In Yoga Sutra 2.33, Patanjali offers a compassionate practice to those whose minds are agitated: “When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite (positive) ones should be thought of.” This is the meaning of the cultivation of the counter-thought.

Claude (Anthropic) gives us the Sanskrit line thus:

Sanskrit: vitarka-bādhane pratipakṣa-bhāvanam

The Sanskrit Terms:

Vitarka = negative thoughts, doubts, wayward thoughts, disturbing thoughts

Bādhane = when afflicted by, when troubled by

Pratipakṣa = opposite, contrary

Bhāvanam = cultivation, contemplation, bringing into being

Crucial to this practice is to notice that you feel “afflicted or troubled by” certain sorts of thoughts. This is introspection: the recognition (label) that such and such is a troubling negative or wayward or disturbing thought. 

After that noticing has taken place, then one cultivates (muscularly, as it were) a more powerful, astonishingly truthful positive thought. To be sure, it’s the contrary, and yet it’s more than that. Expressing the truth, this thought also points to the wordless source.

Therefore, when anger appears, cultivate love. When fear arises, generate power. When sadness comes, expand into hope.