From DailyOM

(I have been asked several times about meditation. While I meditate, I am not a teacher of it. I received this from DailyOM and thought it helpful. Be well.)

Taming Monkey Mind In Meditation

It’s been called the monkey mind the endless chattering in your head as you jump in your mind from thought to thought while you daydream, analyze your relationships, or worry over the future. Eventually, you start to feel like your thoughts are spinning in circles and you’re left totally confused.

One way to tame this wild creature in your head is through meditation although the paradox is that when you clear your mind for meditation you actually invite the monkey in your mind to play. This is when you are given the opportunity to tame this mental beast by moving beyond thought to become aware of a thought rather than thinking a thought. The difference is subtle, but significant. When you are aware of your thoughts, you can let your thoughts rise and float away without letting them pull you in different directions. Being able to concentrate is one of the tools that allows you to slow down your thought process and focus on observing your thoughts.

To develop your concentration, you may want to start by focusing on the breath while you meditate. Whenever your monkey mind starts acting up, observe your thoughts and then return your focus to your breath. Some breathing meditations call on you to focus on the rise and fall of the breath through the abdomen, while others have you concentrate on the sound of the breath. Fire can also be mesmerizing, and focusing on a candle flame is another useful tool for harnessing the mind. Keep the gaze soft and unfocused while observing the color, shape, and movement of the flame, and try not to blink. Close your eyes when you feel the need and continue watching the flame in your head. Chanting, devotional singing, and mantras also still the mind. However you choose to tame the monkey mind, do so with firm kindness. The next time the chattering arises, notice it and then allow it to go away. With practice, your monkey mind will become quiet and so will you.

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. –Kahlil Gibran

As I find myself in front of audiences talking about my book, Reminder To Self,  I am usually asked many questions at the end of my presentations. Often I am placed in the expert role – a role I do not revel.

I write based on my own level of awareness of this magnificent life of which we are a part. I am a child awakening to the many understandings that lead to the one knowing. As such, I am open to most and claim none as my own. I write because it forces me to search, reflect, contemplate, and submit this understanding as a contribution-my service. I am not an expert, just a journeyman who understands one thing well. This one understanding happens to be a critical gateway for truth so that we are more aware, alert, and open to the greater possibilities for our living.

I know this for sure: We must develop a foundation for understanding before we can receive the answers to life that we seek. This foundation for understanding is likened to a frequency according to Jerry and Ester Hicks, “You do not set your radio dial to 630 AM expecting to hear what’s being broadcast on 98.7 FM. You know the frequencies have to match up.” You will only receive understanding to that which you are tuned. When you pray are you open to the answers? When you meditate will you trust your wisdom?

So I write to bring awareness to the need for us to be in alignment with our truest selves as a foundation for understanding this world. One of the great foundational bits of wisdom is that our greatest self exists simultaneously with our worst selves. Our highest self exists simultaneously with our lowest self. And our true self exists simultaneously with our false self. The difference is the frequency to which we are tuned. I write to remind myself and you that we can press the button – change the frequency and tune in to our truest selves.

How?

Here is where I  invite your internal wisdom to join the conversation. Just keep asking this question sincerely: “What can I do to live from my truest self?” Every time you do, you move the dial closer.