The Monkey Mind

I hope you are all doing well. This past week I was struggling with my personal meditation practice. My “monkey mind” was taking over and I couldn’t settle down enough to find any space. The “monkey mind” is a description of our thoughts swinging “from branch to branch to branch” like a monkey in a tree. Often times, when I feel the monkey especially busy in my mind, I start my meditation by visualizing the monkey swinging from branch to branch and after a short time of focusing on him (not sure why but my monkey is a him :)), he seems to slow down and settle. It is the acknowledging of my “monkey” and giving him the chance to “do his thing” that usually allows him to calm. 

So, I started my classes this week with a brief meditation offering the monkey visualization paired with an attention to the breath in an effort to set our intention toward noticing and softening our “monkey minds”. An easy way to think about this technique is the simple phrase; Name it to Know it.  On the mat the breath can really help us stay connected to the body enough to notice what we need (and don’t need) and soften into that truth. Once we acknowledge it, we can meet it without judgment- Name it to Know it.

In our lives the same is true. I needed to dig deeper…. to name what has been creating additional distraction in my mind, in other words what has been making my monkey extra busy. What I have come to see is that there are several “branches” I need to tend too and as I am beginning to acknowledge each one (name them) I am noticing a softening (know them). I am happy to report that my monkey has begun to settle down a bit.