day, reflect on the slogans below, and consider which one helps you best address them. Ideally, the slogan(s) you work with inspire you, and provide you real relief, peace, ease, clarity, and wisdom in your daily life.

For example, do you routinely experience impatience, anger, stress, fear, and other afflictive emotions? The “Breathe” slogan encourages you to take mini-meditations that help dissipate these feelings, and gives your mind more openness, space, and freedom to relate to your situation more skillfully.

2. Work with only one, two, or three slogans at a time. Creating new habits and attitudes of mind takes some effort, repetition, and time. By focusing on only a few slogans at a time, you speed integrating the slogans into your way of life. Focus on creating a few changes that last, rather than overwhelm yourself with tons of change that doesn’t stick.

3. Keep the slogan short, simple, easy-to-remember! The shorter the slogan, the easier it is to remember it. Thus, keep slogans short and sweet. If they are too long and convoluted, they may become taxing to the memory, and less helpful. “Breathe,” is way easier to remember than, “Whenever you feel stress, or find yourself waiting, take a brief, mini-meditation to calm and relax yourself, feel your inner body, and come into the present moment.”

4. Spend a full minute or two with the slogan each morning. To effectively learn a new attitude or habit, you can’t just glance at the slogan for half a second and expect it to magically create change. Hang the slogan on your bathroom mirror, or in some other place where you will see it each morning, and then dedicate one or two minutes to do the Four Rs of slogan work: Repeat, Remember, Rehearse, and Recommit.

• Repeat the slogan a few times. After reading it, avert your gaze and repeat the slogan from memory two or three times. This will help the slogan sink into your memory.

• Remember the deeper meaning behind the slogan. Short slogans rarely explain the full truth or understanding to which they point. Therefore, spend a few seconds remembering the full meaning behind your slogan. For example, the slogan, “Breathe” is not trying to remind you to breathe. “Breathe” reminds you to take little mini-meditations throughout your day by placing all of your awareness on the sensations of breath for one-or-more breaths. “Breathe” encourages you to take these mini-meditations whenever waiting in a line or on the phone, when listening to others, when interacting with nature, or whenever challenging emotions arise. Bring all of this to mind each morning as part of your slogan work.

• Rehearse any skill you want to learn. If you have linked a slogan to an agape arsenal technique, then repeat the slogan and do the technique now. Consider this rehearsal a practice run that primes you to implement the behavior at appropriate times throughout your day. To rehearse “Breathe,” I silently say “Breathe” to myself and then take a mini-meditation.

• Recommit to your intentions. Consider what circumstances would be helpful to remember the slogan and set an intention to remember it at those times. “May I remember this slogan whenever I feel impatience, anger, or other emotional difficulties.” By setting this intention, you increase the chances that the mind will think “Breathe” during these times. Tailor your intentions to suit your own needs. If you suffer from a lot of anger and rage, set the intention to “Breathe” when these emotions arise. But if you hardly ever feel anger and rage, and suffer more from fear, stress, and anxiety, then set your intention to “Breathe” when these emotions arise. Have your intentions be what helps you most.

5. Review the slogan throughout your day. Hang the slogan in places where you will see it throughout the day, or in a location where you need it most. Does driving in traffic cause stress, or road rage to arise in you? Hang a “Breathe” slogan on the dashboard of your car. Does waiting on the phone cause you to become stresses and impatient? Use a “Breathe” slogan for your phone’s wallpaper or lock screen photo, or if you use a land line, put the slogan on a wall or desk where you will see it while using the phone. Does work make you feel overwhelmed? Hang the “Breathe” slogan in your cubicle, or use it as your computer’s wallpaper or screen saver. Put the slogan any place where you will see it multiple times throughout your day, and especially in places where it will really serve you.

6. Work with each slogan for one to six months. Work with a slogan until it routinely arises in your mind to guide you in skillfully responding to challenging circumstances. Using our “Breathe” slogan example, the desired habit will have been formed when every time I feel impatient, fearful, stressed, or emotionally disturbed, the slogan “Breathe” arises in my mind prompting me to take a conscious breath. Once this habit forms, continue to work with the slogan for another week or two to solidly ingrain it in your life. Then feel free to set this slogan aside and start working with another one that calls to you.

Recommended Slogans

Here are some recommended slogans to use. For each slogan, we explain its:

Purpose: A summary of the benefits for using this slogan.

Summary: A brief explanation of how to use this slogan.

Use with: A listing of the agape arsenal techniques or meditations that pair well with the slogan.

More info: Links to articles and talks that explain how to use the slogan.

We categorize the slogans into “general mindfulness” or by the delusion(s) they most help address. Feel free to modify these slogans, or make up you own. Do what works best for you.

General Mindfulness Slogans

“Breathe.”

Purpose: To bring more peace, ease, joy, and mindfulness into your day.

Summary: Reminds us to take several mini-meditations throughout the day whenever you are having emotional difficulties, waiting, listening to others, enjoying nature, and so on. These mini-meditations give you mental space, clarity, peace, and ease that help you face challenges more skillfully and enjoy your life more.

Use with: Mindful Pause.

More info:

Working with the Slogan “Breathe” (article)

Slogans That Address Pasting and Futuring

“Be here now.”

Purpose: Keeps you grounded in your senses and the present moment, rather than lost in thought.

Summary: Reminds us of the absolute truth that the now is all there is. Use when your mind is lost in thoughts about the future, the past, or in fantasy realms of imagination that cause you to suffer.

Use with: Be the Watcher. Labeling. Root Yourself in the Now. Live from Your True Self. The Past Cannot Harm Me. Gratuitous Gratitude.

More info:

Use the Slogan “Be Here Now,” to Have a Happier, More Joyful Life (article)

“The past cannot harm me.”

Purpose: Helps you address past difficulties and challenges.

Summary: Reminds you that the past does not exist. Use when your stories of the past haunt you causing you to suffer or act unskillfully as a result.

Use with: The Past Cannot Harm Me. Gratuitous Gratitude. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work.

More info: None available at this time.

Slogans That Address Craving and Aversion

“This, too, will pass.”

Purpose: Helps us let go of craving and aversion.

Summary: Reminds us of the absolute truth that everything changes. Thus, we need never attack what we dislike or greedily cling to what we like. We can be calm, peaceful, and skillful with whatever life gives us knowing it will inevitably change even if we don’t react to it. Helps us let go of the painful reactivity and unskillfulness of craving and aversion, so we can respond to all situations with skill, peace, and ease.

Use with: This, Too, Will Pass. Root Yourself in the Now. Gratuitous Gratitude. Sense-Based Investigation. Labeling. Mindful Pause. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work.

More info: None available at this time.

“Compassion for all”

Summary: Reminds us to offer compassion to ourselves, and all life, be they friend or foe, skillful or unskillful. This is good to use if we have a lot of judgment towards ourselves or others. It reminds us that we are products of our impersonal conditioning. There is no need to be aversive and judgmental towards the conditioning that we had no control over and is causing us to act unskillfully. Instead, we recognize the unfortunate conditioning, and have compassion for people caught up in the falsehood of fear, greed, hate, isolation, and confusion. They are doing the best they can given their conditioning. Through our love and compassion, we can show them another way.

Use with: Balancing compassion meditation. Imagine the Innocent Infant Inside. If not for my good fortune, I would be them.

“True joy comes from within.”

Purpose: Helps you address addictions and cravings for external experiences.

Summary: Reminds you to stop looking for your happiness from your external experiences and situations where it cannot be found. Our ego mistakenly thinks wealth, accomplishments, health, appearance, possessions, and so on will bring us joy, but these stories are all the delusion of clinging. This slogan reminds us of the absolute truth that stable, lasting, and sustainable happiness comes from within. It encourages us to feel our inner peace and joy, which we can do whenever we are not believing a delusional thought.

Use with: Live from Your True Self. Gratuitous Gratitude. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work.

More info: None available at this time.

“I’d rather meditate,” or “I’d rather meditate than (put in your addiction of choice: drink, watch TV, shop, surf the web, etc.)”

Purpose: Helps address bad habits, cravings, and addictions.

Summary: When temptation to do something unskillful arises, practice meditating for as long as it takes for the temptation to go away. This will give you the skillful habit of meditating instead of engaging in bad habits.

Use with: Mindful Pause. Gratuitous Gratitude.

More info: None available at this time.

“May I love myself no matter what.”

Purpose: Helps you address hateful and negative thoughts and stories about yourself and your life situation.

Summary: Reminds you of your commitment to love yourself unconditionally. Through this commitment, you set an intention to mindfully notice when you believe judgmental thoughts (towards yourself or others) to experience how that feels in the body and how

it causes you to react to yourself and others. Our ego tells us that self-judgment "helps us" by encouraging us to be "better," but this mindful examination will show us the lie in that story. If we truly want to be improve ourselves and live a happier life, kindness and compassion will take us much farther more quickly.

Use with: Blame Flipping. Gratuitous Gratitude. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work. Live from Your True Self.

More info: None available at this time.

“People who hurt others are hurting.”

Purpose: Helps remind us to turn judgmental thoughts into kind and compassionate ones.

Summary: Our ego tends to judge those who hurt others, but this causes us to suffer and act unskillfully. A better way to respond to those who hurt others is with love. When a person harms someone, that person believes a delusion, suffers, and thus acts unskillfully. We have seen how this works in ourselves. Thus we offer those who hurt others kindness and compassion to remain calm, happy, and skillful in our relationship to them.

Use with: Blame-Flipping. Imagine the Innocent Infant. If Not for My Good Fortune, That Would Be Me. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work. Live from Your True Self.

More info: None available at this time.

“How is this [whatever you are doing] an act of love?”
“Who (or what) does this serve?

Purpose: Help you find the peace and joy in your daily activities.

Summary: Our egoic thoughts often brings a lot of aversion and greed to the activities that we are doing. We do our activities because of a story that makes us feel forced or obligated to do something (aversion), or we do it to obtain some future rewards (clinging). This slogan reminds you to be mindful of all of the skillful, loving intentions for why you are doing what you do. When you do skillful actions from skillful intentions, you feel more peace and joy in your life.

Use with: Loving Intentions.

More info: None available at this time.

“The way out of suffering is through.”

Purpose: Helps you deal with unpleasant bodily sensations.

Summary: This slogan reminds us to do the FEEL Technique when unpleasant sensations arise. This technique encourages us to calmly and peacefully lean into feeling our unpleasant sensations, while ignoring the egoic storyline in our head about these sensations. Those egoic stories only worsen and intensify the sensations by making us aversive to feeling them. This slogan helps us develop compassion for ourselves and all life, while helping us deal skillfully with unpleasant emotional or physical sensations.

Use with: FEEL Technique. Gratuitous Gratitude.

More info: None available at this time.

“I love you, keep going.”

Purpose: Use whenever you feel stressed, tired, anxious, or other troubling emotions, so you can be fearless and persistent.

Summary: This slogan reminds us that our true nature is love. It reminds us to offer ourselves love, kindness, and compassion. It reminds us to connect with our inner love, peace, and joy. By doing this, overcome our stress and train in remaining skillful, fearless, and persistent.

Use with: Live from Your True Self. Root Yourself in the Now. Gratuitous Gratitude. Mindful Pause. Labeling.

More info: None available at this time.

“Inner love is the only love I need.”

Purpose: Helps address feelings of loneliness and the desire to be in relationship.

Summary: Reminds you that your true self is infinite love, and encourages you to stop believing stories that prevent you from feeling your inner love. Our egos want others to love, respect, or admire us, but this is the delusion of craving and it will cause us to feel lonely and upset. Notice how these stories of craving cause the feeling of loneliness and cut you off from feeling your inner love. If you love yourself, that is all the love you need to be ecstatic.

Use with: Labeling. Mindful Pause. Live from Your True Self. This, Too, Shall Pass. Gratuitous Gratitude. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work.

More info: None available at this time.

“Motivation follows action.”

Purpose: Helps address procrastination due to tiredness, exhaustion, and aversion.

Summary: This slogan reminds us that the energy and clarity we need to do something comes to us once we start doing the activity rather than before we do it. The ego in us will tell us an aversive story such as, “I’m too tired to do that right now,” or “I’ll do that later when I feel more awake and competent.” This slogan helps address our procrastination and lack of motivation.

Use with: Loving Intentions. Test It! Gratuitous Gratitude. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work.

More info: None available at this time.

“If it’s not kind, it’s not true.”

Purpose: Helps us be more kind in thought, word, and deed.

Summary: Reminds us that love is the source of all wisdom. If what we think, say, or do is unkind, then it is arising from delusion and falsehood.

Use with: Blame-Flipping. Imagine the Innocent Infant. If Not for My Good Fortune, That Would Be Me. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work. Live from Your True Self.

More info: None available at this time.

Slogans That Address Fixed-View

“There is no such thing as a true thought.”
“The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.”
“The map is not the terrain.”

Purpose: To help us stop suffering.

Summary: These slogans reminds us that the source of our suffering is believing the delusional stories that our mind generates. Through this awareness, we stop believing any stories that causes us to suffer, as we know it is untrue, will cause us to suffer, and lead us to behave unskillfully.

Use with: That’s Just a Thought. Guilty Until Proven Innocent. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. The Work.

More info: None available at this time.

Slogans That Address Self-View

“Not me, Not mine.”

Purpose: Helps address low self-esteem, arrogance, jealousy, envy, and all of the suffering that arises from our personal story.

Summary: This slogan reminds us of the absolute truth that nothing is personal. It reminds us to not mistake anything to be “me” or “mine.” Doing so is the delusion of self-view. All conditioned things, which includes our bodies, thoughts, emotions, sensations, possessions, relationships, achievements, health, appearance, and so on, unfold lawfully according to natural laws of cause and effect. Therefore it is more honest and skillful to think of all of these things as “nature” and “natural processes” rather than “me” or “mine.” The story of “me” and “mine” implies that we have full control over these things when we don’t. When we believe this story our mind generates about ourselves, it causes suffering or sets us up to suffer. That which animates the body and is our true self. It is the source of our love, wisdom, and creativity. “Not me, not mine,” helps us remember what is our true essence and what it is not.

Use with: Step Back. Be the Watcher. Mental Jiu-Jitsu. That’s Just a Thought. Live from Your True Self. The Work.

More info: None available at this time.

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