The mind’s function is to think. That is its nature, just like the body is to breathe, the heart to pump blood. Pema Chodron in her book “How To Meditate” writes that the motivation behind meditation (contrary to myths) is not to get rid of thoughts but to train the mind to reclaim its natural capacity to stay present and awake or wakeful. To remain steady. Rather than drifting off leaving us vulnerable to rumination.
One way to call yourself back is to label the activity and content as thinking, thinking. Judging, judging. And then returning to the breath.
Thanking a Monkey, by Kaveri Patel
(from An Invitation)
There’s a monkey in my mind
swinging on a trapeze,
reaching back to the past
or leaning into the future,
never standing still.
Sometimes I want to kill
that monkey, shoot it square
between the eyes so I won’t
have to think anymore
or feel the pain of worry.
But today I thanked her
and she jumped down
straight into my lap,
trapeze still swinging
as we sat still.
Guide: Noelle Lim
Image credit: Lucky Neko, Unsplash
Kindermind Center 