PBCBA BAR BULLETINS pbcba_bulletin_feb 2018 | Page 21
WELLNESS & HEALTH C o r n e r
Declare W.A.R. on Your Monkey Mind
BRIAN MOSKOWITZ
Those random thoughts that constantly
interrupt you? That’s your Monkey Mind.
We all have these voices (monkeys) in
our head jumping around clamoring for
att ention and constantly talking incessant
nonsense. Often at the most inopportune
time. Have you ever had a conversation with
someone when your mind all of a sudden
starts rattling off a list of to-do items? That’s
your Monkey Mind. Or how about trying to
fall asleep and those voices keep replaying
every possible scenario of what happened
that day? That’s your Monkey Mind.
Having random thoughts is normal. We all
have about fifty thousand separate thoughts
each day and we often have the same
thoughts again and again and day after day.
And are most of these thoughts helpful?
Are they designed to make you happy? No!
That’s because your two million year old
brain is designed to protect you and help
you survive.
After a day or night of your Monkey Mind
running rampant you end up mentally
exhausted. So the question is how do you
tame your Monkey Mind? A great way
to start is with a Mindfulness Practice.
Practicing mindfulness is just being present
in the moment. The most popular form of
Mindfulness Practice is meditation. But
it’s not the only form. You can do physical
exercise, you can do visual observation
exercises, you can journal – you can do
anything that brings your total focus to the
present moment. Over time you will learn
to tame your Monkey Mind. Once you’ve witnessed the thought, the
next step is to ACKNOWLEDGE the thought.
All the Monkey Mind wants is attention.
If you ignore, it will get louder. Once you
acknowledge it, you reinforce that it’s
separate from you. I’ll often acknowledge
the random thought by saying to myself
“thinking.” Sometimes I’ll say “Okay, I hear
you.” And if it gets really bad, I might even
say “STOP” – just to jolt my mind back to
the present. Find the words or phrase that
work for you because how you acknowledge
the Monkey Mind isn’t as important as just
doing it.
But what do you do when the Monkey Mind
wakes up? What do you do when you’re
meeting with a client and the Monkey Mind
decides to have a conversation with you
about what you need to do that night? You
declare W.A.R. After you’ve acknowledged the thought,
REDIRECT your mind right back to where
you were before the thought. Return your
focus to what you were doing in that present
moment.
You may have to go through the W.A.R.
W.A.R. is an acronym for Witness – process several times but eventually the
Acknowledge – Redirect. Before you can number of Monkey Mind interruptions will
tame your Monkey Mind you must WITNESS become fewer and fewer.
it. You must become aware of its existence
and understand that you don’t have to listen
to it. When you witness the thought you
detach yourself from the thought.
Brian M. Moskowitz is the Founder of Attorney
When you detach yourself from the thought Revolution - a solo practitioner in Boca Raton, and a
It’s designed to look for what’s wrong you’re able to take a step back and watch member of our Solo and Small Firm Committee. Brian
can be reached at [email protected]
because it’s still trying to protect you from the thought from a distance.
being eaten by a saber-toothed tiger.
Work/Life Balance with Yoga at the Courthouse
The Palm Beach County Bar Association’s Judicial Relations Committee hosted its first “Yoga at the Courthouse” class. Members took
a relaxing break with Yoga and a healthy lunch. Everyone was well refreshed for the second half of their day! Thank you to our Co-
Chairs Chief Judge Marx and Rina Clemens for organizing the program.
Space is limited: Sign up early for the
next Yoga with the Judges event on
February 15 & 28, 2018.
Improve your well-being.
www.palmbeachbar.org
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