Promoting positive thinking with meditation
No, yes but, really not, unlikely, these are all words that fit people with a skeptical or negative way of thinking. In itself, there is nothing wrong with being critical of your surroundings, but if you can only think critically, it can turn into negative thinking. This can eventually get in the way of your life and relationships. Learning to think more positively is then the solution.
In this article, I discuss positive thinking and how meditation can help you with it.
Positive thinking
If you suggest something to someone to help them achieve a specific goal and they immediately respond with “no,” this indicates that they do not have positive expectations about achieving that goal.
Positive thinking is just the opposite. You have a specific goal and steps to get there, and you expect to succeed with those steps.
Of course, it doesn’t always work out, but failure is a part of life. Someone who thinks positively will simply come up with a new plan.
Someone who thinks negatively may, when faced with a moment of failure, actually think, See, that plan was worthless and will adjust their goal downward or even come up with a completely different goal. Or even give up and stop having ideas.
This is very unfortunate, because it actually puts you in harm's way.
The power of positive thinking
This introduction to what positive thinking is already hints at the power of positive thinking. Indeed, the power of positive thinking is that there is little to nothing stopping you from achieving your goals.
In addition, positive thinking reduces your stress ( 1). When you think positively, you come up with far fewer obstacles you need to overcome to achieve your goal—which is much more reassuring than thinking, “First I have to do this, then I have to do that.” Ultimately, you just have to “do it,” and that’s it.
Having less daily stress will improve your health.
Because you start to notice that things do indeed work out even without first having all kinds of negative thoughts about the process leading up to it, you become more confident.
Having fewer negative thoughts also makes you happier.
Because you now usually don't have to make a decision until a problem actually presents itself, you become better at making decisions.
Being positive in life
Sometimes you don’t really have a “higher purpose.” You’re just living your life, and your goal is simply to run errands, work out, or meet up with friends.
By being positive in life, you can always find the positive in a setback. Failure is only bad if you don't learn from it. Reads the well-known saying. There is always a large grain of truth in sayings :).
Positive thinking also doesn't mean that you don't think about negative consequences of a particular action. You just don't assume the very worst is going to happen.
Learning to think positively
Being positive in life and positive thinking begins with knowing what positive thinking is. Positivity or pessimism always begins with the question of whether the glass is half full or half empty. Now if you start with some kind of weird reasoning to avoid answering this question, then you just fall under pessimist but don't want to be one.
In itself, that's a good start, because it also means you want to change and learn to think positively.
Positive thinking starts with the thoughts you have. This is also known as self-talk. Throughout the day, all kinds of thoughts shoot through you. These can be positive and negative, if they are mostly negative it can be helpful to learn how to think positively.
For example, some thoughts may be logical, based on your knowledge and reasoning. Other thoughts may be based on beliefs that are not accurate.
Releasing negative thoughts
It’s important to let go of negative beliefs and thoughts. This may be the first step toward positive thinking.
Research ( 2) also shows that mindfulness meditation fosters positive feelings and thoughts. These effects can be felt after just one month of practicing mindfulness meditation. It helps reduce stress and thoughts about past events that continue to haunt you.
Research ( 3) among students also shows that mindfulness meditation, seated meditation, and loving-kindness meditation help reduce negative thoughts and increase hope and positive thinking.
In 2010, a study ( 4) was conducted on various forms of meditation and their effects on thoughts, as well as whether they lead to negative feelings or thoughts. This study found that seated mindfulness meditation—in which you focus on your breathing—had the greatest effect on repetitive thoughts and resulted in fewer negative feelings or thoughts afterward. This was more effective than loving-kindness meditation and muscle relaxation, such as that practiced in the corpse pose in yoga.
In addition, research shows that meditation improves your beliefs about whether or not you can accomplish something ( 5). This will therefore boost your confidence in your own abilities.
Tips for positive thinking
Now, of course, you also want to start thinking positively soon. This beginning involves trial and error, but you will succeed.
Meditate daily
As you've read, meditation works, some versions work better than others, but in general it helps to figure out how your thinking is going and how to influence it.
Just start with meditation for your breathing and try different meditation techniques to find out which one suits you best.
Repeat positive beliefs so you actually become convinced
Sometimes you may also think negatively because you subconsciously believe you don’t deserve something. By repeating positive affirmations—like a mantra, for example—you can ensure that the right positive beliefs influence your thought process.
Repeat example:
- I deserve happiness
- I deserve love
- I deserve success
Remember that failure is an opportunity for improvement
Failure is super annoying and sometimes you just want to crawl away and never come out. Unfortunately, reality will soon catch up with you then, because if you don't do anything, don't work, don't try anything then you will automatically end up in trouble.
Instead of seeing failure as something that allows you to withdraw completely, see failure as something you can learn from. What would you do differently the next time something similar happens?
Forgive Yourself
Failure can cause you to constantly blame yourself. You may keep dwelling on it and relive those negative emotions over and over again. As a result, you may unconsciously reject an opportunity for something better.
Forgive yourself. Shit happens, sometimes more than once, but you just have to move on. In the end, you will come out stronger.
You can use meditation to release problems.
Visualize what you want to achieve
To help you return your gaze to the future instead of the past, you can visualize your goal. Or better yet, how you look, feel, move and live when you are successful.
This visualization gives you a goal to work toward, and of course it makes you happy when you see yourself succeeding. I do anyway, even if it is not yet a reality.
Redirect your thoughts
If you are just beginning to learn to think positively, you may catch yourself thinking a negative thought that makes no sense. When this happens, try to redirect that thought.
For example, if you think something is not going to work for you and it is not life threatening then there is really no reason not to try it. Afterwards, you can think about whether you're going to do it again or whether it wasn't all that bad.
Every day, name at least 3 things for which you are grateful
Positive thinking also means seeing the beauty in each day. Even if it's just the sun coming out briefly on an otherwise cloudy day. Even if it's just that bonus discount at the supermarket at just the right time.
By naming three things you’re grateful for every day, you train your brain to see the positive in a situation. Some days will be easier than others, but it’s precisely those rainy, boring days that can be a source of gratitude—for peace and quiet, a nice cup of tea, and a good book, or something similar. Of course, spending the whole afternoon gaming is also an option :).
Help someone else
Another way to think more positively is by helping someone else. On the one hand, it’s a reality check that things could be worse than they are now; on the other hand, helping others makes people happy.
If that doesn’t put you in a positive frame of mind, you’re always welcome to attend one of my seminars.
Would you like to learn more about mental techniques for improving your mindset? Then check out the courses offered by the Hypnosis Institute of the Netherlands.
Sources:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1207/s15324796abm3301_2
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jclp.20543/abstract
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796710001324
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smi.1011/abstract