Exercise 1.
Meet your monkey.
Take a deep gentle breath and find a comfortable place where you will not be disturbed for the next half hour or so.
Hello,
This is Tim Powell welcoming you to the Misaligned Monkey Recordings and to this session in particular where I will help you.
To relax.
To contemplate.
And perhaps even to meditate.
On the ideas and thoughts which come up.
All designed to help you consider and implement a different way of working with your monkey.
And today your intention is simply to listen to my voice.
To contemplate the ideas and suggestions.
As you know,
Contemplation is a chance for you to consider,
Consider some ideas or even some beliefs that might be useful to you,
If you were to choose them in some way.
Change can sometimes seem tricky.
But it's not really.
And it's important that we see change for what it really is.
Change stimulates growing and evolving,
And an ongoing contemplation of what we believe to be true.
Change encourages a gentle exploration of other options.
And gives us the better chance of stacking the odds in our favour.
Stacking the odds of getting more of what we want.
Or stacking the odds in favour of getting less of what we don't want.
This is all about thriving.
Thriving in the world you find yourself in.
And thriving asks us to accept the idea of us changing when it suits our purpose to do so.
Because of this,
It's worth having a pen and paper to hand.
And perhaps even a notebook.
That you can use regularly.
To record anything you feel is important for you.
And you may wish to do this at any point in time,
But always return to listen and focus once more on my voice.
And you are free to do this.
Because this is your session.
And my voice is just a guide to help you.
Even if you choose to stop and make some notes,
It's always worth continuing to listen to the recordings all the way to the end.
And it helps to have arranged things to allow you to concentrate on this experience.
And so do not plan to listen to this recording whilst driving or operating machinery.
It also works well to listen to this recording with headphones.
While you can sit.
Or even lay somewhere you find comfortable and somewhere you will not be disturbed.
If you've had a particularly traumatic past and would rather avoid the possibility of stirring up any deep feelings or memories.
Then don't listen to this recording until you feel completely ready to do so.
And when you are ready.
Just settle now into your place.
As I talk away in the background.
And maybe you feel it's time now for you to shut your eyes and relax in that way you know is best for you.
The way that will help you give your full undivided attention to this experience.
I'm speaking of relaxing.
Perhaps as you listen to my voice,
You might begin to pay a gentle attention to your breathing.
As it travels gently in.
And then gently out again.
And especially if you've listened to these recordings before,
You'll feel comfortable with this gentle relaxation process.
A process that revolves around your breathing.
And as you watch your breathing now,
You can notice your next in-breath.
And your chest or your belly rising to accommodate the breath.
And following your inhale as they rise gently.
And then a momentary pause before the out-breath as they naturally relax down again.
And as you watch,
Perhaps you can arrange for your belly to react to your breath first.
Filling and rising on your next in-breath.
Until it feels pleasantly full.
And then just letting your chest take over to accommodate the remainder of your in-breath,
If it needs to.
Pausing momentarily before you exhale again as your chest and then your belly relax.
Relax back down again.
And as you breathe all the way out.
You may notice your breath pauses for an instant before the process repeats and your belly rises to accept the next incoming breath.
And as you breathe in,
Your belly rises again until it feels pleasantly full.
And then again,
Maybe you notice your chest rising in sequence.
If it really needs to.
Your breath enters and fills your lungs before pausing.
And then again,
Relaxing back down,
Chest first.
Belly second as you exhale.
All the way out.
And you may notice your breathing is following its own timing.
Rather than any that may be suggested by my voice.
You know when it's time to inhale or to exhale.
And you know what is right for you.
It's all in your own time.
And you feel good as you continue to breathe like this.
And it's good to notice that you're breathing.
Like so many things.
So many things that are usually so automatic can be changed by you.
If you wish to change them.
So many things don't have to be the way they are.
If you wish to change them.
And as if in confirmation.
You may already experience some signs.
Some signs of your body relaxing as you intended.
And perhaps it's a big sign.
A feeling as you breathe of a pleasant heaviness in your limbs,
Moving warmly up your legs,
Leaving you feeling so comfortable and relaxed wherever your breath travels now.
Or perhaps it's the smaller size.
Simply sensing a wider gap forming between your teeth.
Or perhaps the smooth relaxation of the muscles around your eyes.
Or maybe,
Like others,
You just noticed a slight stretching sensation on your skin.
On the inside of your wrist.
Or even across your forehead.
Notice the subtle signs now of your body relaxing as you intended it to.
And as your body continues to relax,
You now begin to wonder about the nature making the most of the opportunity you have today.
And today,
This means you have the opportunity.
To simply notice your monkey in action.
So I'm going to ask you to set an intention to empty your head.
And to sit or lay peacefully,
Enjoying a moment with no thoughts or distractions.
And I'll leave you for a while and give you the chance to sit quietly and notice any interruptions or attempts to distract you away from your task of just sitting quietly,
Noticing the interruptions and distractions.
As they happen.
So let me give you a few short minutes now to do this.
And it may already have happened.
As you now again listen to my voice,
You may realise that the interruptions and distractions have come and gone,
Offering you other things to get involved with.
Other things to think about.
Other than just sitting quietly.
Noticing the interruptions or distractions as they occur.
And if this has happened to you.
And especially if my voice has called you back from involvement in some stream of thought.
Then you have been successful today.
And have had direct experience of your monkey at work.
And as you continue to contemplate.
And to notice the nature of any interruptions.
And the way they seem to come and go.
Each offering you a chance to get involved.
And distracted from this task.
Or any time.
In the early days,
This is how we can know a monkey's presence,
By feeling or noticing the impact of these interruptions.
And it might help.
If you saw your monkey as the driver of a bus.
And perhaps you are sitting at a bus stop.
Wanting to make a journey.
Or perhaps as yet unsure of exactly where you want to go.
Or even if you should travel at all.
Nice you sit there.
Perhaps it's not that comfortable at your bus stop.
Perhaps you're bored.
And then along comes the monkey,
Offering you a ride on a bus.
A bust they have made using their intimate knowledge of you.
All your desires,
Interests,
Hopes and fears have got into the design of this bus.
And all the buses are designed to attract you.
To make you get on.
To lure you away from your bus stop.
To ride with them to somewhere your monkey might think is more important.
If you are cold,
The bust is going to be warm.
If you are bored,
The bus is going to be interesting.
The bus is perfectly designed and entices you aboard.
And distract you or interrupt you and take you away from what you intended to do.
Of course,
Your monkey doesn't have a bus.
But they do have thoughts and ideas.
Feelings and sensations.
All equally prepared and designed for their own purpose,
Designed to lead you away from what it was you were doing,
From what it was you intended to do.
And when we see these interruptions and distractions,
We can sense our own need to get involved.
But perhaps if we look closely.
We can also sense our own determination.
To stay working on our own projects.
Stay with the intention that we had when we started.
And just notice the thoughts,
The interruptions and distractions.
And let them pass on by.
But this is not always easy.
And sometimes without unknowing.
And without our conscious awareness.
We wake to find that we have been on a thought bus,
Travelled far away,
Far away from what we had planned or intended to do.
And in these exercises,
It may well be my voice that causes you to wake up and realize you have been riding a new bus to somewhere else.
And as you contemplate this now.
Let's think of two possibilities.
Firstly,
Wouldn't it be great if you could notice your monkey in a safe and detached way?
A way that would let you more easily choose whether to get on the thought bus or not.
And you know how hard this can be in the existing situation.
Secondly,
Wouldn't it be even better if we could somehow help the monkey bring us the right thought buses at the right time?
And we could be less dependent.
On resisting their input.
To stay on our own track.
And you could think of these two options as we continue together.
And these recordings could be seen by you.
As a way of simply stacking the odds.
Stacking the odds in your favor of being able to notice the thought buses in a far more detached way.
More able to choose whether or not to be disturbed.
And more able to resist going for a ride.
Maybe we could even get to a point where the bus driver becomes qualified to really help you.
And so the busses that they bring.
Will only be busters that match your needs.
As you consider the possibility of the relationship improving.
Becoming more workable.
More effective.
And more efficient.
Perhaps you can begin to understand more of what is really going on.
As we slowly come to the end of our time together.
Now,
As we come to a close on this session,
You can think back to our objective for today,
For you to simply meet your monkey,
To be able to label the interruptions and the thoughts that disturb you as you work.
And now that it's labelled,
You may already be in a better position to be able to notice and recognise their input.
As it happens,
In the moment.
And in the future you may feel more able to resist the lure of any thought buses as they appear.
Then just let them pass by.
To remain focused on what it is you really wanted to do.
And in our next exercise,
We're going to have more time to contemplate the nature of your relationship with your monkey.
And we can start to build a relationship.
That will enable you two to work together far more effectively.
And as our time for today's contemplation comes to an end now.
You've had the time to consider what it is you need to take forward.
And you will remember this as and when it helps you to do so.
And you may begin now to consider any changes you wish to make.
Changes in activity or even thinking.
And in your model of how you understand that things work.
Maybe there are some old truths or values.
Or even some old beliefs that no longer serve you well.
And maybe it's time,
Time for you to consider moving on.
Adopting new ways that suit you and your purpose far more effectively.
And in a minute or two,
I'm going to count you up from 10 to 1.
And when I reach a count of one,
You'll find yourself completely awake.
I'm ready to make some notes and then continue with the rest of your day.
And as your body begins to wake up now,
Perhaps you stretch gently.
Moving one way and then the other.
And as you prepare to come fully awake.
I'll count you.
And when I reach a count of ten,
You'll find yourself fully awake and ready to continue with the rest of your day.
Pleased with the investment you've made so far in understanding your monkey and the relationship that you can now have with them.
And keen to spend time in your next recording session.
Here with me.
And let me begin to count for you now as your body already starts to stretch and maybe your eyes begin to open and begin to wake up to come into the room.
One.
Take a deep,
Deep breath.
2.
Sense the movement in your body and perhaps your head moves gently from one side to the other.
3.
Stretch out your arms and feel your hands and your fingers moving and signaling that you are ready to get going again.
Four.
Coming awake now.
Your eyes open.
Five,
Your eyes are open.
And you look around noticing what's surrounding you.
Six,
Take another deep breath.
And start to prepare for the rest of your day.
For the rest of your week.
7.
Decide when you will be ready to repeat this session,
Or move on to the next one in the series.
Eight.
You're ready to return to the rest of your day now.
Fully awake,
You sit up straighter as you consider any notes you wish to make.
Nine,
Take a moment or two to pull any thoughts or conclusions together now as you look round the room ready to get on with the rest of your day.
