Monkey mind

[cleanslate]

Hi,

I have a hard time keeping my thoughts away in the breathing exercise. They don't even allow me milliseconds of respite. I am more thought free when I am doing mobile body awareness... I guess just watching breathing isn't enough for keeping my conscious mind busy. Any tips much appreciated.

Thanks,
clean

[CFTraveler]

To be honest, I had very limited success with this exercise. I tried it 'as is', and found I couldn't go past some of the exercises, while I did better with other versions of it (you will find there are more than one of this 'type'. So I say, try to do it, don't feel bad if it doesn't really work, and continue with the program as it's designed. And when you've gone forward, and if you think you have a problem with this, there are other things you can do to address the 'monkey mind'.

To be honest, I think people attach a great deal of importance to 'mind emptying' and believe that not being able to do it for long periods of time is some sort of 'defect', while it's actually very normal- what I say is, don't sweat it, go along with it, and if the monkey mind actually gets in your way, there are other things you can do.

For example: Give yourself a set amount of time to think. Then, go ahead and do it. Now, observe yourself thinking. Then observe yourself observing yourself.
That's one. There's others, and you will get to them, so no worries.