Bad Bunny, an enlightened master of our era: San Benito of Spotify’s Top 5 Mantras for a🔥 2023
“Me tomaré un descanso en 2023”, dijo el Conejo Malo .
He’s taking a break. He’s pressing pause. He’s gonna breathe and celebrate his accomplishments.
Snoop Dog released a powerful affirmation song this year on his Kid’s Hits album, Doggyland. I think Bad Bunny needs to follow suit and drop a Mantra Meditation for us all before he takes a nap in 2023.
He’s got mantras for days. One for everyday of 2023 — -but here are five to get you started on your sacred perreo journey. Take one or take them all!
Bad Bunny Mantra #1: 2023 is for me.
“El 2023 es para mí, para mi salud física, para mi salud emocional, para respirar, para disfrutar de los logros. Vamos a celebrarlo. Vámonos para aquí, vamos para allá. Vamos al bote. Vamos pa’l agua. El 2023 es para mí. Se va para estudio, se graba, pero nada de presión. Acuérdate de ti cabrón, le has dado duro con cojones.”
Benito wouldn’t want me to translate that, because, well:
“I always knew from the start that I could become the biggest star without having to change my culture or my language.” -Bad Bunny
That he did, and certified forever this year.
And now he’s tired and his aim for 2023 is rest.
As if he wasn’t already a hero, here he is acknowledging and modeling the healthiest of behaviors.
A conscious pause. A breather. Time for himself after giving his all to the world.
In 2023, he’s focusing on his physical and emotional health and celebrating all he’s done. He’ll record, but take the pressure off. He’s gonna float on a boat and remember to take care of himself. He’s gone hard all year, and now it’s time to go home.
Loose translation, but that’s the vibe.
Was 2022 too much for you, too?
2023 is for me.
Let this mantra shine a light on the areas of life where you can slow down.
Bad Bunny Mantra #2: I Express My True Self
Bad bunny is in touch with what brought him joy as a child.
Since childhood, I’ve been a clown. I’ve always liked being very funny or trying to make people laugh.It’s my original self.
-Bad Bunny
The things you loved about life, and about yourself, before the world taught you otherwise, are the you beneath all the conditioning. Stay close to that.
As far as creating art, Benito does what excites him.
He doesn’t let his genre define him and experiments with whatever whimsical musical pursuits make his Kundalini rise. His album, Un Verano Sin Ti, a beautiful demonstration of the free- spirited adventures he takes himself on.
“If tomorrow I want to release a rock album or I want to release a bachata album, nobody can tell me anything — why can’t I?” — Bad Bunny
Beyond music, he’s followed his excitement (and childhood interests) into wrestling and movies.
Too many of us ask what our creative goals should be or what we should do, instead of asking, What would excite me?
Follow what energizes you.
I express my true self.
Let energy be the compass that guides your creativity.
Bad Bunny Mantra #3: I’m always evolving and I’m open to the mystery
Mr. Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio knows that change is inevitable.
Change is the only constant.
The only thing that doesn't change is that we’re always changing.
I don’t know about you, but I have found myself at times resistant to changes within myself. I either want to be how I was before or I want to stay the same.
Benito makes space for it.
He has grace for it, and is open to the mystery of his own regeneration.
“You don’t have the same mentality as you did five years ago — even one year. People are always changing, and I believe that everyone deserves the space to change and for people to recognize their change.
-Bad Bunny
He’s totally open to the all the unknown ways in which he might change.
San Benito says he’s hetero, but doesn’t eliminate the possibility of being attracted to a man someday.
After all, I don’t know whether in 20 years I’ll like a man or not. In life no one knows. But at the moment I’m heterosexual and I like women.
-Los Angeles Times
He allows for and respects his own evolution, confident in future versions of himself too.
His way of thinking is so freeing, so liberating.
I’m always evolving and am open to the mystery
Take this mantra into any are of life where you notice yourself feeling fixed, rigid or stuck.
Bad Bunny Mantra #4: Dreaming is Everything, Focus is How I’ll get there
Benito had big dreams. He looked up to Daddy Yankee.
Baby Bunny was not raised in the city like most reggaeton stars. He’s from a small town.
How would he make it?
As a starry-eyed kid, I’m sure he asked himself in meditation, as I often do,
“What would Daddy Yankee do?”
The answer was to Focus.
And dedicate a lot of time to developing his craft.
When interviewed about his artistic devotion from a young age, Benito said:
If I went out to play basketball with other kids, when I came home I’d shower and go right back to the computer again. If there was a birthday party or a family activity, I would take my laptop and spend the whole day there.
He graduated with a college degree in Audiovisual Communications after studying music and technology.
Focus.
While pursuing that degree he worked as a bagger at a supermarket, creating and posting his music on SoundCloud at night.
I think if I keep working in the way that I am, from the heart and from passion and with love, well, the fruits of that will keep coming.
-Bad Bunny
Dreaming is Everything, and Focus is How I’ll get there
Bad Bunny Mantra #5: I lean on my support system and community
“Aquí nadie sube sólo, él que te diga eso miente, uno siempre necesita ayuda de la gente.” -Bad Bunny
Translation: No one rises alone. Whoever says the opposite is lying, you always need people’s help.
This might be the hardest one to swallow.
So much of motivational media is centered on the idea of rugged individualism. This idea that we need to make everything happen for ourselves, we should be self-reliant and independent from outside assistance.
It’s toxic in many ways. Especially because as social animals we really do need each other to survive, let alone thrive.
Enough doesn’t get said about the importance of social support for health of mind, body and spirit — -and the realizing of dreams.
Benito’s parents encouraged him. His friends supported his aspirations.
Look around at your support system and community.
Where would you be without even just one of them? Acknowledge and be grateful for each outstretched hand that’s gotten you to this moment.
If no one is around, where can you go and what can you do to find and build community?
You need them just as much as they need you.
Don’t let pride get in the way. If you’ve gotten this far in life, there are people who care and would love to help you out.
I lean on my support system and community.
As you wind down 2022, don’t just rely on you.
Ask yourself, “What would Bad Bunny do?”
Whether you’ve chosen one mantra, or all five, I hope they serve you well.
Maybe, like Benito, you need to give yourself time to relax, take it all in, reimagine and reinvent yourself.
Rest is the cool Caribbean breeze you need to refresh your spirit.
It’s where new dreams are born.
It’s where stars collide.
Or perhaps 2023 is time for more fun, challenge and adventure.
When you gear your time and attention towards what gives you inner tingles and Christmas Eve-level sparkles, that is where you find the most joy and accomplish your most meaningful work.
San Benito takes good care of his physical and emotional well-being.
He stays in touch with his inner Baby Benito and makes art that excites him.
El Conejito Malo doesn’t have a fixed mindset or limitations on who he is or who he’ll become.
He dreamed, he focused, he got there — -and he didn’t do it alone, or forget the community that raised him.
His smile inspires ease.
His music, performances, and enthusiasm — -infectious.
He’s in flow and island boy glow.
His energy field electric enough to restore the grid of an island with no power.
Bad Bunny Energy…BBE…Being Your True Self Energy…is what we all need in 2023.
I was with a Buddhist teacher a number of years ago. And he said,
“Let me give you the secret. If you were to meditate for twenty years, this is where you’d finally get to:
Just be yourself. But be all of you.”
-Jack Canfield
