Our minds are like monkeys. Drunk monkeys. Drunk crazy monkeys. Frantic, overstressed, overwhelmed, all over the place, no sense of control monkeys. Our mind makes our daily activities create these thoughts in our heads and it becomes too much. As an addict, we find ways to medicate so that we can slow down all these thoughts and feelings, to stop this crazy monkey mind for a while. But it comes back. And it comes back just as strong and crazy as before—or even worse! Yet, there is help—meditation. Meditation is described as simply quieting the mind. Just being aware of the moment with the focus on nothingness. Our minds not going along with the stories of our thoughts that are randomly moving through our head. Being totally still and watching these thought stories move through our minds without judging. Sounds so simple, but for most addicts, it is difficult to sit still for any amount of time! Yet EKG scans on monks and Eastern meditators have found numerous scientific benefits.
Benefits of Mediation
- Masters your emotions. This helps to slow our reactions and become evener.
- Changes how you feel. You feel a calm and peacefulness with less turbulence in life.
- Can help eliminate stress. You are less reactive and more able to deal with things easier.
- Allows us to unhook stimulation. Sex, drugs, tv, electronics, food, gambling can all bring true happiness which can only be attained through being in the moment—and training your brain in contentment in whatever is going on.
- Builds up your will power. This can make you have more self-discipline and control.
- Helps with developing brain training. Old-school training of building habits that can make differences in our lives.
- Supports brain health. By using your brain all the time, it continues to grow and develop versus getting soft.
- Increases your creativity and productivity. Focus and clear thinking comes from your self-conscience mind, whereas frantic minds can’t be creative.
- Becoming mindfulness-awareness of yourself, your mind, your situation, and what is happening.
- Being able to just look at it, and melt away and dissolve negative emotions from observation and awareness.
- Can help attain enlightenment. Melt away your sense of ego, and find the natural state of ego.
- One with yourself and the world, totally content and fulfilled.
Action Steps to Try
- Timer—try 20 minutes once a day. You might try 5-10 minutes if that seems too long of a period. If you don’t do this daily, this just won’t do any good.
- It is like physically working out—takes time repeated over and over to get benefits down the road. Doesn’t do much once and a while, as it isn’t training.
- Sit in a quiet position and area—sit up and don’t lie down. Posture is important to help you not sleepy and straight back helps. Nothing supporting your back but yourself.
- Breathe in slow and steady breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.
- Clear the mind of any thought stories. As these come up, choose to notice the thought, and let it go on its own way. They are like clouds. Let them move away and don’t go on the ride with it.
Come and go throughout time. Be the atmosphere, not the clouds.
- Don’t focus on perfection, just action.
- Sit still and don’t move for this entire time. This is the challenge!!!!!
- Keep this going again, and again, and again for the 20-minute time frame.
- That’s it. Simple, but extremely difficult. Letting yourself be totally excepting of the present moment. No more information is needed. Don ‘t complicates it.
The Challenge Is Yours
Set a goal of seven days for the first challenge. Try again if it doesn’t work and keep working at it. This can be
productive for every single person. It takes self-discipline and keeps our mind from being lazy. Then shoot for 14 days. Try a month!
Why meditate at all? Try to develop a vision of what positive things can do for your life. Picture what it will look like as a person with strong emotional control, being happy no matter what, in control, stronger relationships, overcoming your addiction, showing more productive and creative behaviors, attaining fulfillment in life, unhooked from stimulation that makes us more at ease and peace, and attaining enlightenment with loss of ego and negative presence in our life. The possibilities are endless, and the crazy monkey in your mind can become much less of an issue in our life. The challenge is yours!
Based on information from Actualized.org
