How to Instantly Shift When You Feel Negative

Caught in a negative spiral? ‌

Here’s how to instantly snap out of It. ‌

Have you ever had one of those days where you just can’t seem to get a break?

You wake up late, spill your coffee and hit every red light… each unfavorable incident seems to propel another.

1) Recognize you are in a negative spiral;

2) Once you catch yourself, STOP, take a breath;

3) Try the non-toothache meditation inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Thich Nhat Hanh would often remind us that when we are experiencing a toothache “we know that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. Yet when we don’t have a toothache we are still not happy.”

When experiencing something unpleasant like a toothache we often focus only on getting relief. Once we get that relief — unless we’ve engaged in a lot of mind training — we are likely to shift focus onto something ELSE that’s unpleasant.

The non-toothache practice involves being intentionally grateful — focus on the fact that it feels good to “not have a toothache.” The essence of the practice is about cultivating that same sense of relief in your body when you no longer have pain. We can use this practice with anything difficult or unpleasant.

There are two ways I like to practice this:

1) Deliberately and regularly taking time to write down what is “not wrong” and what is good in my life — focus on each thing and feeling it fully in my body.

2) In-the-moment practice — noticing that I’m in a negative spiral and need to shift. Then simply taking a deep breath and shift focus on what is good and what is not wrong right now.

Try to feel the pleasure of not having a toothache or whatever other pain comes up that may be absent and try to hold it for at least 30 seconds.

No one needs to know what you are up to and these are powerful ways to shift — often when it matters most!

Author Bio: Meena Srinivasan is a contemplative leader, celebrated speaker, accomplished author, and visionary edupreneur. She is an educator-activist at heart, consistently championing the fusion of Mindfulness, Emotional Intelligence, and Belonging. Meena was featured as one of 2022’s 10 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement in Mindful Magazine and is the Executive Director of Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL)™ an organization that supports educational leaders in building more compassionate and just schools. A former public school administrator and National Board Certified Teacher, Meena is the creative force behind the SEL Every Day Online Courses, an instructor of graduate level Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) courses at UC Berkeley and the CEO of Karuna Consulting, LLC, an organization that takes its name from the Sanskrit word ‘Karuna,’ signifying compassion. Karuna Consulting is a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) driven by a profound mission: to foster a more compassionate world through Meena’s keynotes, professional learning, coaching, and consulting services. She is the author of numerous publications including Teach, Breathe, Learn and SEL Every Day. The latter was honored as one of 2019’s Favorite Books for Educators by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Her TEDx talk on Tenderness is one of the most popular TEDx talks of 2024 (with over 2 million views). Meena has been practicing yoga and meditation for over 25 years, is an ordained Zen Buddhist and serves on the Board of the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation. Learn more at meenasrinivasan.com.