Day 5 Understanding the monkey mind and how you can control it Monkey mind is a Buddhist concept that describes lack of control in one's thoughts.
As we talked about on day 2,
Up to 95% of our thoughts are on repeat from day to day.
That leaves only 5% room for new thoughts to emerge.
If our actions are based on our thoughts and our reality is created with our actions,
Then there's a pretty meek chance of substantial change happening overnight.
So how do you create more space for new thoughts to emerge?
Simple.
Slow down.
Meditation is the best way to slow your monkey mind and give you a chance to regain control of your thoughts.
You may have heard the saying,
You are not your thoughts.
Your reptilian brain is designed to keep you safe.
Not happy.
Not joyful.
Not even satisfied.
Just safe.
And when you're thinking the same anxiety-producing,
Low-vibe,
Resentful thoughts day after day,
It becomes extra tricky to train your brain to move from surviving to thriving.
It starts with thoughts first thing in the morning,
Like,
I'm so tired.
I don't want to get out of bed yet.
Or,
Great,
We're out of cream again.
Every action you take started first with a thought,
Then a feeling,
And lastly,
The manifested action.
Meditation helps you to slow down so you can create space between each of those so that you can catch the root thought,
Changing the hormone and chemical release in your brain,
And ultimately choose a different action.
This is emotional maturity.
Emotional maturity means that you can observe your thoughts and feelings and learn from them without having extreme reactions.
Often,
Emotionally immature people cannot separate their thoughts from their feelings and tend to react as though the thought,
Feeling,
And action all happen simultaneously.
They are reacting based on the levels of chemicals and hormones in their body.
The thought begins in the brain,
Releasing chemicals and hormones that cause the feeling,
And the action is actually a reaction based on a previous experience the brain remembered.
Meditation teaches us to create space between the thought,
The feeling,
And the reaction so that we can understand ourselves better and respond from a place of higher order in the brain.
This doesn't mean you don't get angry or never experience sadness.
It creates a more authentic experience of life where you speak from your heart and not your ego that operates only to protect you from repeating past hurts.
Many people think they can't meditate because they can't stop all thoughts.
Their mind is too busy,
They say.
This is why it's called a meditation practice,
Because it takes practice.
You can't expect to tame a wild monkey in the first minute you meet it.
Meditation is about choosing one thing to focus on,
Like your breath.
A mantra,
Someone's voice,
Or an image,
And continually returning your attention to that each and every time you catch your thoughts running away on you.
This will happen over and over and over again.
Each time you notice yourself thinking about something,
Celebrate that you caught yourself and return your focus back to your one thing.
There's no sense in getting discouraged or shaming yourself for getting lost in thought.
That's just the work of the ego.
Sometimes I laugh at myself or just smile because it's quite comical how busy my mind can be.
Over time,
You will begin to observe the unconscious thoughts that arise and see patterns in them,
And it will get easier and easier to catch them quickly and return your attention back to your one focus.
Let's try a meditation that will help you notice your monkey mind.
Begin by closing your eyes or softening your gaze.
Take a long,
Deep breath in,
And gently let it go.
Do that one more time.
Long,
Deep breath in,
And gently let it go.
Today,
We are going to do a mantra meditation.
We will practice repeating the words,
Let go.
Each time you notice you are no longer repeating the mantra,
Simply notice your mind.
It's wandered,
And return it to repeating,
Let go.
You might even try imagining letting go of the thought that distracted you as it floats away and your attention returns to your one focus.
It's not important how many times your mind leads you astray.
What is important is that you remember to return to the mantra.
Let's do this for just less than a minute.
When you hear the sound of my voice again,
You can release the mantra.
It's time to release the mantra.
Without condemning yourself,
Notice how often your mind took control and overrode your desire to repeat the mantra.
This is the monkey mind.
The goal of meditation is to train it to focus on one thing at a time.
When you are ready,
You can slowly open your eyes and ease back into your mind.
And ease back into your day.
Well done.
I'll meet you here tomorrow for day six.
