Calm the Monkey in the Mind through Breathwork and Meditation
We all have a monkey in our mind, it swings from thought branch to thought branch every moment of every day. Our minds are constantly seeking the next stimulus, busy moving rapidly from one task to the next. This is not necessarily a bad thing as we need to process optimally to successfully complete our daily tasks, but when that monkey takes over and gives you absolutely no peace it is time to ask the question - “is your monkey running the show or are you?”
The mighty Buddha is said to have coined the phrase ‘monkey mind’ as a way of describing how an unsettled and scattered the mind can be, constantly being drawn into thought process, enticing us out into external stimulus or towards internal worry, usually fixated on the future or the past, robbing us of being truly present in our lives.
Our minds create thought and the way we relate and interact with that thought determines our overall perspective and, in many ways, our individual happiness. The mind can often prevent us from falling asleep or constantly waking us up during the night. The thought monkey just incessantly repeats, questions, and analyses current worries and concerns, projecting forward what may need to be done. This same monkey then has the audacity to tell you that you have a big day tomorrow and really need to get some sleep. All you seem able to do is stare hopelessly at the clock, working out how long until the alarm goes off.
The constant branch hopping is both physically and mentally exhausting and depending on the narrative being told can have far reaching implications on our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Those who reside in the left analytical brain will constantly be overstimulated, finding it hard to switch off. This can cause the anxiety cycle to kick in, as the lack of rest causes more anxiety and the constant projection into the future (of which you have no ability to change in that moment) just adds to the loss of control.
So, is there a solution? What is the answer to switching off or at the very least calming down the monkey in the mind?
Just as the body needs to be trained to reach optimal performance, so too does the mind. In society we are expected to have this ability to focus and concentrate the mind, but have you ever seen that on the school curriculum, who teaches us how to do that?
Yes, we must learn to train the mind, but first you must it prepare it with the breath and the body. It is common to hear people make mention of their inability to meditate. Of course, it is going to be difficult to just sit and stop all thoughts, the mind thinks, that is what it does. So, a process is needed and as always, the yogis provide us with a road map.
Before we can meditate, we must learn focused attention, before we learn focused attention, we must learn to control the senses, before the senses comes the breathwork, and before the breathwork we should strive to physically move the body. So, we move the body to allow us to sit quietly in meditation for longer periods of time, we breathe using specific breathwork practices to alter the nervous system, we draw the senses inwards to help sustain our level of concentration and then finally we may be able to access an initial state of meditation.
The bridge to enter meditation lies within the breath and by learning specific breathwork techniques, the practitioner creates energetic change and ultimately balance in the mind. A regular meditation practice has a multitude of benefits for the individual and overtime practitioners will notice an increased sense of calm and relaxation, a greater sense of clarity and focus and the ability to change the typical thought patterns that we may have on repeat, providing us with a new way of seeing life from a slightly altered perspective.
Breaking down these ingrained habits takes time and a lot of practice, but the outcome is golden and can really impact our health and wellbeing in a positive way.
If you are interested in learning simple breathwork techniques designed to energetically change the body and the mind to bring it into unified balance and prepare for a deep state of meditation, then sign up for my online course, Breathe Yourself to Meditation. This introductory course runs over 4 weeks and provides practical experience and knowledge which will set you up to begin a regular meditation practice and keep that dam monkey under control.