Quick recap: If you missed my previous articles about the Soul Body and the Negative Mind, I introduced a teaching in the lineage of Kundalini Yoga that articulates a 10-body system of consciousness. Beyond our physical body orbits an array of energetic realms that, when harmonized, empower you to live a life of vitality, connection, and intuition.  

There are three functional aspects of the mind: negative, positive, and neutral. When we get to the third body, we take a leap from the Negative (protective) Mind to the Positive Mind. We need prana (life force) to make this leap from our fear-based and defensive patterns of the Negative Mind, to the victorious thoughts and ideas of the Positive Mind. Also referred to as the Opportunistic Mind, due to its ability to see possibilities, enhancing the third body helps us visualize the doorways opening toward a more fulfilling direction. In our fast-paced, competitive, and disconnected society, it can be hard to see these doorways. Nevertheless, they are always opening for us – in every moment. 

It is true, there is a doorway of opportunity opening every single second of your existence into a more positive direction, and the source of that positivity is in your power of perception. Jim Morrison of The Doors brought into mainstream culture the idea of the ‘doors of perception,’ whose title is from Aldous Huxley’s book of the same name, and inspired by these words by William Blake: 

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.” 

These doors exist in the mind. When you become aware that you hold the key, you can guide your consciousness to an expanded state and open the doors to a more positive way of thinking, which creates a more positive life!

By cultivating a daily practice using yogic tools and Kundalini technologies to enhance the Positive Mind, you can change your perception in any situation, and the mind will show you the way through it. You can consciously push out the mental parameters you developed from your childhood, and, once those walls are down, see the bigger picture of what is truly possible.

These five ways to maintain your Positive Mind are actually five daily practices. If you commit to practicing them on a continual timeline, you will likely experience a shift in your thought processes and witness your whole life change.

Get Breathing

As mentioned, prana is the life force that rides on the breath. It is not the breath; the breath is the vehicle for receiving and assimilating prana. 

• We get prana from nature. Just stepping away from your screen or desk and going for a quick walk out in nature or to a park will reinvigorate your pranic levels. 
• Exercising and breaking a sweat gives us a great, natural high not just from the endorphins that surge within us but also due to the extra prana we gain.
• We also gain prana from food. Whole foods, such as organic fruits and vegetables, are the highest in pranic vitality. You can also enhance the prana of your food on a molecular level by praying over it, blessing it by doing reiki with the palms of your hands, and chanting while you cook.
• And, of course, we intake more prana from taking deeper breaths! Long, deep, yogic breathing will grant you the prana you need to shift your perspective on a situation. A daily pranayama meditation can change your life from A to Z (see the end of the article for a suggested pranayama).

Conversely, there are things that deplete pranic levels. Complaining, comparing, and gossiping is a surefire way to siphon out the energy from your pranic reservoir. Eating poorly, or too much, is a drain, as well. In general, ‘too much’ of anything will deplete your prana. The key is to balance your pranic levels for sustained energy throughout your day. 

Get Creative

Again, the Positive Mind is a visual mind. Imagine your life the way you want to live it. See it the way you want to see it. Getting creative, whether it is literally with an art project, or for example, by turning your thoughts toward alternative solutions for a business strategy can strengthen your muscle of positivity. At the very least, setting the intention to think and act creatively forklifts you out of a negative thought spiral and into the realm of solution-oriented thinking.

Get Cooking

It has been said that those with dominant third body energy (born in March or December, or on the 3rd, 12th, 21st, or 30th of the month) are exceptionally skilled in the kitchen – if they can get out of their Negative Minds and into the kitchen! 

That being said, anyone born on any date can balance the mind in a positive direction by getting in the kitchen and preparing a nurturing meal. The third body comes alive with excitement when feeding people, which is considered one of the highest services anyone can offer: the gift of nourishment. 

Get Serving

Speaking of service, seva, which means “selfless service,” is the path of victory and fulfillment. Engaging in seva clears your karma, lifts your family’s karma, and can heal generational trauma because it places you on the path of your destiny, which is your highest calling. All of your ancestors line up behind you in full support when you are in the act of seva. 

Seva helps you see your own gifts and talents, how valuable they are for the world, and that your presence alone is healing – just by showing up for others, you are a gift unto this world. Seva also helps us see that we often magnify what we think of as problems and shifts our awareness to that of gratitude. We merge with community and orient our thought patterns in a very Aquarian Age fashion, which is to say that we think about others, as well as ourselves. We think win/win and put into action what we want to see for the entire world.

Get Choosing (Different Thoughts) 

There’s an old saying: “How we relate to the issue is the issue.” Once we grasp this concept, we can apply it in a very practical way to change our old ways of reacting to an issue, so that it no longer is an issue!

The next time you find yourself in an upset, fill in these blanks to identify the source of the issue:

“I feel _______________ because ________________.”

Finding the source of your upset is just the start. What must come next is your reclamation of your own personal power to surrender to what is and take ownership of your response to the upset. For example, “I feel angry because no one was listening to me, and then I yelled because I didn’t feel heard.” Whatever comes after the word “because” is the source of the root issue. We can identify the root issue in the above example as, “not feeling heard.” We can identify anger as the emotion, as well as the (likely historic) reaction to the root issue of not feeling heard. 

There are a few different directions to go from here: 

• We can make peace with the anger (always a good idea). 
• We can ask ourselves: Do I want to continue responding to this issue of not feeling heard with the same historic reaction of anger? If yes, then there really is no issue, is there? If no, then reclaim your personal power. Take a few deep breaths (to build prana) and get crystal clear on how you would rather relate to the issue of feeling unheard. For instance: “I would rather take a pause when feeling unheard and take note if the person or people I am speaking to are in a position where they are ready and able to listen to me. If they are not, I will redirect and do something else until they are ready to hear me. They may never be ready, or able, or willing to hear me, and if that is the case, I choose not to be angry anymore about not being able to change someone else. From here forward, if I feel unheard, I choose __________________.”
  • acceptance? 
  • to surround myself with better listeners? 
  • to speak through a megaphone?

Kidding aside, as householders, happiness is our birthright. We live on a polarity planet that is also a gravity planet. We need the energy to forklift negativity, and, ultimately, leverage ourselves beyond the polarities of negative and positive. But more on that in my next article on the Neutral Mind…