“Monkey mind” is a Buddhist term likening our mind to the restless and unsettled nature of a monkey. Our mind is always jumping around, grabbing at different things, and never staying still. How do we slow down this monkey mind?
The good news is, we don’t have to slow it down. All we have to do is give it lots of space to run around and jump around. Mindfulness meditation is creating that large open space for anything to appear and disappear. Wherever our monkey mind wanders to, we simply watch it and give it the space it needs. At the same time, we don’t follow the monkey mind around. Instead, we keep our attention on our breath, centered in the present moment.
The key is to allow the monkey to jump around without letting it drag us around. Give it space, but keep bringing our attention back to the breath. Why is this important? Because if we let the monkey drag us around, if we get caught up in every thought that comes up, the space gets smaller and smaller. By maintaining awareness on the breath and the present moment, we allow the mind to stay large, open, and spacious.
If we maintain this balance, we will give the monkey all the space it needs to run and jump around, for as long as it likes. And guess what? Eventually, the monkey will get tired. And the tired monkey will naturally slow down and quiet down. That’s how we quiet the monkey mind.
Mindfulness FAQ 