Chatty monkey mind? It doesn’t have to be a struggle

Whether you call it the monkey mind, the brain hamster, the inner critic, inner roommate… the constant chatter that goes on in our heads is a major challenge for beginner meditators, and I have to admit myself, even more seasoned ones. Even if the inner blabber isn’t mean or hypercritical and just hopping from thought to thought (gotta remember to do laundry, gotta remember to email so-and-so, I hope traffic isn’t bad tomorrow morning, I like rabbits, they’re soft, etc), it can be difficult to get our mind to quiet down enough to concentrate on a mantra or even simply our breathing. A lot of times, people give up right away because they “can’t do it right.”

Ken Wells is an experienced meditator and his explanations on the practice are really down to earth and easy to grasp. He doesn’t dive straight into meditating, but just on stillness. It’s this stillness that helps us to recognize and conquer our own resistance to being still and quiet. We’re so busy these days and we constantly want to do things and get things done–this is why meditation has become even bigger lately as more and more people are feeling overwhelmed by life’s constant demands.

Ken also talks about beta versus alpha and how we can become aware of such a subtle energetic shift. It’s not something that can really be described, it’s something we just feel, but it’s really helpful to learn about it in order to get a better grasp on what meditation is.

The most important thing he gets into is something that, in my opinion, not enough meditation gurus teach. And that is judgment. The biggest obstacle for a lot of us is judging ourselves before, after, and during each meditation session. So many of my friends have tried to meditate and tell me things like “I didn’t do it right/I wasn’t very good at it/I just kept thinking about homework so I failed” and THIS IS HUGE. This is the monkey mind. This is the inner critic, the inner roomie, the self-talk that keeps us from peace and loving ourselves as we are. When we constantly judge ourselves, even our efforts in meditation, we struggle to grow.

Listen to How to Meditate For Beginners – Taming The Monkey Mind and more self improvement audio programs on Audiojoy — download free on iOS or Android.

Content Review by Jaidan Forrest