Taming the Monkey Mind: Experimenting on the Monkey

Posted on by stilllearning2b

Mr. Sandmonkey (78/365)

What?  You didn’t think that my ruminations on my monkey mind were going away just because I completed the 28 day challenge, did you?  Of course not; this monkey demands attention and gets ornery if he’s ignored for too long.

First, a disclaimer:  No monkeys were harmed or experimented on in the making of this post.  You can go ahead and back off now, PETA.

When I undertook this meditation challenge, I was most concerned about staying with daily practice.  In the past, I had slid out of the habit faster than my work clothes at the end of a hard day.  But, that hasn’t been the case on the go-round.  I dutifully meditate every day for at least a few focused minutes.  I do it without thinking.  It has become habit.

Get it?

For some reason, this bothers me a bit.  Maybe I’m overthinking this (totally possible given my analytical nature), but it seems like I should be mindful about mindfulness.  Intentional.  For a time, I was experimenting with different guided meditations, various chants, and assorted music.  I did walking meditations and silent meditations.  I feel like I’ve turned it over to autopilot recently.  I tend to go for the same chant generated by the same app, plug in the same headphones, lie on the same spot, and just go.

Is this good?  I am practicing, after all.  I can’t help but feel like I’m slighting my monkey; however.  If I don’t actively pursue different options and continue to read about meditation, am I stunting my monkey’s growth?  Or, by reading and studying, am I distracting myself from what is really important; focusing too much on the “doing” rather than “being”?  Maybe my discomfort with the status quo is arising from the fact that I am still learning to BE.

I think I’ll go meditate.

Namaste.

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