Monkey Mind is a term meaning “unsettled; restless; capricious; whimsical; fanciful; inconstant; confused; indecisive; uncontrollable”. In this episode you will learn that the Monkey Mind is something that all human beings have. Rick and Keith will discuss their challenges with it, how they try to manage it, the cost of not getting a handle on it and the valuable payoff of working at it.

Rick’s References:

Check out Daring to Live Fully, Marelisa Fabrega’s blog. She  is a lawyer and entrepreneur and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as well as a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center. On her blog she offers 10 excellent suggestions on taming the “monkey mind.”

Also see, Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety, Daniel Smith’s humorous take on conquering mind numbing anxiety.

www.headspace.com Smart Phone app. Live a happier, healthier life with just a few minutes of meditation a day using the Headspace app.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn was a student of Buddhist teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh and Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Cen ter. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with scientific findings. He teaches mindfulness, which he says can help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain, and illness. The stress reduction program created by Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness-based stress re duction (MBSR), is offered by medical centers, hospitals, and health maintenance organizations.

Keith References:

Eckhart Tolle www.eckarttolle.com. Echart Tolle has published several best selling books on consciousness and living life fully present. He explains how we experience external reality either through our state of consciousness or unconsciousness. Challenges remain because all forms are fleeting. The external world is the source of transformation; it is not here to satisfy us. When we know  ourselves as the underlying consciousness, the presence, true satisfaction arises. New York Times has dubbed Eckhart Tolle as “the most popular spiritual author in the United States”, and the Watkins Review also listed him as “the most spiritually influential person in the world.” Eckhart Tolle’s #1 New York Times bestseller The Power of Now (translated into 33 languages) and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth, are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time, selling collec tively over 10 million copies.

Amit Sood, M.D., M. Sc. with Mayo Clinic and author of The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living. Dr. Sood is serves as Chair of Mayo Mind Body Initiative. His amazing website is www.stressfree.org.  Check out his Ted Talk on visualization and You Tube video on managing stress.