Monkey Brain Still At Work?

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

Carl Bard

Our minds are always full of random thoughts. Sometimes we’re acutely aware of them, like at 3 a.m. when our monkey brain takes over. Other times they’re fleeting. But whether we’re aware or not, these thoughts can have an influence on our decisions and the way we view ourselves.

For most of us these thoughts are negative-especially the ones that flood our brains at 3 a.m. We find ourselves laying there sorting through all our regrets. Everything we’ve done wrong. Reliving past mistakes. Listing everyone we’ve hurt or who’s hurt us. We listen to that inner voice tell us what an awful, useless, lazy, no good human being we are.

Maybe that’s a bit drastic. But, for many of us that’s not too far off the mark. When our monkey brains are allowed to run amok, we’re consumed with all sorts of negativity. This robs us of finding our inner peace and happiness and allowing us to discover our true inner essence.

In a past post: Mindfulness is a Writing Essential, I write about how developing mindfulness allows us to more easily let go of negative random thoughts that find their way into our mind and block our creativity keeping us from being able to focus.

Becoming More Empowered

Practicing mindfulness redirects the monkey brain thinking that can lead to stress and overwhelm. By redirecting these negative thoughts we can begin to feel more empowered than we did before.

Mindfulness allows us to develop a deeper focus and understanding of ourselves and what we’re experiencing. Knowing who we are at our core allows us to tap into our creativity and share our message with those who need to hear it. Without proper focus we can fall victim to the Gold Fish Effect and allow our monkey brains to continue to run amok.

To become more mindful means that we need to be more aware of our thoughts, feelings and actions in the present moment. When we spend a great deal of time thinking negative thoughts about ourselves these thoughts begin to be treated as fact, and can become destructive to our well-being. Any time we say to ourselves any form of, “I’m not good enough,” we begin to internalize that statement as a core belief.

Mindfulness allows us to use gentle curiosity and a judgment free approach to pay attention to our thoughts and feelings. Once we have a handle on what we’re thinking and feeling we can examine those thoughts and feelings to see if they really are true or if they’re just more monkey chatter that needs to be properly reframed.

In order to improve your ability to be more mindful, here are few steps to try.

Step 1: Stop Feeding the Monkey

Mindfulness is a meditation technique that helps to shut down the chaos of the monkey brain. It can be done in literally position.- standing, sitting, or lying down with eyes opened or closed. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s comfortable. As with all meditation start with focusing on the breath. Breathe slowly in and out.

Don’t try to control the breath, just breathe. If it helps, repeat quietly, I breathe in. I breathe out. I fill my lungs with fresh air. I exhale stale air. Continue to breathe, allow yourself to notice any thoughts or feelings you’re experiencing. Pay close attention to these thoughts and feelings. But, don’t acknowledge them.

Step 2: Do Not Judge

This practice may seem a bit weird at first. And most likely it will take some time to quiet those random thoughts that show up uninvited. You may have thoughts such as: I’ll never be any good at x. My pitch sucked. They’ll never publish my article. My mother is unreasonable. I need to feed the dog. I’m not doing this right. I need to pay x bill. You may also experience uncomfortable feelings along with those thoughts.

These are all valid, normal thoughts and feelings. Focus on what you’re thinking/feeling. You’ll see that your thoughts/feelings are usually all over the place. Allow yourself a little time to think and feel. Don’t rush the process. Simply be curious and see where it goes. And most importantly do not judge what your monkey brain thinks.

Step 3: Let It Go

Notice what you’re feeling with each thought. Once you’ve focused on each thought allow it to drift away. One thought followed by another, and then another. Just let them drift in and drift out, easily and effortlessly. Noticing them as they go by. Focusing only on the ones that you feel you need to change.

This would be a great time to tap into your imagination and visualize each thought as it floats through. Perhaps you can see each thought as a snowflake gently sweeping by. Or a maple leaf swaying down to the ground. Or even as a babbling brook flowing gently down stream.

Once you’re ready to end your mindful mediation, slowly bring your focus back to your breathing. Become aware of the rhythmic movements of your breath. Then begin to focus on the area around you. Now that you’re aware of what you’re thinking and feeling, you can determine how you want to move forward and change that negative thought pattern to better empower yourself.