Monkey ​Mind​

December 20, 2022

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Are you controlling your thoughts or are your thoughts controlling you? If the latter is correct, then it's time to stop monkeying around and take your life back. Monkey mind can drive you insane, literally. 

You may have monkey mind if experience, racing thoughts, thoughts all over the place, confused thoughts, disturbing thoughts, repetitive thoughts, restless thinking, and uncontrollable thoughts.  You want to stop the thoughts, but they are unceasing. You may even experience anxiety, social anxiety, moodiness, lack of good night's sleep, indecisiveness and lack of focus. It can be quite scary to feel like you are losing your mind. The good news is that there is a hope! 

We can choose our thoughts.  We can even change the station of our thoughts just like we change the radio or television station. Yes, it takes a little practice but with intention and regular practice, it gets easier. When your mind goes haywire, deep a few deep breaths. Breath in, exhale out, relax and visualize a place or situation you rather be thinking about.  In your mind's eye visualize it using all of your senses. Bring it to life and feel your happy place.  When you know you can change the station, you will start to feel less anxious and more empowered. 

But what if you just want to clear the mind and rest the thoughts as much as possible. Meditation is the key.  Meditation helps to tame the monkey mind, rest the mind and clear the thoughts. Yes, it does take some practice but within time it gets easier.  You can start with just 30 seconds or one minute each day and build on that.

Simply set or lay down in a quiet space and focus on the breath. Thoughts will be continuing to arise but simply allowing them to move along and let the breath be your focus point. Continue to take your attention to the breath so that the thoughts simply drift away in the background.  Again, the more practice the easier it gets. 

Be patient with yourself and trust the process.

If you would like more information to get you started on meditation than feel free to reach out to me by email, text or call. We can schedule a 30-minute guided meditation session in person or virtually.  These sessions are not currently on the website.

-Monica Morris, Calm Massage & Bodywork

The Best Present​

The holidays are here and for many that means gifts, gifts and more gifts. One of the best gifts that we can give to someone this holiday season is the gift of being present.  Since, the start of the pandemic, almost every facet of our lives has been shifted and taken a toll. Many people loss loved ones due to covid, youth suicide rates increased, synthetic opioid deaths reached record levels, and the lockdown was reported to strained small businesses and relationships. 

Many people were and still are in the fight or flight mode, survival mode and what I call living from the root chakra. The root chakra is responsible for our sense of stability, security and grounding. When our foundational living is threatened by multiple and prolonged red chakra triggers like finances, death, food, shelter and health it breeds fear and anxiety. With healthy coping techniques and a support system most of us can waver the storm, but many cannot. Hence, the mental health crisis is real. Like it or not it will affect all of us either directly or indirectly.  So how can we help? 

By simply giving the best gift of all this holiday season. The gift of being present. Have you ever tried to express your feelings or open up to someone and before you could even make your point; they barge in to offer a solution or worst starts talking about their issues.  Maybe, they started looking at their cellphone, preparing dinner, or working on the computer.  Any and everything but listening. 

Learning to be present for those who matter to us means getting out of our own space and moving into their mind and heart space. It requires us to listen with all of our senses, to hear what's being said and what's not being said. It requires us to be patient enough to refrain from jumping in and completing someone else's thoughts and sentences. This is why we set aside or even schedule a set amount of time, let's say 30 minutes to be fully present.  Having a set amount of time, keeps us from being inpatient.  It also keeps us mentally sharp because we have already given ourselves a length of time to stay present. Active, heart-filled listening can be taxing even if we are enjoying the time. Being present means being emotionally mature enough to refrain from proving our point of view or becoming defensive with words or body language. Being present for others and especially our youth communicates to them that are loved, someone hears them, someone gets them, they are supported, someone has their back, and they matter. 

-Monica Morris, Calm Massage & Bodywork