{"id":141,"date":"2021-11-02T17:08:01","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T17:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2022-06-08T21:54:57","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:54:57","slug":"how-mindfulness-tames-the-drunken-monkey-who-invited-that-gal-to-the-party-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/how-mindfulness-tames-the-drunken-monkey-who-invited-that-gal-to-the-party-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mindfulness Tames the Drunken Monkey. Who Invited that Gal to the Party Anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Making the decision<\/strong> is the easy part. No matter the subject at hand, deciding to do, or not do takes but a moment. It\u2019s the follow through<\/strong> that brings along the difficulty, the resistance\u2026and that furry little bugger that lives in our mind who has the attention span of\u2026well.., a drunken monkey<\/strong>. This little guy or gal can run amuck, steal the show, and tank our goals faster than a toddler hopped up on Mom\u2019s coveted pumpkin spice latte. In short, s\/he can take you off course<\/strong> in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By practicing mindfulness, you can improve every facet of your business as well as your life, while staying on track<\/strong> with your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is mindfulness?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness is the meditation practice of sitting quietly<\/strong>, focusing<\/strong> on your breaths, in and out. Its intent<\/strong> is not to rid your mind of thoughts, or keep you from thinking. It is intended to help you balance and accept<\/strong> yourself, your thoughts, and be aware<\/strong> of your body in the moment. Bringing awareness to the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No incense required<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t get caught up on the word \u201cmeditation\u201d as if it\u2019s something woo-woo<\/strong>.  For it\u2019s not.  You\u2019ll find a deep vein of information related to mindfulness<\/strong> in the scientific literature<\/strong>. There\u2019s more to this than what\u2019s depicted in popular culture.  People of all religions or none at all can benefit from mindfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you meditate with mindfulness?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Meditation may sound intimidating or like something you don\u2019t have the time or focus to do, but mindfulness is something anyone<\/strong> can practice, no matter where they are physically, or where they are with themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To practice mindfulness, you can follow these simple steps:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
  • Find a quiet and comfortable place.<\/li>
  • Sit on a pillow, and cross your legs comfortably making sure your hips are above your knees. Place your hands palm down on your thighs. You can sit in a chair as well.<\/li>
  • Close your eyes and begin breathing, in and out.<\/li>
  • Focus on your breath, and pay attention to your thoughts. If they contain worries and stresses of the day, breathe them out.<\/li>
  • As you breathe, do not try to stop your thoughts or change them. Just focus on who you are in that moment.<\/li>
  • Breathing in and out, become aware of your body. Use your breathing to connect to your body, mind and self as a whole just where you are.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    How can mindful meditation help you reach your goals?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    You may wonder how mindful breathing and meditation can help<\/strong> you follow through and stay on track<\/strong> with your business and life goals. As you explore the power of the present<\/strong>, you will find that mindful breathing and meditation support one another quite well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Releases tension and relieves anxiety<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    When you release your body of tension through mindful meditation, you\u2019ll reduce the anxiety and stress <\/strong>that is likely taking a toll on your body as well as your mind. If you are peaceful, relaxed, and free of stressors<\/em> you will be less likely to seek outside stimuli momentarily distract you from your plan at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Some use food, others use \u201cbusy-ness\u201d, and some, they reach for the bottle (pill or liquor) to ease their monkey mind. Self-medicating<\/strong> is linked to stress. By freeing yourself from this, you can minimize or eliminate<\/strong> self-medicating and dare I say, self-distracting behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Engages and focuses your mind while it increases body awareness<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Enter the Drunken Monkey<\/em>\u2026well figuratively there\u2019s a monkey in your mind and he\u2019s rather liberal with the special juice. Taming the Drunken Monkey<\/strong> is a well-known term in mindfulness circles, for that is what it\u2019s like when we sit and listen to our thoughts at times. We can be all over the place!  Just as you\u2019d imagine a drunk monkey would be, not that I\u2019ve seen one to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Breathing in and out, while allowing the mind and body to be aware of one another engages your brain and connects you to your body in a way that is calming, yet invigorating<\/strong>.  It distracts the monkey for a while\u2026until we lose sight of the hairy rascal and allow distractions to once again enter the thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    By being mindful of the moment you\u2019re in, and how special you, your mind and body all are, you begin to value all your parts, thoughts, and self. This type of mindset<\/strong> makes you peaceful, thankful and encourages you to take the time to give yourself the best care, food, and love possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creates acceptance of who you are now, and inspires the journey of where you want to go<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Being able to love yourself<\/strong>, and accept where you\u2019re at in your journey will lend itself nicely to keeping you on track in your ambitions<\/strong>. Part of the track is properly caring for yourself. The person behind the business. If you constantly feel worthy of the care you\u2019re taking to feed your body healthy fuel and treat yourself well, you\u2019ll be less likely to become discouraged and give up before you reach your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Mindfulness calls you to be calm and present while you learn to recognize your thoughts, and who you are in any moment you\u2019re practicing. Being mindful of your mind, body, and self as one can be very powerful<\/strong> in helping you achieve a healthy balanced life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Making the decision is the easy part. No matter the subject at hand, deciding to do, or not do takes but a moment. It\u2019s the follow through that brings along the difficulty, the resistance\u2026and that furry little bugger that lives in our mind who has the attention span of\u2026well.., a drunken monkey. This little guy or gal can run amuck,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"libsyn-item-id":0,"libsyn-show-id":0,"libsyn-post-error":"","libsyn-post-error_post-type":"","libsyn-post-error_post-permissions":"","libsyn-post-error_api":"","playlist-podcast-url":"","libsyn-episode-thumbnail":"","libsyn-episode-widescreen_image":"","libsyn-episode-blog_image":"","libsyn-episode-background_image":"","libsyn-post-episode-category-selection":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_thumbnail":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_theme":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_height":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_width":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_placement":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_download_link":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_use_download_link_text":"","libsyn-post-episode-player_custom_color":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-explicit":"","libsyn-post-episode":"","libsyn-post-episode-update-id3":"","libsyn-post-episode-release-date":"","libsyn-post-episode-simple-download":"","libsyn-release-date":"","libsyn-post-update-release-date":"","libsyn-is_draft":"","libsyn-new-media-media":"","libsyn-post-episode-subtitle":"","libsyn-new-media-image":"","libsyn-post-episode-keywords":"","libsyn-post-itunes":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-number":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-season-number":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-type":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-title":"","libsyn-post-episode-itunes-episode-author":"","libsyn-destination-releases":"","libsyn-post-episode-advanced-destination-form-data":"","libsyn-post-episode-advanced-destination-form-data-enabled":"","libsyn-post-episode-advanced-destination-form-data-input-enabled":false,"libsyn-post-episode-premium_state":"","libsyn-episode-shortcode":"","libsyn-episode-embedurl":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[140,142],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":866,"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsamgraber.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}