Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Explains How To Overcome Negative Emotions And Discover Inner Joy

World Mental Health Day 2025: Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar shares simple yet powerful ways to naturally cultivate positivity, manage negative emotions, and lead a happier, healthier life.

Once a young man visited a doctor. He complained that something was severely wrong with him and he was hurting all over and was very sad. However, all the physical tests were normal. The doctor said, “There is nothing wrong with you. Go to the circus and watch the clown there. He will make you laugh.” The gentleman said, “Doctor, I am that clown.”

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says – Despite knowing it intellectually, when you are overcome with negative emotions, when you feel angry, frustrated, anxious, fearful or depressed, you do not know how to deal with them. In schools and colleges, you are taught that anger is a bad thing but nobody taught us how to handle these emotions.

Tips To Overcome Negative Emotions By Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

You cannot handle the mind from the level of the mind. If I ask you not to think about, say, a pink elephant, you will think only about the pink elephant. Just forcing affirmative thoughts on oneself does not entirely help. This is where knowing a little bit about the breath can really help you handle these difficult emotions.

Increase Your Prana

Your emotions are connected to your Prana or life force energy, which is subtler than breath. When the Prana level or our life force energy is high, there is a feeling of expansion, lightness, joy and well-being. When the Prana level becomes low because, say, someone insulted you or you are overwhelmed or stressed, you experience a sense of contraction within. Powerful breathing techniques like Sudarshan Kriya (SKY) stabilise our life force or prana and calm the mind.

As prana rises in the body with regular practice of SKY breathing and meditation, you being to feel the transformation on an experiential level. You become happier, more creative and more in command of your mind and emotions.

Service And the Joy of Giving

There are two types of happiness in life. One is the happiness of receiving, like that of children. But there is another greater joy of the mother or the grandmother that is in giving. When grandchildren come home the grandmother cooks various dishes and her joy is in sharing. There’s a type of mature joy that comes from giving. Serving others alleviates fear and the sense of despair.

When you start working for a bigger cause, you discover the greater joy, moving from the limited joy of ‘getting’ something. It is the most effective antidote to depression. So in life, we need to move from the joy of grabbing and having to the joy of giving and contributing to others’ lives.

Recognize The Patterns of the Mind of Holding On to The Negative

Have you noticed what happens to your mind when someone gives you ten compliments and one criticism or insult? Where does your attention go? Your mind tends to hold on to that one criticism like a prized possession. It will simply forget the other positive compliments. We have been living like this all our lives. There may be just 20% misery in our life but the mind blows it up to 200%. Someone says something negative to you because they are sad, under stress or simply in a bad mood. And what do you do? You hold on to the negativity inside and keep dwelling on it.

It is important to be able to take the opposite values in life together and walk ahead with a smile.

Acknowledge Change

Why does an individual feel low? Some of it may be because one is dwelling on the past or is over-ambitious and anxious about the future.

Life, however, is a continuous process of teaching one how to “let go.” Change is the only constant. When one does not acknowledge the phenomenon of change, and becomes stuck to a position, then one can experience frustration, depression, anger and other negative emotions.

Here, meditation helps bring the mind to the present. When the mind is calm, we are able to perceive things better. When the mind is disturbed, our perception is also disturbed.

Meditation Helps You Discover a Greater Connection

Often, you are not aware that you are connected with the whole universe, and you think you are just a small individual wanting this and that. How can you get out of this small mind? The journey begins by enquiring about the core of your existence. ‘What is life? Who am I? What do I want from life?’ This spirit of self-inquiry can awaken something inside you.

Here, meditation is the food for your soul. The recognition of meditation by the United Nations last year is a profound step forward in helping people connect with themselves authentically. Meditation and breathing techniques are the tools that help you calm your mind, and make you feel happy from within. Many illnesses can be helped through meditation and breathing techniques.

When your mind is calm, you are able to make better decisions, that helps you create a more harmonious and positive atmosphere around you. There is a significant body of research on how meditation helps improve conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, sleep disorders, and nervous system disorders, among others. But beyond that, meditation is the way to connect to your Higher Self, which is all bliss.

Remember You Have Overcome Problems Before!

Remember that this is not the first time you’re facing a problem. This is not the first time you are stressed or uncertain. You have faced problems before, and you have overcome them successfully. This reminder brings back your inner strength.

Life is a combination of happiness and pain. Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional. Having a broad perspective on life gives you the strength to move forward through difficult times.

You must know, you are much needed in this world. With all its infinite possibilities, this life is a gift for it can become a fountain of joy and happiness not just for oneself but for many others as well.