Positive meditation is a form of meditation in which a person concentrates and focuses on positive ideas and emotions in order to release any negative or harmful ones. This is typically accomplished by a person meditating on particularly positive or enjoyable thoughts and feelings, such as happiness, love, and other ideas. The primary purpose of such meditation is to allow someone to release potentially negative thoughts and emotions, such as fear, anger, and despair. Positive meditation can have helpful mental and physiological effects, as increased focus on positive ideas and emotions can cause psychological reactions that release beneficial chemicals into a person’s body.
One of the primary methods of positive meditation is for a person to sit in meditation and focus on a particularly positive idea or emotion. Many people begin to meditate by focusing on their breathing, learning to relax and calm the mind until no conscious thoughts are present. Positive meditation, however, does not involve a person focusing on nothing, but instead involves focusing on happiness, joy, love, and other positive emotions. Someone clears his or her thoughts of all negative emotions, much as he or she would clear out all thoughts for some other types of meditation, and focuses solely on positive ideas.
The purpose of this type of positive meditation is typically to ultimately eliminate those negative thoughts from the mind. While absolute removal of all negative thoughts may be impossible, and potentially irresponsible, this type of meditation is meant to give someone greater control over his or her emotions. Fear, for example, is a negative emotion that can be important for a person’s survival, and so should not be eliminated altogether. Someone can use positive meditation to learn to control his or her fear, eliminating unnecessary or inconsequential fears, and focusing on positive emotions that allow him or her to achieve something that may be hindered by doubt or concern.
There are some studies that indicate that positive meditation can produce positive psychological and physiological results. Psychological impact of such meditation can be quite pronounced, often helping someone overcome phobias or social anxiety and panic disorders. Extreme conditions may still require some medical assistance, however, as chemicals in the brain may have a tremendous impact on how well someone can control his or her own moods and thoughts. Ongoing positive meditation can even have beneficial consequences for someone’s physical health, as positive thoughts and emotions can result in chemicals released by the body that help fight off illness and support health.