How I Calmed a Sudden Spiral in 10 Minutes at the Office: A Two-Step Practice for Overwhelm
Negativity can arise at any time.
Sometimes it feels triggered by someone outside of us: a family member, a coworker, a boss, even a stranger. Sometimes it’s triggered by our own mind: a memory, a worry about the future, a flash of regret.
And sometimes it comes out of nowhere, like a storm rolling in on a perfectly normal day.
A few days ago, I experienced exactly that.
I was working in my office when agitation suddenly surged. Anxiety arose for no clear reason. My mind started producing the usual lines: I’m not doing enough. I’m not fast enough. I’m falling behind. A familiar internal storm.
Luckily, at that moment, no one else was in the office. Two coworkers were out. I had space. So instead of doing what most of us do, reacting automatically, I decided to meditate right there.
That ten-minute sit taught me something simple but powerful:
When negativity rises, there is a skillful way to work with it that doesn’t require suppression, distraction, or overcompensation. It doesn’t require you to run, fix, or fight.
It requires two things:
Let the negativity fully express itself without resisting it.
Then, if you choose, bring in light, positivity, in a way that doesn’t deny the darkness but gently neutralizes it.
That’s the whole path.
The Ten-Minute Office Meditation That Changed My State
For the first five minutes, I closed my eyes and focused on the sensations in my body. I felt tightness around my throat and chest. Negative thoughts kept arising, but I didn’t argue with them. I allowed the entire “negativity experience” to fully manifest.
This is important, because most people never actually meet negativity. They react to it. They flinch. They run. They distract. They try to replace it. They either suppress it or explode it outward.
Very few people can simply face negativity objectively, as it is, in the present moment.
After five minutes, I switched the technique.
I tried to bring in positivity intentionally.
At first, it felt impossible. It felt fake. It didn’t feel “authentic” because my body was still holding the negativity. So I did what I always do when something feels fake but might still be useful: I reminded myself,Try anyway. See what happens.
I brought to mind my favorite spiritual teacher, smiling. Then I started playing mantra music in my mind—“Om Namah Shivaya,” the Robert Gass version I used to listen to. I’ve used this before as a reliable trigger for good feelings, especially in practices that work with “feel good” as a meditation object.
At first, I couldn’t find the feeling. It was very subtle. But I stayed with it. I noticed a slight softening around my face and focused there. After a few minutes, something gently spread into my chest. It wasn’t dramatic, but it was real.
At the ten-minute mark, my watch rang. I opened my eyes.
The negativity hadn’t disappeared completely, but something had clearly shifted. There was a sense of okayness. It felt as if positivity and negativity had partially neutralized each other. There was still some residue, but I felt much better than ten minutes earlier.
And I was surprised by how simple it was.
I didn’t need to go for a jog. I didn’t need to scroll my phone. I didn’t need to repeat affirmations like a desperate spell. I didn’t need to distract myself or “fix” anything.
I simply sat, allowed the negativity to express itself, and then brought in light.
That was enough to change my state.
Naturally, this led me to reflect: how do most people usually handle negativity when it arises?
Negativity Is Not Proof Something Is Wrong. It’s Often Proof Something Is Releasing.
One of the most important reframes is this:
Sometimes negativity is clearly triggered by something.
Sometimes it arises for no obvious reason at all.
When it arises without a clear cause, many people assume something is wrong with them—especially if their life looks “fine” on paper. They have enough money, a family, a stable job, and yet they still feel sadness, agitation, or anxiety.
They conclude they are broken, ungrateful, or defective.
But it may be something else entirely.
It may be the rhythm of release. And this was my case.
If you have a general attitude of acceptance, especially if you meditate regularly, suppressed material can start to surface because your system is finally ready to let it go.
Like vomiting out toxins, this doesn’t mean you are getting worse. It can mean you are healing.
Without spiritual understanding, this looks like failure. With the right lens, it looks like purification.
The trigger is not the cause.
The trigger is the pointer.
The release is the point.
Three Common Ways People Handle Negativity and Why All Three Miss the Root
Most people deal with negativity using three familiar strategies.
Distraction. Social media, entertainment, parties, compulsive work, constant stimulation. The tricky part is that distraction can look healthy.
You can socialize because you genuinely enjoy it, or you can socialize to avoid being alone with your pain. The behavior looks the same, but the intention is completely different.
Suppression. Forcing down thoughts and feelings because they feel “negative,” meaning painful. Suppression consumes a huge amount of energy. That’s why people who suppress a lot often feel chronically tired. And when willpower runs out, the negativity erupts anyway and even turns into disease.
Overcompensation. The “I don’t feel good, so I must achieve something to prove I’m okay” strategy. You chase productivity, success, status, approval. It works briefly, then collapses again, because the root remains untouched.
All three approaches deal with surface symptoms, not the source.
To explain the source more clearly, I want to introduce a metaphor.
The Black Mist and the Three Ghost Mobs
Negativity ultimately stems from stored negative energy inside us. I like to visualize this energy as a black mist.
This black mist produces three “ghost mobs”:
the ghost mob of negative thoughts (inner talk),
the ghost mob of negative mental images (inner movies),
the ghost mob of unpleasant body sensations (tightness, burning, heaviness).
These are the only ways negativity can show up: thoughts, images, and sensations. That’s it.
In the metaphor, these ghost mobs attack you with their dark swords.
When people face these mobs, they usually respond in one of three ways.
1. They run away. In real life, this looks like distraction, scrolling, binge-watching, staying busy. But you can’t outrun your shadow. The mist is in your psyche. It moves with you. You might escape for an hour, but when you turn back, the ghosts are there again.
2. They use “willpower” to lock the mobs in a box. This is suppression. You force the ghosts into a mental box and squeeze it shut so you don’t have to see them. It looks effective, but it requires constant effort. When energy drops, the box opens. Over time, this pressure can show up as chronic agitation or even illness.
3. They fight the mobs with a sword. This is overcompensation. You try to become “stronger” through achievement, status, control. But ghosts can’t be killed with swords. You slash them and they reform. You feel busy fighting, but nothing is purified.
In all three cases, people are dealing with the ghosts, not the mist.
We can’t directly touch the mist because it’s energy. Just like you can’t directly touch a 5G signal, but you know it exists because your phone works. The ghosts are how we know the mist is there.
So how do we work with the mist skillfully?
The answer is simple in principle, though challenging in practice:
Exhaust it first. Then shine it away.
Step One: Exhaust the Ghosts by Not Fighting Them
The first step is what many traditions call surrender, letting go, or equanimity.
When negativity arises, you stop running. You stop fighting. You stop stuffing it into a box.
You let it manifest, and you observe it without trying to change it.
In the metaphor, you stand still while the ghost mobs slash at you.
It looks frightening, but here’s the key: they are ghosts. They cannot truly harm you. They can create psychological discomfort, body tension, and fear, but most of their power comes from your resistance.
When you run from negativity, it chases you.
When you fight or suppress it, you feed it energy.
When you do nothing and simply allow it, it begins to exhaust itself.
Imagine the ghost mobs constantly swinging their swords. Each swing consumes energy from the black mist through invisible cords.
When you stop feeding them with resistance, the mist gradually shrinks.
A Practical Way to Do Step One
When negativity arises, break it into three components:
See:What images are playing? What mental movies are running?
Hear:What is the inner talk saying?
Feel: Where is the sensation in the body?
Separating these already reduces overwhelm. Instead of three mobs attacking as one coordinated force, they become three streams you can observe clearly.
Then place most of your attention on the feeling component, the body sensations. Thoughts and images can remain in the background.
Observe the sensations with equanimity. Don’t push them away. Don’t try to feel better. Don’t try to get rid of them.
This is how you exhaust the ghosts.
Step Two: Shine the Black Mist Away by Building a Sun Inside You
After allowing negativity to fully express itself, you can add the second step.
I call it shining away.
In the metaphor, it’s like raising a staff and letting light radiate outward. The light doesn’t fight the ghosts directly. It dissolves the mist that sustains them.
Practically, shining away means intentionally generating a positive feeling in the body and returning your attention to it again and again, just as you would with the breath.
This is crucial: positivity is not used to deny negativity. You remain open to whatever negativity is still present. You simply choose to feed the light.
If you can focus on the breath while your leg hurts, you can also focus on a subtle good feeling while negativity is present. This is a trainable skill.
Ways to Generate Positive Feeling
Smile gently. Even a small smile can create subtle pleasant sensations around the face.
Recall a loved one or warm memory. Find the feeling in the body and stay with it.
Use a cue object. Music, a mantra, a photo, something that reliably evokes goodness.
Use “feel rest.” Restfulness in the body often carries a quiet sense of well-being.
Use phrases. For example: “May peace, love, and joy abide in me.”
The key is to remain open to negativity while repeatedly returning attention to the positive feeling.
Over time, you build a stable inner sun.
You Are Not Broken. You Are Conditioned.
As a society, we are conditioned in two ways.
First, we are conditioned toward negativity. News thrives on conflict. Social media amplifies outrage. Many families teach suppression. Many workplaces normalize chronic stress.
Second, we are conditioned to handle negativity unskillfully. We learn suppression, distraction, and overcompensation early. We are rarely taught how to face unpleasant sensations with equanimity or how to feel good without conditions.
As children, we sometimes felt good for no reason. As adults, we are told happiness must be earned through money, status, relationships, or achievement.
So the nervous system learns to place conditions on unconditional happiness.
That’s why I believe we need reconditioning.
Recondition yourself to allow negativity without fear.
Recondition yourself to generate positivity without perfect circumstances.
Each time you accept negativity skillfully, the mist weakens.
Each time you cultivate positivity skillfully, your inner sun grows stronger.
These two work together, like yin and yang.
You Are Not Manufacturing Positivity. You Are Uncovering It.
The second step can feel fake at first. That’s normal.
But here’s what I believe: the universe is already filled with love. Call it God, the Tao, or reality’s benevolence. You are not creating love from nothing. You are learning how to access what is already there.
When you stop wasting energy on fighting and running, you free up bandwidth. With that bandwidth, you can tune into this loving field.
The cue is not the power.
The cue is the trigger.
The power has been there all along.
That’s why this two-step method works.
Remember the Two-Step Method
When negativity rises:
Exhaust it: Let thoughts, images, and feelings manifest. Deconstruct into See, Hear, Feel. Focus on body sensations. Practice equanimity.
Shine: Generate a positive feeling and return attention to it repeatedly, while staying open to whatever remains.
This is not about never feeling negativity again.
It’s about knowing how to meet it, release it, and not be ruled by it.
That is real freedom.
And once you experience a clear shift, even in ten minutes, motivation arises naturally. Each moment of feeling lighter becomes its own reward.
Now I’d Love to Hear From You
When negativity arises in your daily life, what is your default pattern?
Do you suppress, distract, overcompensate, or something else?
And how does the idea of “exhaust first, then shine” land for you?
Feel free to share.
Thanks for sharing this useful practice, Muse!
For me, when negativity arises, I try to ask:
Is this true right now?
That often helps me snap out of a mind-made story.