Here’s an interesting article on the power of positivity.
In our meditation practice, there will be times where we will be asked to bring an uncomfortable situation and/or topic to mind in order to try and experience it deeply and with insight. It is important to balance these more ‘challenging’ meditation sessions with more ‘positive’ feeling sessions in order to help “lighten our mood”.
As it mentions in the article, a ratio of 3 positive to 1 negative is a good place to start ie generate 3 positive thoughts for each negative thought we have. We can also apply this ratio to the amount of time spent in reflection on a specific topic. For example, if you are asked to reflect on impermanence and death for 5 mins, follow it up with a 15 min meditation on a lighter and more ‘feel good’ topic (such as a body scan or loving-kindness meditation). This will help counter the heaviness caused by negativity.