To practice the meditation now, hit play! Or begin with a few minutes of centering movement.

Why is negativity a barrier to happiness? Because negative thoughts and actions create “bad karma” in our life.

The Sanskrit word karma translates as “action.” So from a yogic perspective, any action that impacts ourself or others negatively creates a “karmic debt.” That is, eventually you deal with the consequences of our actions.

If you would like to turn the tide toward happiness, you have to become more positive — mindful about our thoughts, words and actions. This echoes one of the highest virtues in the yoga teachings, which is nonviolence (ahimsa). When it becomes second nature for us to behave in nonharmful ways, you shift our quality of life away from disturbances and toward centeredness.

“Actions do not cling to me because I am not attached to their results. Those who understand this and practice it live in freedom.”
—Eknath Easwaran’s translation of The Bhagavad Gita 4:14.

For example, if you get angry and damage something, you’re left with the karma of having to replace it. You have to deal with the consequences (karma) of our anger (violence).

Don’t underestimate the harm that negative thoughts do to your self as well. If you are hateful or mistrustful toward someone, those sentiments take root within us and give birth to more such feelings. You become attached to the negativity. The animosity you create sustains a level of disturbance within our mind. All of this prevents us from achieving happiness.

You feel this effect even when you decide not to act in line with our duty so. If you neglect our responsibilities (an action in itself), chances are good that that you’ll pay for it. Maybe you’ll experience paranoia, guilt or other repercussions from failing to act right.

What’s happening is that you are stealing happiness from ourselves at some point in the future. You’re preventing our mind from being at ease.

» Related: Meditation: Where Do I Begin?

Other Manifestations of Karma

The tenor of our lives is affected by all kinds of forces. The decision to own a home creates many responsibilities — both physical and financial ‘debts’ in your life. You acquire the karma of owning a home.

Our commitments are karma. When you dedicate your time to someone, you create an obligation. Doing stuff is great, especially if it’s selfless! But an always full calendar creates a sense of obligation and it can start to steal from your own healing space. It’s not selfish to protect your own well-being … it is acting with non-harm to ourself.

You’re born with karmas that are not easy to shed. Our gender, our physicality, our family ... these things are blessings for some, but create challenges for others. These attachments carry a lot of weight, but regardless of our situation, you can always choose right action in any given moment.

“I once had a student who paid me tuition every month for our work together. But at the end of the course he also offered me a gift. Why should I accept this when I had already been paid sufficiently for my work? We should only take what we have earned; if we take more, we are exploiting someone else. In addition, unearned rewards can bring with them obligations that might later cause problems.”
—T. K. V. Desikachar on the concept of “aparigraha,” or non-grasping, from The Heart of Yoga.

Beware the karma of gifts. The yoga tradition stresses the importance of giving selflessly, and having no attachment to the fruits of our charity. Giving is its own reward. And when someone gives a gift to you, practice discrimination. Sometimes it is wiser to refuse a gift when there are “strings” attached.

“Good” vs. “Bad” Karma

In truth, most events in life are inherently neither good nor bad. They simply are. But our mind hastens to assign negative and positive labels to everything. After these kinds of impressions have been made, they color our responses to things moving forward.

If you take personal offense and become aggrieved, you hold onto negativity and possibly create a fear (aversion) around the memory. If you can pause in the moment, you might realize that there were no ill intentions directed toward you at all.

Remain calm and detached from the extremities in everyday life.

In summary, the more attachments you create, the more these things occupy your mental space. These karmas aren’t always avoidable or bad. But when you cultivate awareness about our actions, you can remain free from burdens, cynicism and gloom. Be a more loving, non-harmful, non-possessive and truthful person. Right action leads to happiness … space and ease … peace.

» Read more: Chanting OM / AUM / ॐ

Notes about this meditation

The Transforming Negativity Kriya synchronizes our breath with various states of mind. Then we focus on visualizing a color to purify those thoughts.
“Kriya” means “action” in Sanskrit—in the sense of an “exercise,” a repeated action.
We begin by establishing simple one-to-one breath, or Complete Breathing.

Notice afterwards, as you go about your day, are you more mindful of your negative thoughts and how they color your actions?

Prepare Your Body for Meditation

These two series of movements help to prepare the body for sitting in meditation.

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This article is an overview of a rich and venerated topic. It is written to provide introductory support for the beginner’s practices, and with the wisdom passed down through living yoga traditions. I acknowledge and thank the teachings of Tanya Boigenzahn, Gary Kraftsow and Rod Stryker.