Is your mind controlled by a wild monkey?

Is your mind controlled by a wild monkey?

Does it ever happen to you: you go to sleep and a hyperactive translator starts in your head? Thoughts jump from the outstanding mortgage to the conversation from five years ago, and from there to worries about the future.

In Eastern philosophy, this state is called the "monkey mind".

The mind, like a wild monkey, rushes from branch to branch, clinging to fears, emotions and memories. It wastes a huge amount of your energy, leaving you feeling empty before the day even begins.

But the goal is not to kill the monkey or put it in a cage. The goal is to change her role from "master" to "servant".

Guide: How to tame the monkey brain in 3 steps.

1. "Naming" (tagging) technique.

As soon as you catch yourself in the chaos of your mind, tell yourself: "It's just a mistaken thought" or "It's just anxiety." When you give a thought a name, you cease to be one with it and take the position of the contemplative.

2. Grounding through the body.

The monkey lives only in illusions of the past and the future. Bring yourself back to the "here and now": feel the floor with your feet, feel the cold air while you inhale or the weight of your shoulders. The body is always in the present.

Breath rule 3. 5 seconds.

Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 2 and long exhale for 6 counts. The physiology will activate the parasympathetic system - the "monkey" will simply get tired of rushing.

Silence is not the absence of thoughts. It's the ability not to run after them along the ropes of your brain.