When I first began my yoga teacher training a decade ago, I heard a lot of people around me speak of the “Monkey Mind.” Hearing this message so much, naturally it piqued my interest, and I quickly learned that Monkey Mind was a symbolic name for our brain chatter.
We may walk around everyday with continued thoughts swirling around in our noggin, and for some of us, never cease to let it go. These thoughts can be limiting beliefs and continue to remind us of what we think we can not do. The Monkey Mind can be debilitating and prevent us from going after our big dreams.
Join our Community of Peaceful Living Wellness Warriors
and receive a special free gift:
Our Top 5 Tips for Peaceful Living
Yoga began to help calm my Monkey Mind while a teenager in high school. I began my yoga practice at age fifteen in my sophomore year, in dance class. You see, I had a very wise teacher who utilized yoga as a warm up method and cool down activity prior to and after dance practice.
I learned the art of breathing intentionally, moving my body slowly and with purpose. I learned how to relax after a steady work out so that my body could re-calibrate and settle back into a neutral space. Yoga helped to release stress, limit high cortisol (stress hormone), and calm my teenage Monkey Mind.
This was a special gift that at the time I took for granted. I had not realized what a tremendous opportunity my dance teacher was gifting us, until I began my yoga teacher training.
Related Post: HOW TO USE LAUGHTER YOGA TO REDUCE STRESS
Prior to my yoga teacher training in 2010, I never officially lost my yoga practice and I would often use it as a party trick to show off in front of others who had never heard of yoga. Pre-Instagram era, this was a typical teenage, early twenties personality trait.
Once I moved to Beaufort again for the third time in 2008, I began to hold a steady yoga practice in a studio and it was at this time that I began hearing about the Monkey Mind.
I practiced alongside lawyers, doctors, EMTs, and school teachers, all who resonated well with their own version of the Monkey Mind. They were in yoga to help center themselves away from the hardships of their everyday life and struggles. I learned that with their twice a week to daily yoga practice they felt a sense of calm rush over them. Through their continued practice they learned tools to utilize while at work and when hardship occurred so that they could center themselves and release the feelings of overwhelm.
When these stories were shared with me, I began to look at my own yoga practice and quickly realized its impact on me as well. While in high school, I took a road less traveled. Sure, I was interested in knowing all of the details of the juicy gossip that may have swirled around me, yet as I continued practicing yoga I noticed the gossip lure became less and less appealing.
During my senior year of high school, I began to work a full-time job and my mind shifted from the noise of what my classmates were doing to what I could do to better myself.
My Monkey Mind shifted from noisy to soft and instead of being inundated with the idea of keeping up with being popular or seeming a certain way, I chose to be me.
Yoga allows us this unique experience to look inside. To see ourselves for who we truly are. It is an intimate practice that invites us to explore our physical body through movement and our mental body through patience, breath, and focus.
As a teenager, as I mentioned before, this was an extremely incredible gift to receive. Through my continued yoga practice, I personally have learned discernment – the ability to see what is true in the present moment instead of focusing on judgement, assumption, or even insecurity. This has been a tremendous skill as it has taught me what is true in the moment. As a teen, before yoga, I was obsessed with what others thought of me. I changed my look, my personality, I lost myself in the need to be validated, liked, and accepted by others. It was a ton of work to become a chameleon for each separate group of classmates I desired to surround myself with.
Yoga could not have showed up sooner.
If you feel detached from your authentic self, I invite you to give yoga a chance.
If you are a steady practitioner of yoga, you may understand these qualities. You may also know that yes, we can lose ourselves again and become bogged down with day to day life. However, we have this powerful tool of yoga to come back to, re-ground, and focus so that we can come back to who we are and release the Monkey Mind.
BRITTNEY HILLER
Brittney is the creator of the Effervescence Yoga brand and the owner of Effervescense Yoga Spa in the beautiful resort town of Beaufort, South Carolina. Brittney is passionate about leading a life full of laughter and joy! That is why she is also a certificated laughter yoga teacher & laughter yoga leadership trainer. She is also a Follow-Your-Passion Coach and the producer and head talent of Flowcountry, the Lowcountry’s only streaming yoga show!
