Have you ever found yourself stuck in a mental loop? Maybe you’re rehashing an old workplace slight, scrolling through social media only to feel worse, or endlessly worrying about a future you can’t control. This sticky, draining state—the mental spiral—feels uniquely modern, fueled by comparison and constant information overload. It’s easy to feel powerless when your own mind turns against you.
But Patanjali, thousands of years ago, understood this exact affliction. He provided an ingenious escape route in the Yoga Sutras, a concept called Pratipakṣa Bhāvanam.
The verse, II.33, states: Vitarka bādhane pratipakṣa bhāvanam—‘When disturbed by negative thoughts, cultivate the opposite.’
This isn’t a call for simple denial or positive thinking platitudes. That passive approach rarely works; telling yourself, ‘Don’t be jealous,’ often makes the jealousy stronger. Pratipakṣa Bhāvanam is a directive for active cultivation and deliberate redirection of energy.
Think of it this way: if your mind is poisoned by the habit of doomscrolling or constant self-criticism, the opposite isn’t just internal affirmation; it’s an external, immediate shift in input. If comparison is the negative thought, the opposite cultivation is service. If fear is swirling, the opposite is preparation or action. It means closing the app, picking up a paintbrush, or calling a friend to genuinely listen to their day.
The unique insight here is that Patanjali instructs us to swap out toxic mental habits with something tangibly wholesome. If the energy is stuck in negativity, we must use our body and breath to push that energy toward something beneficial—not just thinking better, but doing better, until the virtuous thought pattern takes root. It’s the ultimate ancient instruction for overriding a toxic feedback loop.
Cultivation, after all, requires focused effort and tending to the right seeds.