The average person tends to have numerous things on their plate. These can range from job to school work to home life to relationships to various projects. Finding a balance among all these interactions can be daunting for most and even unachievable for some. This is why it is significant for you to spend some quality time during or after a busy day to practice contemplation.
Contemplating over your current preoccupations is quite important when it comes to boosting your mental and emotional well-being. Its tranquil and calming effects are a couple of the reasons why you may want to use it to de-stress.
However, for some, there is an ambiguity with how to reflect in such a way that you achieve the benefits offered by contemplation. As a result of this, many people find that tapping into positive meditation thoughts becomes problematic. Let us take a look at how you can meditate correctly to acquire thoughts that can free you of worry, negativity and apprehension.
Zapping Stress And Negativity Using Meditation
When one thinks of unwinding, most likely they think of going on a vacation or retreat and/or having a spa treatment. These are some of the techniques that can free someone of their negative thoughts and anxiety. There are, however, more than just these strategies.
You perhaps often overlook the power of self-examination when it comes to unwinding. It is among one of the most effective methods for creating positivity and suppressing most forms of anxiety, stress and negativity (4).
Read More: Meditation and Stress: How Can Meditating Reduce Anxiety?
This technique helps you tap into the correct mindset, permitting you access to positive meditation thoughts. You can acquire them in several ways. These include:
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By Focusing On Your Respiration
Perhaps the most significant focus of any meditative practice is your respiration. The concept seems quite straightforward, yet it is invaluable in this concept. At the start you are only required to breathe through your nose.
Second, you are supposed to pay attention to your respiration process. Track how air flows into your body as you inhale. Think about how your lungs expand and your diaphragm descends to draw in more air. Use the same process to evaluate how air exits when you exhale.
Focusing on such a rhythm will evolve into a suppression of either your bewildering thoughts or your concentration on how tired you are. Consequently, your mind and body tend towards relaxation. In this window of relaxation, you will undoubtedly harvest positive perceptions. Some of the breathing techniques which can help you reach this stage include:
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The 4-7-8 Breathing Technique
This pattern of breathing is designed to help you by reducing your stress levels and increasing your calmness (3). It requires you to inhale for 4 seconds, hold it for 7 seconds and then exhale for 8 seconds.
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Pranayama Breathing Technique
The other breathing method that can help you tap to positive thinking is the pranayama breathing technique. It frees your mind and body of any barriers that affect smooth respiration. As a result, you can properly breathe and have a good flow of life energy, also known as prana.
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By Focusing On Appeasing Objects
One of the best self-examination practices for initiating positive meditation thoughts is guided imagery. It is an incredibly effective art of meditation for obsessive thoughts. This is because it deflates such perceptions and replaces them with positive ones.
In this technique, you are required to let go of your dreadful thoughts. Fortunately this does not have to be a struggle because this practice utilizes imagery to help you visualize calming and pleasant situations.
The more you think of something positive, be it an event, location or object, the more you will release your negativity (1). You can try this practice by yourself without assistance from another. However, if it ends up being overwhelming, you should seek the guidance of an instructor.
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By Examining Your Energy Levels
Energy levels are crucial subjects in meditation. Therefore, one of the aims of contemplating is to boost your energy levels. This helps in various ways, including opening a blocked heart chakra to mending broken relationships.
Your mind usually has a profound impact on your energy levels. When it is cluttered with negative thoughts, you are most likely to have low energy levels. Low energy levels will make you feel dull and unproductive, or perhaps have low self-confidence.
However, when you attain positive meditation perceptions, your energy levels will tend to be boosted. This in turn tends to increase your motivation, productivity, mental and physical energy.
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By Being Mindful
Mindfulness is key when it comes to unlocking powerful meditation thoughts for the day. It is because of this that mindfulness contemplation ranks among the best contemplative practices. Experts acknowledge that it reduces stress levels, enhances compassion and helps in overcoming addiction (8).
The practice merely requires you to be present at the moment. You might have noticed that at times you might be somewhere physically but elsewhere emotionally. This is an example of a scenario when you are not present at a moment.
The result of this situation is usually that one tends to have numerous thoughts, making one drift away from things right before oneself. Mindful practice makes one more alert to what is happening at the moment. Instead of worrying about yesterday’s failures, one focuses on the present moment and how to make it better. Such reflection induces positive thinking.
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By Using a Mantra
You do not have to attend positive thoughts meditation classes in order to master the concept of triggering positive perceptions. Although these power thought meditation classes do work, they are not the only techniques that can do the trick.
You can trigger pleasant meditation thoughts simply by picking a suitable mantra to use when practising mantra meditation. A mantra refers to a preferred calming phrase, word or statement that you repeat while contemplating (7).
So, while you are starting to reflect, you are supposed to silently repeat the mantra. This practice attempts to clear your mind of any outside thoughts by limiting your focus only to your mantra. By repeating the mantra you will eventually suppress your other thoughts and begin a process of evaluating the mantra in-depth.
You now may start analyzing what the mantra means in your life and/or how it can be helpful in bettering your life. Mantras are often formed from a base of affirmations. You may see how you end up stretching your mantras beyond personal reflection to become positive affirmations that reside with you throughout your busy days.
Read More: Mantra Meditation: Empowering Words That’ll Put You Into A Better Headspace
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Doing A Body Scan
You can also work on your thoughts by doing a comprehensive body scan as you meditate. You can use the body scan or progressive relaxation meditation technique to accomplish this.
As the name implies, you are required to scan your body for areas of tension while you are reflecting with this method. It is recommended to either start from your head and work downwards to your toes or from your toes and work upwards to the top of your head.
Whichever process you choose, the goal of this technique is to recognize an area of tension and then address this tension (6). You might often identify the tension that is arising from your mind because it is filled with negative emotions and thoughts.
In this case, probably you cannot stop these unappealing thoughts. Instead, you have to dig deeper and analyze how you can work through them to reduce their impact. Making use of such strategies will help you to initiate positive thinking and calmness in your life.
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By Evaluating Your Loving-Kindness Emotions
The other method you can use to trigger positive meditation thoughts is examining your loving-kindness emotions. In this case, you will have to use the loving-kindness reflection technique. Follow these steps to try this method:
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- Find a cozy position and sit down. Ensure your environment is serene, which helps to minimize the distractions while you are contemplating.
- Focus on your respiration. Ensure that you are inhaling and exhaling deeply and slowly.
- Repeat to yourself the goodwill phrases that will trigger loving-kindness emotions. For example, you can try uttering phrases such as “May I be happy. May I live with ease.” (5).
- After repeating these phrases, you will be relaxed and may now start extending these emotions to others. You can wish your pals, family and society members the best. Such behaviors are proof that you are deeply rooted in positive meditative thinking.
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By Reflecting On Your Accomplishments
One of the best ways of triggering powerful and motivating meditation thoughts is by reflecting on your achievements. Contemplating on what you have achieved so far usually eliminates any negative thinking on why you are not attaining your current goals.
Similarly, this does away with any negativity that may arise when you encounter barriers to attaining your goals. So, while contemplating, you should remove all negative thoughts that may demotivate you.
Instead of this, focus on the accomplishments which tend to rejuvenate your hunger for the goals set before you. The hunger and positive thinking you will acquire will not only better your thoughts but also improve your productivity.
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By Allowing You To Decompress
Some meditation styles do not require you to judge or do away with your train of thoughts. Instead, some meditation practices like Zen meditation require you to observe them without judgment while you tap into your serenity zone.
On the flip side, others like guided imagery require you to completely do away with these thoughts. Whichever method you chose, the underlying factor is that both styles allow you the opportunity to decompress. By eliminating or not judging your thoughts, you get to unwind and decompress (2).
The Bottom-line
Meditation thoughts can boost your energy levels and make you lead a happier life. They can be obtained through various contemplative styles and general meditation guidelines.
It may take a while for you to master the positive thought concept using meditation. If this happens to be your case, you should seek the help of an instructor for faster results.
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions expressed in this piece are not a substitute for any physician’s medical advice. Ensure you consult with your physician before embracing any aspect highlighted in this article.
SOURCES:
- 5 relaxation techniques to try (2020, medicalnewstoday.com)
- 10 Relaxation Techniques That Zap Stress Fast (2013, webmd.com)
- Are breathing techniques good for your health? (2020, theguardian.com)
- How to Meditate (2013, webmd.com)
- How to meditate when it feels like everything is out of control (2020, theguardian.com)
- Meditation, Stress, and Your Health (2020, webmd.com)
- Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress (2020, mayoclinic.org)
- Mindfulness meditation helps to control emotions, says study (2016, medicalnewstoday.com)
- What is the best type of meditation? (2017, medicalnewstoday.com)
