3 Tips to Control and Calm the Monkey Mind

“Monkey Mind” is a Buddhist term that stems from the observations that, when kept untamed, our mind’s natural state often tends to become indecisive, restless and unsettled.  Thoughts of course are subtle and swift so trying to slow them down and increase the space within us is paramount if we are to be successful of living a mindful, focused life, and if we are to be able to meditate successfully.

Excessive unchecked thinking has also been associated with more anxiety and stress, so calming the monkey mind is not just important for meditation it is also important for peaceful living.

The more your mind grows anxious, the more you will start making poor decisions. You will lose sleep, peace and if you are plagued with negative thinking, then you may even find yourself heading towards depression or loneliness. However, yoga and meditation offer techniques which you can teach yourself and which will then give you the power to calm your minds of excessive thoughts.

In the video I discuss 3 tips to help you control the monkey mind and calm the mind of thoughts.  This will help set the stage for successful meditation and successful living.

Keep in mind that if the mind drifts continuously unchecked such a mind can be unconsidered truly uneducated.  Being able to keep your mind on point is a prerequisite for accomplishing that which you are setting out to do.  Moreover a life spent in drift is a life spent sleep walking though life.

Below the video I have provided the entire transcript as well, in case you prefer to read the transcript to watching the video.  Choices are always good :-).

3 Tips for Calming the Monkey Mind of Thoughts

YouTube Direct Link –> https://youtu.be/bSEsLrIhEjw

Transcript for 3 Tips for Calming the Monkey Mind of Thoughts:

Namaste, my friends!

Welcome to the online meditation and yoga videos here on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga.

Today, we’re going to discuss three very important approaches to prepare yourself for deeper meditation. If you have participated in meditation or practiced meditation, read the literature out there, then you will understand that the real deal in meditation is silencing the mind of thoughts. Then, your meditation can penetrate further, deeper, wider, and that which lies beyond can be realized and experienced.

So now, when one sits for meditation, one comes to the immediate conclusion that the mind is a race car. Thoughts are subtle, they are swift, and they are in plenty. So, how do we go from the Niagara Falls that your mind is currently, to a wide slow-moving Ganges out further to a still ocean and beyond?

So, these following three techniques will really help in slowing down Niagara Falls and working your way towards the Ganges and the ocean.

So, number one, do a breathing exercise such as alternate nostril breathing or 7-11 breathing before starting your meditation practice. This really will help your mind calm down. So, for five minutes do a Pranayama practice that calms the system down, that calms the mind down.

Then, when you sit for your meditation after you’ve done the Pranayama practice, practice your basic meditation first.

The three stages to meditation, stage one meditation that you’re going to do, practice that first. Don’t immediately try and go to stage three where you’re trying to comprehend the thoughts from moment to moment via direct perception.

Start with your basic meditation, whether that is breath awareness meditation, whether that is mantra meditation, whether that is some body awareness meditation, sound awareness meditation throughout…whatever… these are basic meditations. Whatever your basic meditation is, do that.

Now, how long you do that for? It depends on your state of mind during that particular time. Generally speaking, you need to do it for five to ten minutes so that it further settles down the velocity of thoughts.

Once you feel the velocity settling down a bit, go to the third technique.

The third technique is your pure demand, your passion for comprehending thoughts from moment to moment. Let the mind realize it’s going to be under assault, under assault of intelligence, impersonal intelligence, and under assault of swift awareness, right? This sharp intelligence and swift awareness are going to be directed and focused at the thinking mind such that each thought is going to be comprehended from moment to moment before the next thought even takes place. So, the entire story of one thought is going to be comprehended and so on and so forth as various thoughts continue to arise and fall. That demand will then slow the mind down even further, allowing this comprehension to start to kick in, and then you start to see the fact in motion and then, you start… the mind starts to see that it is the root cause of suffering and the danger in going in the direction that it is currently moving in. Then the mind recognizing itself as the problem collapses and then what is beyond can be seen and experienced.

So, do try this for yourself, don’t just agree or disagree, try it for yourself. You have this capability of going beyond the mind. Use a Pranayama. There are many available on the blog that settled the mind down. Then do your basic meditation, then be ready to do the work it takes and see what happens.

If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and blog.

Thank you, everybody. God bless you all.

Conclusion to Calming the Monkey Mind:

Your search for the easiest ways to calm your monkey mind ends here. A restless mind, when left without supervision, can run amok. So, don’t let your thoughts rule you- start adapting to rule your thoughts instead.  The mind is a tool, you are the master.

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