Meditation Of 1000 Returns: Taming The Monkey Mind

Learn how to deal with compulsive thinking, how to tame the monkey mind jumping from one thought to another. In this meditation you will learn how to catch a break from your stream of thoughts and delve into a restorative breath practice to experience some peace of mind.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

I'm glad you chose me as your guide today.

It's my privilege to spend this time in your company.

The human mind is a generator of thoughts.

Every experience,

Every stimulus,

Both external and internal,

Is processed according to our unique matrix that has been developed since we were born.

The result of this process is perceived by us as an internal chatter,

Stream of thoughts,

Stories and scenarios that our mind is constantly preoccupied with.

Most of the time we are not aware of that as we run on autopilot.

However,

The moment we become aware,

We gain the ability to harness this potential and use it to create a positive change in our life.

The authentic practice of meditation allows us just that.

When sitting with your eyes closed in a quiet room,

We limit the external stimuli.

When not overwhelmed by outside experience,

We start to distinguish between what is real and what is just a story.

The occasional moments of peace and calm that we experience during meditation often come when we are no longer identified with the stories in our head but recognize the reality of the present moment.

In an untrained mind,

This usually happens by chance,

In the same way as an amateur musician occasionally strikes a beautiful chord.

With practice,

However,

We rely less on chance and more on the ability to consciously direct our mind towards the present moment.

The process of repetition in meditation,

Returning to your breath,

Mantra or image,

Is designed to refine this skill.

The purpose of meditation is not to get rid of thoughts but to disidentify yourself from the story that your thoughts are telling you.

This way,

Your thoughts no longer have power over you and you gain a new level of mental stability which one perceives as a sense of calm and peace.

Today I invite you to sit with me and observe this process at work.

Remember,

Meditation is a practice of thousand returns and in each of these returns lies an opportunity to bring more peace into your life.

Let us begin.

Choose a place where you won't be disturbed.

A place that is quiet.

A place where you feel comfortable.

Sit on a chair with your back straight.

Make sure that your breath flows freely.

Place your feet on the floor.

Allow your hands rest in your lap.

Allow your eyes to close.

If you feel any discomfort,

This is a good time to adjust your position.

Begin by checking in and asking yourself how you feel right now.

What is this story that you're telling yourself?

Realize that regardless of your thoughts,

You feel safe and secure right now.

This present moment is perfect the way it is.

It's a great place to start your exploration.

Now connect with your breath.

I will ask you that during this meditation you breathe in and out through your nose.

You keep your mouth closed.

Rest your tongue behind your teeth.

Feel the air coming in through your nose,

Traveling to your chest and to your belly and on the way out through your belly,

Chest and nose as you exhale.

This is your starting point.

This is the place to which you can always return.

Regardless of the circumstances,

Your breath is always there.

In this meditation,

I invite you to feel your breath in the center of your body.

Feel how with each breath,

Your entire body slightly expands as you inhale and contracts as you exhale.

Now try to feel the center of this expansion and contraction.

As you tune in into this new way of breathing,

Notice that after each couple of breaths,

Your mind wanders and your thoughts may provide a commentary to what is happening right now.

If your experience is pleasant,

The thoughts are positive.

And if your experience is unpleasant,

Your thoughts naturally become negative and judgmental.

It's easy to accept all the positives.

However,

The moment that your internal chatter becomes slightly negative,

Judgmental,

You start feeling resistance.

This resistance may manifest as a tension in your body.

Feel it if you can.

As you recognize this internal chatter,

Ask yourself who's talking?

Ask yourself if you had a choice,

Would you listen to that chatter or would you rather be silent?

And as you start noticing this internal dialogue,

Realize that you have a choice,

Either to listen and follow it or to gently but firmly bring yourself back to your breath.

As you continue breathing in and out,

Feeling the pleasant sensation of expansion contraction,

Once again you find yourself involved in the internal dialogue.

Perhaps this dialogue is related to how you feel at the moment.

Perhaps it has to do with some situation from the past.

It may be that in the dialogue you plan your future.

And once again,

Ask yourself the question,

Who does the talking?

Was it you who decided to talk?

If it wasn't you who decided to talk,

Then perhaps you can once again gently and calmly bring yourself back to your breath.

And as you continue this process of returning,

Notice how the chatter changes.

It's never the same.

Notice that the scenarios in your head never stay the same for a long time.

Once you deal with one,

Another comes in its place.

This is absolutely normal and there's no need to get upset.

The fact that you may get upset gives the power that drives this dialogue and make it go for much longer.

The moment that you recognize it for what it is,

Which is just a thought pattern generated by your mind,

Dialogue naturally quiet itself.

Every time when you redirect your attention from this internal dialogue to your breath,

You become more resilient.

Each time you do it,

You gain more of the mental stability that you need so much in your daily life.

With each return,

You create more peace and more calm.

I'll let you practice now on your own and I wait here,

Holding this space for you.

Music Music And now it's time to return.

Start connecting with your senses.

Hear the sounds coming from outside.

See the brighter and darker spots in front of your closed eyes.

Feel your feet on the floor.

Your hands in your lap.

Feel the sensations in your body.

And now add some movement.

Wiggle your toes.

Move and stretch your fingers.

Tilt your head slowly and gently to the left.

Feel the muscles stretching on the side of your neck.

Tilt your head to the right.

Back to the center.

And altogether let us take one deep cleansing breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

And when you're ready,

Open your eyes and welcome back.

Thank you for meditating with me.

I hope that you found this meditation useful and most importantly you'll be able to use some of its elements in your daily life.

Remember,

You are not your thoughts.

Every time you judge yourself and being overly self-critical,

This is just an internal talk.

Thank you again for spending this time with me.

I'm very glad you could join me.

I wish you a very peaceful day.

Reviews

Every time I come back to this meditation I find something new. Today, instead of being annoyed when my mind wandered, I found myself feeling loving kindness toward my busy brain.

Beautiful, Tomek. Thank you. That really worked for me.

Your meditation and understanding of what mental chatter can produce is such a validating way for me and I am sure many others.
I love your soothing voice..My day is going to be much more present, calm, and peaceful.
Thank you! Blessings….Anne

always good 2 hear a familiar voice. excellent thoughts about voices in our heads.
i don't want 2 listen.
🔇 👂🏻 🤫 🙉

I loved the gentle guidance back to the breath and the reminders that thoughts are just brain patterns. Very empowering. Thank you, Tomek!

Becoming more aware of my ongoing mental chatter is an important part of my continued growth and healing. Thank you.

Not easy but I will but this lesson in my daily life, thanks 🙏🏻

Thank you so much for this wonderful meditation 🙏🏽

Lovely meditation . Very effective tool to tame the monkey mind . Thank you for creating it . Much love and gratitude ❤️🙏

This meditation was very helpful. My monkey mind thanks you.

Excellent guide. Found “here I am lord” gently playing in the background triggering but that’s my soup to deal with.

That was lovely! Useful and gentle and kind! Grateful for your teaching 🙏

Thank you for this gift. This is a wonderful guided meditation practice. Also it is an important teaching that I can take with me and return to. Your voice, words, all of it is calming. It's perfect! Thank you! Namaste. 🙏

Thank you very much. I needed this meditation today to stop worrying about the future. I will continue to practice being present.

Just what I needed today to calm my overthinking anxious mind. I look forward to listening to more of your meditation teachings

Another tool to tame the random stream of thoughts. 🙏

Excellent!! I will practice this on my own as well as returning to this meditation.

So peaceful! I could totally let go of my thoughts.

Wonderful, very practical and down-to-earth. Thank you Tomek

Really good explanation of how to begin training the mind to ignore the constant chatter. Thanks!