Do You Have An Over Active Mind!

As a writer, some days, my lack of concentration is worst than a two-year old stuck on the word no. Other times, I know it’s just my monkey mind playing whimsical tricks with me that I must enjoy because I find myself restlessly repeating it over and over and over again, throughout the day. It’s like sitting at my desk and being fascinated by the way a pencil rolls to the edge and drops to the floor. Then like a crack addict stuck on it, I pick up the pencil and watch it roll again. Then when I finally get bored instead of starting my writing, I decide that now is the time to go outside and water my plants and see what is growing, but then I happen to look at the clock and it close to the time, the mail truck should be coming through to drop off the mail. So, then I walk to the front of the house to look out the window and down the street to see if I can see the mail truck coming. Or while I am watching and waiting for the mail truck, I start thinking about the bills I need to pay.

Get the picture?

What I have learned is that at that moment I am suffering from acute monkey mind. A mind so freewheelingly scattered it jumps from subject to subject. This feeling is so intensely fierce it controls my ability to focus or concentrate on my writing.

When my monkey mind is active, there is so much chaos happening inside my head that I can’t focus. Some folks may not like the term monkey mind or feel that is what they have. Another term for monkey mind is one that you probably already know, and that term is “the overactive mind.”

What I have learned to be the real reason behind an overactive mind/monkey mind is that it is being caused by stress. Yes, stress. A word we so often hear in today’s world but don’t think affects us, is the real reason for our overactive mind. However, there is hope. Because there are many great things to do to help with your lack of focus and believe it or not many of them start with the letter “M”.

Here are a few things you can do to calm an overactive mind.

1. Minimize multitasking. Start making a list of things you need to do and then prioritize that list. Be determine to first, “focus on and finish an item, before moving on to the next.”

2. Music – you can play music to calm your monkey mind. Perhaps you didn’t know that you can use music to harness energy to help with performance goals and to soothe the nervous system.

3. Massage – getting a massage at your local massage parlor, could be just what the doctor ordered. Healing touch has long been known as a great way to soothe the nervous system. Remember when anxiety resides in your body it can trigger your monkey mind.

4. Mirth- seek out something funny. Listening to something funny can also calm the monkey mind. Get in touch with comedy videos, you can find them on demand on your cable broadcast, or on YouTube or your XM radio stations.

5. Meditation — you may find getting started doing meditation to be challenging at first, slowing down your breathing and quieting the mind is one of the best ways to train the brain to be still and get calm.

6. Meaning – finding meaning in the daily challenges we face, can go a long way in developing the ability to calm the mind.

7. Movement – Do you like to dance? I know I do. Movement of the body can aid in releasing endorphins in the brain. Yes, it has been found by scientist that movement of the body through dance, exercise, and any physical activity can help relax the muscles and relieve tension.

There you have simple great steps to incorporate in your daily habits to have your calm your overactive monkey mind.

Remember you are a valuable member of society and you deserve to calm your monkey mind.