Do you ever find yourself caught in a cycle of negative thoughts? Maybe you ruminate on past mistakes, worry excessively about the future, or imagine worst-case scenarios?

Do you sometimes have a great day, everything goes well, and then your brain says, “Hey, remember that time you embarrassed yourself in front of everyone? Let’s relive that moment for the next 20 minutes.” And suddenly, your good day turns into a cringe-fest.

If so, know that you’re not alone. Many people struggle with repetitive negative thinking, and this can have a serious impact on mental health and well-being.

As the coordinator of expertise in caregiving at the Centre for Research and Expertise in Social Gerontology and an associate member of the Centre for Study and Research on India, South Asia and its Diaspora, I would like to shed light on the negative impact of repetitive negative thinking on the mental and physical health of caregivers.

The devastating effects of repetitive negative thinking

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a cognitive process characterized by persistent and intrusive contemplation on past events, commonly known as rumination, and apprehensions about future possibilities, often referred to as worries.

RNT is a recurring, unwelcome, and difficult to dislodge pattern of thinking that has been implicated in the onset and perpetuation of diverse mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, RNT has been found to be associated with physical health and has been linked to an increased likelihood of future health issues. RNT may negatively impact one’s quality of sleep, decrease efficiency, and hinder decision-making abilities.

Recent studies have revealed that the severity of RNT is connected with changes in brain morphology, leading to a decline in general cognitive abilities and increasing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Even at low levels, RNT can have detrimental effects on the cardiovascular, autonomic nervous, and endocrine systems.

So, what would be the most effective strategy for managing repetitive negative thinking? Research has demonstrated a negative correlation between RNT and mindfulness, implying that a low level of mindfulness can increase one’s susceptibility to RNT.

Repetitive negative thinking is a cognitive process characterized by persistent and intrusive contemplation on past events and worries about the future.
(Shutterstock)

Journey to the present: The transformative power of mindfulness

Mindfulness can be seen as a mental faculty or skill that can be developed through regular practice. It entails cultivating a non-judgmental and non-reactive awareness of the present moment. The objective is to be fully engaged in what’s happening right now, rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.

There are two main styles of mindfulness practice: focused attention meditation and open monitoring meditation. Focused attention meditation involves choosing a specific object, such as the breath, and bringing your full attention to it. Whenever the mind wanders, it is simply brought back to the object of focus. In contrast, open monitoring meditation involves being aware of everything occurring in the present moment. Instead of trying to focus on a specific object, one simply observes whatever arises in the experience, including thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.

But what’s happening in the brain during these practices? Recent studies have revealed that only during focused attention meditation, there is a deactivation of the “default mode network” — a network of brain areas that are typically active when we’re not focused on any particular task. This network is implicated in “resting-state” thinking, which involves repetitive negative thinking. By deactivating the “default mode network,” focused attention meditation can help reduce this harmful type of thinking.

Focused attention meditation involves choosing a specific object, such as the breath, and bringing your full attention to it. Whenever the mind wanders, it is simply brought back to the object of focus.
(Shutterstock)

Reducing repetitive negative thinking: A breakthrough for caregivers

As part of our project, we will develop and examine an intervention targeted at reducing RNT in family caregivers.

According to a recent report, over eight million Canadians aged 15 and older, or 25 per cent of the population, provide care to a family member or friend with a long-term health condition, disability, or aging-related needs.

While caregiving can be rewarding, it can also be challenging and stressful, particularly for those who provide extensive or complex care. Chronic stress is a common experience for family caregivers, and it can take a toll on their health and well-being. A survey of caregivers found that the top areas of need for caregivers were emotional health (58 per cent) and physical health (32 per cent). RNT is strongly associated with caregiver burden and predicts negative impacts on the physical and mental health of caregivers.

We will recruit 100 caregivers with high levels of RNT. The intervention will be presented to participants in the form of interactive videos that guide them through the practice of focused attention meditation. We will measure changes in RNT, stress, anxiety, depression, and quality of life before and after the intervention, as well as at a six-month follow-up.

If the intervention is effective, it could serve as the basis for the development of an innovative tool for monitoring and reducing RNT. This tool could be deployed as a mobile app or on virtual reality platforms, providing caregivers with access to an intervention that they can use at their convenience. This could significantly expand the reach of the intervention, making it more accessible and convenient for caregivers who may not have the time or resources to participate in traditional face-to-face interventions.

Overall, the potential of the focused attention meditation intervention to improve the mental and physical health of caregivers, as well as the development of new innovative tools, represents a promising avenue in the field of caregiver support services. Further research and implementation of such interventions could significantly improve the quality of life for caregivers and the people they care for.

Chronic stress is a common experience for family caregivers, and it can take a toll on their health and well-being.
(Shutterstock)

After all, to echo the words of philosopher Marcus Aurelius, “the happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

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1. “I am capable.” This simple phrase reminds us that we have the power within ourselves to overcome any obstacle. It’s a great reminder to stay focused on our goals and to believe in our own abilities.

2. “I am worthy.” This saying is a reminder that we are all deserving of love, respect, and happiness. It’s easy to get caught up in negative self-talk, but this saying can help shift our mindset and focus on our own worthiness.

3. “This too shall pass.” This classic saying reminds us that even the toughest of times will eventually come to an end. It’s a great mantra to repeat during difficult moments to remind ourselves that things will get better.

4. “One day at a time.” This saying is a reminder to take things one step at a time. It can be easy to get overwhelmed by the big picture, but by focusing on the present moment, we can stay grounded and focused.

5. “Let it go.” This saying is a reminder to release our attachment to things that are outside of our control. It’s a great way to let go of stress and anxiety and focus on the things that we can control.

6. “I am in charge of my own happiness.” This saying is a reminder that our happiness is our own responsibility. We can’t rely on external factors to bring us joy – we have to create it for ourselves.

7. “Believe in yourself.” This saying is a reminder to have faith in our own abilities and to trust our instincts. It’s a great way to boost self-confidence and take risks.

8. “Progress, not perfection.” This saying is a reminder that it’s okay to make mistakes and that progress is more important than perfection. It’s a great way to keep ourselves motivated and focused on the bigger picture.

9. “I am grateful for what I have.” This saying is a reminder to focus on the positives in our lives and to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. It’s a great way to shift our mindset and improve our overall outlook on life.

10. “Everything happens for a reason.” This saying is a reminder that there is a purpose behind everything that happens in our lives, even if we can’t see it in the moment. It’s a great way to stay optimistic and trust that everything will work out in the end.

In conclusion, self-help sayings can be a powerful tool in transforming our thinking and improving our outlook on life. By incorporating these simple phrases into our daily lives, we can cultivate a more positive and resilient mindset. Remember, we have the power within ourselves to create the life we want – it all starts with our thoughts.

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I have been confused about the boundary between work and leisure for as long as I can remember. It isn’t because my parents worked punishingly long hours or because we never traveled; their relatively flexible academic schedules meant we shared plenty of afternoons eating deli sandwiches at a matinee or thumbing through clearance racks. We traveled to visit family and made annual forays to whatever city was hosting the Modern Language Association’s annual conference. But as a child, I had little interest in trips planned around museums, monuments, and conference panels. I yearned for the type of travel I saw on TV, all palm trees and fruity drinks in a paradise so removed from regular life it required special attire purchased from the “resort” section.

I had always assumed cost excluded us from such utopias, but when my waitressing tips covered a trip to Jamaica my first college spring break, I realized it wasn’t my parents’ lack of funds that kept me from returning from school vacations sunburned or with ski-lift tickets dangling from my jacket — it was their deeply held philosophy of labor. My parents believed that people who took escapist holidays were the unlucky ones: uninspired drones performing alienated labor, whether punching a clock on the assembly line or closing million-dollar deals in a soulless corporate tower, dreaming of days off.

They, on the other hand, were blessed to be paid to “pursue a life of the mind,” a job — sorry, calling — that required understanding, as my father would gush, “the entire world as a text ripe for interpretation.” To exist as an uncritical consumer rather than a cultural observer was a failure, or at least a missed opportunity. Taking time off was literally impossible, and who fortunate enough to do such work would want to?

This worldview, I now understand, was a loftier, late-20th-century version of the “if you love your work, you’ll never work a day in your life” / “no days off” mentality that became a linchpin of early-2000s hustle culture. As an adult, I seek out pools and palm trees more than my parents ever did, but I have been unable to escape this outlook entirely. As an academic who analyzes “everyday life,” I instinctively seize every opportunity to historicize, whether at the grocery store or the gym.

It’s not a bad way to live, but it is difficult to just enjoy anything when your default state is to analyze everything. My archive is potentially endless, a professional profile I usually find invigorating, but being “always on” is also exhausting. At the same time, that sense of depletion is also kind of embarrassing. My research has involved poring over piles of old sex-ed curricula and watching hours of Chippendales videos — is that even real work?

This ambivalence is probably why I am incurably addicted to productivity content, whether the stuff that promises to make me speedier, slimmer, and smarter or that which skewers such self-optimization efforts as internalized neoliberal oppression. I devour it all, hoping that somewhere amid rise-n-grind Instagram and essays on rest as anti-capitalist resistance, the boundary between labor and leisure will be revealed. Two fascinating new books get to the heart of this distinction, with which I think many of us struggle mightily: Jenny Odell’s Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock (Random House) and Sheila Liming’s Hanging Out: The Radical Power of Killing Time (Melville House). As the titles suggest, each challenges our modern productivity culture. Odell urges readers to consider that they might be “living on the wrong clock”; Liming tells us to imagine an alternative organization of our lives, one that begins with relearning how to hang out.

Odell, an artist and writer who taught art at Stanford University for several years, focuses on technology, the environment, and our generally reckless interactions with these forces. Her bestselling 2019 book, How to Do Nothing, was an impassioned call to reimagine how we spend our time and energy (its pre-pandemic timing was propitious). Saving Time is more explanatory, offering “cultural histories of how we came to see time the way we do and philosophical inquiries into what time even is.” Odell gracefully traces our productivity obsession’s ever-tightening grip from the writings of the industrial-era management scientist Frederick Winslow Taylor to early fitness magazines to today’s travel-influencer Instagram. Over time, Odell shows, the watchful eyes of factory foremen evolved into eyeball-scanning surveillance software and self-imposed Fitbit regimes. “Measuring fungible time,” she writes, “is like envisioning standardized containers that can potentially be filled with work.”

Andrew Lyons for The Chronicle

Saving Time pairs vivid and at times poetic examples with an argument that neoliberalism is the organizing structure of modern life. The destruction of the natural environment is central to Odell’s narrative, but she doesn’t succumb to fetishizing the “natural world” or to teleology. Her warning that “now is not the time to turn your back on the ocean” is as much an urgent call to fight climate change and one to stay vigilant about the destructive potential of nature itself, in the storms and wildfires that have ravaged her home of California. With similar nuance, Odell excoriates the obsession with efficiency and output born of capitalism but cautions that “it’s too easy to read history as a linear story of the encroachment of capitalist time into all locales and areas of life.”

Saving Time almost feels deliberately structured to force the reader to relinquish the aspirations of the efficiency impulse it critiques. Analysis is interspersed with sensory-rich descriptions of the natural environment, a typical section winding from a 1950 public-education film about the societal value of recreation to a detailed characterization of the “vanilla, clove, lemon, and black pepper” scent of a hiking trail to a 1750 Ohlone mortar and pestle to a 1934 survey on leisure time, all in a few paragraphs. The book is impossible to read in the extractive fashion taught in graduate school. While slowing down to parse such a text is a risky proposition in our distracted culture, the book mostly rewards the reader for doing so.

Hanging Out is equally contemplative, if less historical. Sheila Liming details her experiences as an itinerant writing professor crisscrossing the country from North Dakota to Vermont and endeavoring to make meaningful connections at dive bars and dinner parties during the pandemic. “There is no sublime to be found on the internet,” she declares, point-blank, a statement that feels both obvious and a bit transgressive, given the rapid encroachment of the web into every aspect of human experience. The presentist orientation of Hanging Out works perfectly for a text that is largely a defense of hanging out, primarily in person, as a way to carve “out a space for what feels genuine and real.”

At the same time, Liming is no uncritical cheerleader. Now an associate professor at Champlain College, in Vermont, she astutely captures the blurred lines between personal and professional that characterize academic conferences — a dynamic that enables precious moments of bonding in a geographically far-flung profession, but also grossly predatory behavior. Liming recounts bailing on a conference to avoid a harasser and crashing a wedding in the same hotel, practically invisible in her professional attire amid a swirl of satin and taffeta. In a moment of dark hilarity, she runs into her harasser — already after another mark — in the elevator, Liming wearing a party-favor scarf with an open bottle of wine sticking out of her laptop case.

Hanging out is always an act of vulnerability, Liming instructs. She ends up roaming the streets of Scotland with strange men and realizes the emptiness of a friendship while awkwardly playing a role on a reality TV set. Still, Hanging Out’s celebration of getting together feels like a balm in our late pandemic moment. Parties, jamming, wedding-crashing, and even stilted elevator encounters are all part of connecting in a more social, more human future.

What happened to our sense of time during the pandemic? Odell remembers the boundary between work and leisure as the difference between two browser tabs. We all have our versions of this. During those cold, undifferentiated weeks, my husband would “roll out the mood” at dusk by lighting candles and playing music, a more definitive way to conclude the workday than by just closing the laptop resting on our kitchen table. I would transition into work by putting on noise-cancelling headphones and embarking on a 15-minute writing sprint — a new unit of work time, dictated by overlaps in my kids’ virtual-school schedules. By way of a natural corrective to such strictures, Odell fathoms the slowness of rock erosion and the sudden crash of ocean waves.

Historically, it is usually a technology shift that accelerates the pace of life, rather than a pandemic that slows it. Streetlights redefined nightfall to signify more than cover for danger. Railroads and highways turned exotic produce into salad-bar staples and rural areas into commuter suburbs. VCRs liberated viewers from a fixed television timetable, and GPS made travel time so predictable that arriving late is a less permissible social offense.

A sprawling social-science literature centers “neoliberalism” as the most powerful force in American society since the 1970s, emphasizing how overarching political and economic systems, rather than specific inventions, have energized the spread of productivity culture. Scholars such as Matthew F. Delmont, Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, and Jonathan Crary have shown how austerity policies have eviscerated social programs and blended with a souped-up self-help ideology that leaves people to fend for themselves, all while making us believe this is the proper order of society rather than its disfigurement. Liming and Odell’s rich storytelling deepens these scholarly analyses and feels like a welcome new stage in the critiques of overwork that have been intensifying since the 1980s. First, tentative calls for “work-life balance” gave way, in the early 2000s, to individualized instructions to “practice self-care.” Then, that prescription was swapped for today’s more-explicit provocations to “embrace mediocrity,” “quiet quit,” or unionize.

The attendant social atomization Liming dwells on has received relatively less attention, perhaps due to the role of progressives in its intensification. Since the 2012 publication of Susan Cain’s Quiet, introversion has, curiously, become almost enshrined by some as a superior character trait. The pandemic then gave this antisocial stance the sheen of public-health virtue. As remote workers acclimated to their new solitude, it became commonplace to express outrage at the expectation of even minimal collegiality. At least I don’t have to pretend to be interested in my boss’s weekend. Why should anyone have the right to see my face? Am I seriously expected to wear pants?

Interestingly, the retreat of the laptop class (academics included) could be seen both as a rejection of productivity culture — privileging home life over the office grind — and as a capitulation to it: Some types of outputs surged when inefficient commuting and socializing were stripped away, it turned out. “What happens to a left that dislikes society?” a recent viral essay asked, pointing to the enthusiasm among progressives for pandemic lockdowns and their dehumanizing accouterments, from contactless delivery to video-off Zoom. Public-health officials talked about collective care but often encouraged an inward turn: On New York City subways, a ubiquitous poster instructed riders the “best” behavior was to stare down at one’s phone, masked, rather than converse. Schoolchildren ate silent lunch while sitting on the floor.

These books stop short of specifying how such policies melded understandable health concerns with unfortunate misanthropy, but they are refreshingly unsparing in chronicling the harms of isolation now acknowledged by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, which if articulated even recently could have gotten you condemned as a eugenicist. Liming vividly describes the desiccated interactions of the pandemic, such as solitary Zoom Thanksgiving and a student who explained her compulsive selfie-taking as a way to confirm her own existence. Odell writes of a haunting nightmare she had in the fall of 2020 of grasping a stranger’s hand — a mundane act that was then both comforting and transgressive, reminding her of how “the present cannot and should not be borne alone.” These small but searing memories are a crucial part of what should be a collective chronicle of our Covid era.

Especially with regards to race, class, and gender, power dynamics are encoded into clock time. Some of the loudest boosters of “screwing 9-5” and “working smarter, not harder” are white men like Mark Wahlberg and Tim Ferriss, Odell writes, who are least likely to be closely surveilled at work and thus less sensitive to the possibilities of a collective alternative. Ferriss, for example, suggests setting up an auto-responding, auto-deleting inbox, forcing emailers to write again after a certain date if their communication is still important. In my experience, an academic version of this plays out too frequently: a (typically male) colleague claims he can’t handle Google Calendar or forgot to collect cash for the secretary’s holiday gift, so someone else, often a woman, picks up the slack. These guys may indeed be “saving time” for “hanging out,” but such liberation “for me, not for thee” only offloads labor onto those with less power to resist it.

It is natural to work toward a meaningful life, I think, but we need to expand the terrains where such exertion happens and for whom.

Odell reiterates the critic and gender-studies professor Brittney Cooper’s argument that “white people own time,” in the sense that productivity metrics established by slaveholders and refined by devotees of Frederick Winslow Taylorundergird a capitalist system that leaves minoritized people with less wealth and thus less time, whether because they must abide by a shift schedule, cannot afford to live near work, or endure inefficient bureaucracy that stretches simple tasks into hours. This “time tax” is undeniable yet intractable if we do not move beyond individualistic solutions such as “better time management.” Alternatives are not always clear. Citing a Filipino writer frustrated with his country’s incompatibility with the pace of global business, Odell acknowledges that enshrining “Filipino time” as inherently problematic — or preferable as somehow more authentic — verges on fetishization.

Such concerns are not merely philosophical; they remind me of a working-class Black student who would consistently show up 10-15 minutes late to our 9 a.m. class after working the opening shift at Starbucks, a job that financed her education. By contrast, a white classmate with a prominent surname arrived just as reliably 10 minutes early — in a chauffeured car. How to fairly assess their attendance, given their divergent degrees of control over time and the historically embedded reasons for the disparity?

This class-stratified experience of leisure also comes crashing through in Liming’s rich chapter on dinner parties. First, a faculty dinner goes off the rails. An evening at a fancy restaurant was planned to celebrate an esteemed visiting writer, and Liming and her partner, “always poor back then,” were thrilled to be invited, despite having to cover their own meals. Midway through enjoying their careful selections — no appetizer, cocktail, or dessert — the university chancellor, downing filet mignon and wine by the glass, joked he had no idea who was paying for an evening that, to him, was clearly just another work commitment. When he left without paying, Liming and her partner could barely swallow their food. There would be no fair splitting of the bill, as they had assumed — nor would they stiff the server, whose presence the chancellor had barely noticed. They would instead cover the chancellor’s check, their carefully planned leisure experience suddenly anything but relaxing.

Another strange mealtime scene is equally striking. Liming bonds with an acquaintance who introduces her to Midwestern fare like hotdish and cookie salad. They hang out over rich snacks, but the friend’s culinary and entrepreneurial talents boost her from blogger to reality television star. Soon, Liming is only invited over by producers, to partake in staged meals made for on-screen consumption. The idealized, transactional gatherings eventually become their only connection and a poor substitute for the spontaneous sociability of an actual dinner party. It’s a story about the perils of turning a hobby into a hustle, but also a reminder of the preciousness of a good, real dinner party, in which time and class difference are suspended, at least until the bill arrives.

In the end, Odell and Liming do not convince me that the pursuit of productivity is misguided, but rather that defining it uniquely in terms of wage-earning work is unhelpfully narrow. It is natural to work toward a meaningful life, I think, but we need to expand the terrains where such exertion happens and for whom. The aggressive marketing of “nap dresses” to affluent women, for example, reinforces the retrograde idea that ladies belong at home resting rather than in public striving. Yet Black women advocating for napping as a form of resistance — or practicing yoga or birding — is radical given the longstanding assumption that they exist to labor for others. The writer Rainesford Stauffer offers a compelling vision: We should acknowledge that ambition can indeed be soul-sustaining, but only if we define it more expansively than in service of the traditional “social script of achievement” to include pursuits such as caregiving, gardening, and marathon training. And, in the spirit of Odell and Liming’s emphasis on human connection, Stauffer emphasizes the importance of challenging the dichotomy between ambition and the fundamental human needs of “belonging, rest, and having a circle of loved ones.” What would it take for these aspirations to be mutually reinforcing rather than exclusive?

One realm where we might consider this intersection is surprisingly invisible in these books: parenting. Thanks to feminist scholars, the uncompensated work of parenting, largely borne by mothers, has become an intrinsic part of conversations about labor. But what of the power of parenting to liberate us from traditionally defined productivity pressures? One personal period of nonproductivity stands out in my memory. After eight months of relatively uneventful pregnancy, I started gushing blood while crossing the street to attend my own baby shower. Within hours, I was settled in the hospital on bedrest for the foreseeable future, attached to a circulation machine. “I feel so useless, unproductive,” I remember crying to my dad, who reminded me that my rest and stillness was actually the most productive thing I could do — it would allow my body to heal and my baby’s lungs to develop. That expansive definition of meaningful work has stuck with me.

Less dramatically, because caregiving prevents me from most professional work on weekends or after hours, and because parenting engages me so differently from my mostly cerebral job, I tend to meet Monday mornings intellectually renewed if not actually rested. Might we elevate the growing productivity discourse by acknowledging how different the work of parenting is, rather than how much it resembles more familiar forms of labor?

If anything, these books and the pandemic moment from which they emerged make it clear to me that seizing every moment as an opportunity to live meaningfully — or productively, a term that doesn’t bother me at all — is my paramount priority, and not because I’ve so internalized self-optimization imperatives, but because I know being fully alive, with one another, is a privilege worth pursuing.

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The Psychology of Positive Thinking

Positive thinking is based on the idea that your thoughts and emotions are interconnected. If you have negative thoughts, you will feel negative emotions, and vice versa. This is known as the cognitive-behavioral model of psychology, which suggests that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all interconnected.

Positive thinking involves changing negative thoughts into positive ones. This can be done through a variety of techniques, including affirmations, visualization, and gratitude. Affirmations involve repeating positive statements to yourself, such as “I am strong and capable.” Visualization involves imagining yourself in a positive situation, such as winning a competition or achieving a goal. Gratitude involves focusing on the things you are thankful for in your life, which can help shift your perspective from negative to positive.

The Benefits of Positive Thinking

There are many benefits to positive thinking, including improved mental health, increased resilience, and better relationships. Research has shown that positive thinking can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, improve self-esteem, and increase overall life satisfaction.

Positive thinking can also help you become more resilient in the face of adversity. When you think positively, you are better able to cope with stress and setbacks, which can help you bounce back more quickly.

Finally, positive thinking can improve your relationships with others. When you think positively, you are more likely to attract positive people and experiences into your life. You are also more likely to see the good in others, which can help you build stronger, more positive relationships.

Tips for Positive Thinking

If you want to incorporate positive thinking into your life, there are a few tips you can follow. First, start by becoming aware of your negative thoughts. Once you are aware of them, you can challenge them and replace them with positive thoughts. This may take some practice, but over time, you will start to see the benefits of positive thinking.

You can also use self-help techniques like affirmations, visualization, and gratitude to help shift your perspective from negative to positive. Start by incorporating these techniques into your daily routine, such as reciting affirmations in the morning or practicing gratitude before bed.

Finally, surround yourself with positive people and experiences. Seek out friends who are positive and supportive, and engage in activities that bring you joy and fulfillment.

In conclusion, the power of positive thinking is a powerful tool for self-improvement and personal growth. By changing your thoughts from negative to positive, you can improve your mental health, increase resilience, and build better relationships. With practice and dedication, you can harness the power of positive thinking and transform your life for the better.

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Positive psychology is the study of what makes life worth living, and it focuses on promoting positive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. This field of research has shown that cultivating a positive mindset can lead to a range of benefits, including better physical health, improved relationships, and increased resilience in the face of adversity.

One of the most significant ways that positive thinking can improve mental health is by reducing stress. When we focus on positive thoughts and emotions, we are less likely to experience the negative effects of stress, such as anxiety and depression. This is because positive emotions can help to counteract the harmful effects of cortisol, a stress hormone that can damage the body and mind over time.

In addition to reducing stress, positive thinking can also help to improve our overall mood and increase feelings of happiness. Studies have shown that people who engage in positive thinking exercises, such as gratitude journaling or visualization, report higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction.

Another way that positive thinking can transform mental health is by improving our relationships with others. When we focus on positive thoughts and emotions, we are more likely to approach our interactions with others in a positive and constructive way. This can lead to better communication, stronger connections, and more fulfilling relationships.

So how can we cultivate a positive mindset and reap the benefits of positive thinking? There are several techniques that researchers have identified as effective, including gratitude journaling, meditation, and visualization exercises. These practices can help us to shift our focus away from negative thoughts and emotions and toward positive ones, leading to lasting improvements in mental health.

In conclusion, the science of happiness and positive psychology have shown us that cultivating a positive mindset can have a transformative effect on mental health. By focusing on positive thoughts and emotions, we can reduce stress, improve our mood, and strengthen our relationships with others. So why not start incorporating some positive thinking exercises into your daily routine today? Your mental health will thank you.

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Positive thinking is a mental attitude that focuses on the good things in life rather than dwelling on the negative. It involves acknowledging and accepting negative thoughts and emotions but choosing to focus on the positive aspects of life.

When it comes to anxiety, positive thinking can be a powerful tool. By changing your thoughts and mindset, you can reduce feelings of anxiety and increase feelings of calm and relaxation. Here are some ways positive thinking can help reduce anxiety:

1. Reduces negative self-talk: Negative self-talk is a common trigger of anxiety. When you constantly tell yourself negative things about yourself or your situation, it can increase feelings of worry and fear. Positive thinking helps to challenge these negative thoughts and replace them with positive affirmations.

2. Increases feelings of gratitude: Focusing on the good things in life can increase feelings of gratitude. Gratitude has been shown to have a positive effect on mental health, reducing feelings of anxiety and depression.

3. Encourages mindfulness: Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment and not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Positive thinking encourages mindfulness by directing your thoughts to the present moment and focusing on the positive aspects of your current situation.

4. Boosts self-esteem: Low self-esteem can contribute to feelings of anxiety. Positive thinking can help boost self-esteem by focusing on your strengths and accomplishments rather than your weaknesses.

5. Provides a sense of control: Anxiety can make you feel like you have no control over your thoughts or situation. Positive thinking can provide a sense of control by focusing on what you can do rather than what you can’t.

Overall, the power of positive thinking can be a powerful tool in reducing anxiety. By changing your thoughts and mindset, you can increase feelings of calm and relaxation, reduce negative self-talk, increase feelings of gratitude, encourage mindfulness, boost self-esteem, and provide a sense of control. If you are struggling with anxiety, consider incorporating positive thinking into your daily routine and see the positive impact it can have on your mental health.

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Positive thinking is the practice of focusing on the good in life, even when things seem bleak. It involves training your mind to view situations in a more positive light, which can help improve your overall mood and quality of life. Here are some tips on how to train your mind to beat depression through positive thinking:

1. Practice gratitude: Every day, take a few minutes to reflect on the things in your life that you’re grateful for. This can be as simple as being thankful for a warm bed to sleep in or a kind gesture from a friend. Focusing on the positive things in your life can help shift your mindset away from negativity.

2. Challenge negative thoughts: Depression can often cause negative thoughts to spiral out of control. When you catch yourself thinking negatively, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself if they’re really true. For example, if you’re feeling worthless, ask yourself if you really believe that you’re worthless or if it’s just a symptom of your depression.

3. Surround yourself with positivity: Spend time with people who uplift you and make you feel good about yourself. Avoid people and situations that bring you down. If you’re unable to physically be around positive people, consider connecting with them online or through social media.

4. Engage in positive self-talk: Be kind to yourself and speak to yourself in a positive manner. Instead of criticizing yourself for not being perfect, celebrate your accomplishments and focus on your strengths. Treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion that you would show a friend.

5. Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment and focusing on your thoughts and feelings without judgment. Incorporating mindfulness into your daily routine can help you become more aware of your negative thought patterns and learn to let them go.

In conclusion, while depression can be a difficult and complex illness, incorporating positive thinking into your life can be an effective tool in managing its symptoms. By practicing gratitude, challenging negative thoughts, surrounding yourself with positivity, engaging in positive self-talk, and practicing mindfulness, you can train your mind to beat depression and live a more fulfilling life.

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The news of Ajahn Brahm visiting Sri Lanka in May is out. Many are excited by the prospect of being able to listen to him again live after a few years. He probably is the most known Living Buddhist Monk in the world perhaps second only to His Holiness Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama represents Vajrayana tradition. Ajahn Brahmawamso represents Theravada tradition. Hence it is safe to say he is probably the most famous Theravada Buddhist Monk currently living. 

Ajahn Brahm, born Peter Betts in London, is a renowned Buddhist monk, teacher, and author. He is the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Western Australia and has been instrumental in promoting Buddhism and mindfulness around the world.

Ajahn Brahm was ordained as a monk in the Thai Forest Tradition in 1979 and spent several years practicing and studying Buddhism in Thailand, where he trained under the guidance of Ajahn Chah, one of the most revered Buddhist masters of the 20th century. He later became the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth, Australia, where he has been teaching and leading retreats since 1983.

Ajahn Brahm is known for his clear, practical, and often humorous teachings on mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhism. His teachings are accessible to people of all backgrounds and have helped to make Buddhism more approachable and relevant to modern life.

One of Ajahn Brahm’s key teachings is the importance of mindfulness and meditation as tools for cultivating inner peace, happiness, and wisdom. He emphasises the need for people to develop a daily meditation practice and to integrate mindfulness into their everyday lives, in order to reduce stress and anxiety and to cultivate greater self-awareness and compassion.

Ajahn Brahm is also a prolific author, having written several books on mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhism. His books, including “The Art of Disappearing”, “Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond”, and “Opening the Door of Your Heart”, have been translated into many languages and have been widely read by people around the world.

Ajahn is the Thai phrase for teacher. Ajahn Brahm’s teacher is world famous Ajahn Chah of Thailand who is considered to be an enlightened person though he has never claimed to be so. There are lot of similarities between the way Ajahn Chah had explained Dhamma and Ajahn Brahm does that is by using simple, sometimes humorous stories.

A powerful way to communicate

Stories are a powerful way to communicate. They grab the attention of the listener and involve and engage the listener. He uses this technique generously, as he himself says it is like sugar coating and giving a bitter medicine. 

His stories fall into a number of categories. Some are straight from the Sutta’s and traditional commentaries to them (Atta katha), some are common stories that have moved from society to society. Some had been his own life stories. Whatever the source he is one of the best storytellers you can find. He brings those stories to life using very vivid mental pictures and occasionally with appropriate sound effects as well. He is also known for his wit and deep sense of humour. There is hardly any talk by him without some sort of humour in it. This strategy has worked so well to captivate the busy and easily distracted people across the planet who get thoroughly engrossed whether it is a live audience or an online session. 

On every Friday when he gives his weekly Dhamma talk from Western Australia tens of thousands join online and some of his talks have been liked by several hundred thousands across the globe. His stories may sound simple on the surface but almost all of them are capable of explaining and bringing home a deep teaching of Buddha.

And please remember you do not have to be perfect, without fault, to give yourself such love. If you wait for perfection, it never arrives. We must open the door of our heart to ourselves, whatever we have done. Once inside, then we are perfect – Ajahn Brahm

While his regular talks sound simple and easy to grasp, his discourses on deep aspects of Dhamma and higher levels of stillness on meditative absorptions are equally profound. For instance, when reading his books “Mindfulness Bliss and Beyond” “Simply This Moment” or “The Art of Disappearing” one would begin to accept that such clarity is not possible without deep personal realisations. However as a monk who is deeply rooted in Vinaya the monastic order he is extremely careful and never claims any of his personal achievements in the path of spiritual practice. He terms this wanting to declare and show up spiritual achievements as “Spiritual Materialism”.

His life is his message. He is so sincere and hides nothing. Those who associate him over the last several decades vouch for this. He lives a simple life. He travels across the world and has visited Sri Lanka on several occasions. He has hardly any carry-on luggage. He needs nothing and he knows that. 

In one of his famous stories he relates how when he was a novice monk, when a lay supporter with the permission of the abbot had asked Ajahn Brahm what he would need. He had first said that he did not need anything. Then this dayaka had insisted he tell him that he gave his requirements. He went to the kuti and wanted a piece of paper to write the list. Then he realised he had no paper, so he started to write on a piece of waste paper that he needed a notebook, and then the pencil was too short, so he added that, then he realised he can have a torch, etc. etc. Then he realised how a person who started saying needs nothing getting into the mode of wanting once starting to feed in. He threw away the paper and on the next day when the Dayaka arrived told him in no uncertain terms “Never to do such offerings”. He lives by that principle to date.

Dhamma, the ultimate solace to the unhappiness in the world

He is fully aware of the challenges and stresses of the modern day man and woman so he helps them discover solutions to their day-to-day challenges through Dhamma. Which is the ultimate solace to the unhappiness in the world. “Unhappiness is asking the world what it cannot give,” says Ajahn Brahm very often. Just reflect on this statement and all our problems and unhappiness can be grouped under this theme. So profound and insightful.

Another statement he repeats often is “The door of my heart is open to you whatever you do.” He repeats this with different iterations because it is so important to be happy. It brings out the limited selfish view of the unenlightened person who always sees the world in a divisive way, I and others. Through the expression Open the door of your heart he brings home a very important message especially to the modern world.

“Why is it that we are more demanding, critical and punishing ourselves than of anyone else? I is for one and the same reason: we have not yet learned how to love ourselves. If you find it difficult to say to another ‘the door of my heart is open to you, whatever you do’ then that difficulty is trifling compared with the difficulty you will face in saying to yourself, ‘Me the one I‘ve been so close to for so long as I can remember, My self. The door of my heart is open to me as well. All of me no matter what I have done. Come in’ 

“That is what I mean by loving ourselves: it’s called forgiveness. It is stepping free from the prison of guilt; it is being at peace with oneself. And if you find the courage to say those words to yourself, honestly, in the privacy of your inner world, then you will rise up, not down, to meet sublime love… When we do, it is as if a part of ourselves that had been rejected, living outside in the cold for so long, has now come home. We feel unified whole and free to be happy. Only when we love ourselves in such a way can we know what it means to really love another no more and no less.” (Opening the door of your heart, pp28)

What a powerful, thought-provoking explanation to the word of the Buddha “Attanam upaman kathwa”! He invites us to discover and accept ourselves as we are with all our shortcomings and idiosyncrasies. Then we accept ourselves first and come to peace. Once settled well within we are ready to accept others. This is the ultimate guide of Metta Meditation or Loving Kindness. 

How harsh are we sometimes with those whom we called we are in love, our partners, family members and so forth. Looks as if our love is very conditional subject to them behaving according to our expectations and pre gone frame works! Reflecting on the message by Ajahn Brahm “Open the door of your heart” to our physical conditions, emotional conditions, situations we are in, guide us along the straight path to ultimate happiness. He brings these teachings to thought moments experienced during meditations and invites the mediator to open the door to his or her heart even when the peace of meditation is disturbed by thoughts and other sensations. The result is peace.

You do not have to be perfect

He continues to say “And please remember you do not have to be perfect, without fault, to give yourself such love. If you wait for perfection, it never arrives. We must open the door of our heart to ourselves, whatever we have done. Once inside, then we are perfect.” 

Opening the door of one’s heart is accepting things as they are, a mind that knows no boundaries. Hence this teaching is a message that will guide one until full realisation. That is the power of Ajahn Brahm’s seemingly simple teachings.

He apparently gets to help many who have difficulties in their relationships, especially in marriages. His famous story “It’s a chicken” where a couple argues on whether the sound they heard was from a duck or a chicken. Once realised what is more important is protecting the happiness and the relationship between the two rather than winning the argument, the husband agrees and says, “Yes darling, it is a chicken.” Through this story he invites couples to focus on what is more important, which is the relationship and the happiness between the two. How many couples end up in separation without this simple insight? How many relationships go bitter simply because winning an argument becomes more important! 

In modern society a common problem is stress whether one is a student, a worker, manager, a spouse, a businessman or even a politician. Stress is a combination of challenge and rumination. Challenge is a situation where the requirement is more than what one has whether it is time, money, health, people, or even power. Thus one feels smaller hence the animal instinct decodes the situation as a threat to survival. When this happens, the body prepares itself to fight, flight or freeze response. This is meant for emergencies and not for sustained times. Thus, there are physical consequences. Rumination is the mental process of thinking of the same negative thought over and over again. They can be worries related to the past or fears concerning the future. 

Ajahn provides a very powerful message to approach such situations by relating to his own life. Once as a novice monk he had to push a wheelbarrow transporting earth one place to another in the humid jungle hermitage in Thailand. By the third day he had got really agitated about this situation and had been swearing in English. One fellow Thai Monk though did not understand the words could get the message and had told him, “Brahmawamso, pushing the wheelbarrow is easy, thinking about it difficult.” He says that was enough for him to realise where the unhappiness was coming. He uses this insight and invites us to approach life like that. Again deeply anchored on the principle that dislike or aversion is a core defilement. 

Taking himself as an example and laughing at himself retrospectively make him so authentic and lovable. 

His life is his message. He is so sincere and hides nothing. Those who associate him over the last several decades vouch for this. He lives a simple life. He travels across the world and has visited Sri Lanka on several occasions. He has hardly any carry-on luggage. He needs nothing and he knows that

Mindfulness as a way of life

He emphasises the importance of developing mindfulness as a way of life and the need to strengthen the stillness of mind to gain deeper insights. He compares developed mindfulness powered by deep stillness to looking at something with the help of a very powerful search light compared to a pen torch. He motivates audiences by describing the benefits of such profound stillness and does not use the word concentration to describe Samadhi. To illustrate he holds a glass of water and demonstrates that holding the glass tightly does not make it still, but leaving it on the table does. This is the attitude he advises meditators to develop. This example is being used by many lecturers and speakers across the world as it is so simple and so convincing.

“We need to go into a deeper place inside the mind, a place of great peace and bliss, a very profound place which gives you great insights in to the nature of the mind. You can then see what the mind is capable of and how it feels to be in those states. You see what those states are and how they come about.” (Simply this moment)

Being lay people, we always complain that we have no time to meditate. He invites those who want to meditate to FIRST FIND TIME TO MEDITATE and then adjust other activities around it. There are many who have changed their lives after heeding this advice. 

During his weekly guided meditation sessions he gives priority to relaxing the body before focusing on breath. “Relax to the max” is his constant reminder. Because the stillness of the body is paramount to the stillness of mind which is the basis for discovering finer realities of life.

He takes an extra effort to highlight the play of five hindrances in the spiritual development. In that he shows how the hindrances distort the reality from mundane to sublime. To illustrate this he asks jokingly, “Why are romantic meetings always done in dark? … Because in light you see the faults of the other person.” That is exactly what hindrances do,” he says.

Remember; hindrances, hindrances, hindrances – they are the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. We have to suppress those hindrances and to eventually eradicate them fully. Hindrances weaken not just wisdom, they also weaken mindfulness. You can understand how they do that; any desire, craving controlling or ill will takes the energy away from the mind and reduces the natural brilliance of the citta. The radiance of the citta is what you might call the sign of strong mindfulness. When you experience that strong mindfulness you understand the sort of mindfulness which is necessary for Enlightenment. This is why the Buddha said to empower mindfulness, mainly through Samadhi, and you will see things as they truly are. (Simply This Moment pp329)

Discussing deeper aspects of mindfulness, he says, “When you put your mindfulness in the middle, then it is not what you are doing that matters but how you are relating to it. So please, put your mindfulness into the relationship that you have with the objects of mind in every moment. When you know where mindfulness should be put, the path of medication, the path of liberation becomes very clear to you. You are looking directly at the defilements. (Simply This Moment pp326)

Whether you are a student wanting to succeed in studies, a youth wanting to improve career, improve relationships, a spouse eager to strengthen partnership, a business or a professional leader to be successful, or a senior citizen who explores life, there is a message and a moment of delight with Ajahn Brahm.

Ajahn Brahm to engage in 3 principal events

Ajahn Brahm will be in Sri Lanka from 20 to 30 May. He will be engaged in three principal events during his stay here. A nine-day meditation retreat will be conducted in Bandarawela from 20 May for bhikkhus, bhikkhunis and lay persons, totalling 150 participants. A singularly unique forum will be held exclusively for professionals and business persons at the Galle Face Hotel on 29 May. The much looked forward to Dhamma talk and meditation instructions for the public will be at the BMICH from 7 to 11 a.m. on 30 May. Anticipating the large crowds that will flock to the BMICH on that day, the Ajahn Brahm Society has organised sessions with the venerable monk moving from the Main Hall to Halls A and B so all can see and hear him. He will speak in English, followed by summarisations in Sinhala. The passes for the event at BMICH can be collected from: 

• Sri Sambuddhathva Jayanthi Mandiraya, Thummulla, Colombo 5
• Buddhist Cultural Centre, 25 Anderson Rd, Nedimala, Dehiwala
• Samayawardhana Bookshop, Buddhist Congress 380, Bauddhaloka Mw. Colombo 7
• Sarasavi Bookshop, One Galle Face

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The way we think and perceive the world around us can have a profound impact on our mental health. Negative thoughts and emotions can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and a host of other mental health issues. On the other hand, positive thoughts and emotions can help individuals feel more optimistic, confident, and resilient, which can improve their overall mental health and well-being.

The power of positive thinking is not just a feel-good concept; it has been backed by scientific research. Studies have shown that individuals who practice positive thinking have better mental health outcomes, including lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Positive thinking has also been linked to improved physical health outcomes, including better sleep, reduced inflammation, and lower risk of chronic diseases.

One way to practice positive thinking is by focusing on gratitude. Gratitude is the practice of being thankful for the good things in life, and it has been shown to improve mental health outcomes. Individuals who regularly practice gratitude report feeling more positive emotions, being more satisfied with their lives, and having greater resilience in the face of adversity.

Another way to practice positive thinking is by reframing negative thoughts. Reframing involves taking a negative thought or situation and looking at it from a more positive perspective. For example, instead of thinking “I can’t do this,” a person can reframe the thought to “I can do this if I try my best.” Reframing can help individuals feel more optimistic and confident, which can improve their mental health outcomes.

In conclusion, the power of positive thinking is a crucial aspect of mental health, and it can have a significant impact on our daily lives. By focusing on gratitude and reframing negative thoughts, individuals can improve their mental health outcomes and lead happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. It is essential to prioritize mental health and practice positive thinking regularly to reap the benefits for years to come.

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