Appreciating the Monkey Mind

Monkey Mind is a common label in eastern philosophy referring to the way our minds race from one topic to the next, never settling down to just rest. Our monkey minds race when we wake up in the middle of the night. The monkey is hard at work during the day, telling you to worry about your work or your family, convincing you you’ve forgotten something, reminding you of your mistakes.

The monkey takes many forms.

I find (with myself and my clients) that the normal response to the monkey is to fight against it, to attempt to override it, to get it to stop somehow. But the monkey never stops.

Instead, I’ve been trying a different approach with some success (again with both myself and my clients). I express appreciation.

So when the monkey tells me to worry, whether at 2 AM or 2 PM, I say, “Thank you Monkey” (not out loud). Then I focus on my breathing or whatever else I’d rather pay attention to. If the monkey jumps right back up, I repeat, “Thank you Monkey.” I’ll do it once or twice or 10 times or more if I have to. The goal is to say thank you with as much calm and sincerity as possible and then refocus.

And I find that the monkey is calmed by appreciation. When I shout at the monkey to just be quiet, he comes back louder than ever. When I thank him, he usually goes away and leaves me in peace.