This is episode 2,188 of the Daily Meditation Podcast.

I'm Mary Meckley and I welcome you to day two of our series we're exploring this week.

This is a special series to help you manage a bad mood.

Bad moods seem to be going around a lot these days. You may find this even with yourself.

They seem almost as contagious as the coronavirus. As you start a brand new year, one of the most powerful ways you can improve your life

on many levels is of course meditation which you are doing but it's also to manage negative

moods and you might think well I'm meditating so that takes care of my negative

moods but actually whatever you tend to focus on most is what will show up most in your life.

So even as you meditate you might feel your thoughts

spiraling downward. You could even be intensifying your negative thoughts

to where you might even be ruminating not able to let go

of certain negative thoughts so this is an important week where you will learn how to uplift your thoughts. In today's episode you're going to

discover an affirmation. An affirmation is a powerful statement that helps you focus on an intention.

The intention this week is to go on a positivity quest.

That is actually your challenge for the week.

Every week I share with you a challenge.

You are challenged to notice when your thoughts begin to spiral downward

and even to begin to notice when your thoughts spiral upward. Anything that takes you out of feeling

nice and centered or balanced can cause your emotional state to come crashing downward.

So when you think about your thoughts, you can think of them as a pendulum that

swings from one extreme direction to the other. So even when you're experiencing a positive state such as

ecstasy or excitement, those big strong emotions, even though they're positive, are difficult to maintain.

...