In the last week, a couple of friends have commented upon how best to deal with negativity. One of them questioned how you could get certain words or phrases out of your mind; you know those type of annoying negative comments that you wish you had never heard, but you did, and then they just go around and around in your brain? Or things which you have just thought as opposed to heard and you keep chewing over them again and again?

The other issue was to do with the way in which associating with negative people can leave you feeling pretty low as well. This friend passed the comment that she didn't think she should spend so much time with a particular person because it was getting her down. Her friend, she said, was so negative that she just felt incredibly drained and low even after being in her company for just five minutes. We do all know of people who have a predominantly negative tendency.

Everyone feels a bit low or negative from time to time as a natural response to disappointing or stressful life experiences. At such a time it can become hard to shift yourself up a gear and step out of it. Negative thoughts and images can become firmly lodged in your mind. Usually we find that after a short while we do manage to shake these thoughts and feelings off and move forward again with a spring in our step.

I'm not talking about that "normal" expression of negativity here. The negativity which both of my friends brought up is of a rather more severe variety. When I am around someone who is negative as a matter of course I feel as if a black thunder cloud surrounds them and that it is trying its best to creep towards me as well! It's like a black mist or fog that is wafting its way towards me, and it's not a pleasant sensation. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it is for the person who is living in that black gunk.

If you do spend time around a very negative person you need to know how to protect yourself from it. Every thought which everyone has does transmit energy out into the universe. When a negative vibe is working its way towards your comfort zone you need to mentally put up some armor with which to deflect it. Thought energy is fought with thought energy.

And so you can think in a way which deflects that negative energy. You could, for instance, mentally place yourself inside a beautiful shiny balloon which keeps you in a bubble of positivity. Or you could erect a mental mirrored shield and send the negative energy straight back to whence it came. There are endless ways in which you can protect yourself from negative thought energy; you just need to be aware of these principles and use your own imagination to create an armory which suits you.

It is a little more complicated for the person who is feeling negative on a daily basis. Negativity is one expression of low self-esteem and so anything which builds your self-esteem will help to combat it.

Exercise is one great place in which to start, because as you move your brain releases endorphins which provide a feel good factor. Also to set a goal to do something and then to do it provides a sense of accomplishment which again builds self-esteem. To get out into the countryside also lifts your mood and boosts self-esteem. Thus a walk in the country provides a doubly beneficial effect.

If you have negative thoughts racing around your mind you need to know how to "bin" them. You can learn how to sweep them off out of your mind and mentally dispose of them altogether. Then you can consciously choose to replace them with more positive and comfortable thoughts. In this way you can learn to protect yourself from those old negatives which have been eating away at your happiness.

In short, negativity can be dealt with and overcome; it can be beaten into submission simply by learning how to use your mind in a slightly different way.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3 downloads for confidence and well-being.

P.S. Would you like to learn how to deal with negativity? Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.