Provide yourself and others conscious care and support by allowing negative emotions to be felt and processed. Feeling negative feelings in response to an unprecedented, challenging experience is normal.

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Toxic positivity is the assumption that despite a person’s emotional pain and turmoil, they should only have a positive mindset. When we pretend that emotional pain doesn’t exist, we send a message to our brain that whatever the emotion is, it is in some way bad or dangerous. If our brain believes we are in a dangerous situation, our body will respond as such. By overdoing positive affirmations, we may be invalidating our or others’ feelings and harming them when they are already in a vulnerable state. The best way to deal with negative emotions is to let yourself feel the emotions you’re feeling and let them pass, not push them under the rug. Continue reading the original article written by Vasundhara Sawhney published on Harvard Business Review here.