Meet your Monkey Mind: The Experiment
Believe it or not, we all have a monkey mind. That’s right, even YOU have the mind of a monkey!
We have thousands upon thousands of thoughts each day, about similar and completely differentiating topics. This is especially true when we’re on the journey to overcoming trauma.
Picture this:
You’re walking down a busy street. A car passes by. You’ve forgot your umbrella. You’re now drenched. You run into a coffee shop. A customer stares you up and down…
That’s a whole lot of thoughts right there isn’t it? And in the space of seconds…
Your mind is a monkey, swinging from branch to branch, from thought to thought.
Naming your monkey mind characters
My monkey mind has a host of characters, which come into play in various situations and times of the day. I call them my minions. More often than not, they bring negative mind chatter to my thoughts – which prove to be unhelpful and can be destructive.
Simply knowing this can help you a great deal. Because I’m now aware of the Monkey Mind and it’s capabilities, I run experiments to see what’s really going on up there. I choose a day where my minions will be active and really come to life. When I hear the negative mind chatter, I identify the character by the name of which I call them:
“Ah there’s Sad Sadie”
“Here’s Angry Anteater”
“Wait, here’s Joyful Janine”
Practicing this experiment isn’t easy. You must allow everything around you to happen, without thought or feeling. For me, I look around, witnessing the coming and going of the characters. I begin to notice thoughts appearing and disappearing, as it’s replaced by the next thought in the queue.
It’s fascinating what you witness and how the Monkey Mind chatter changes so quickly.
How to witness your Monkey Mind
To do this correctly, follow these three golden rules during the experiment:
1) Allow everything to just happen
2) Look at what goes on around you
3) Witness your thoughts coming and going
By the end of the experiment…
You’ll have learned a valuable technique, which you can use in all types of situations, including learning…
· to witness, without thinking
· to be aware of your being and the difference between thinking and witnessing
· you cannot think and witness at the same time
The best thing about this experiment is that you can start right away. Run this experiment for a few hours today, or one day this week. Comment below to share your experiences of trying this. It may feel strange at first, but remember to heal you must open your mind, as well as your heart.
“Thinking is a function of the mind. Witnessing is a nonfunction of the mind.” ~Taoshbuddha
Have a question about your Monkey Mind? Or do you want to start a conversation about your situation, let me lend an ear - get in touch today.
© 2018 Janine Naus