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 PALMBEACHBAR.ORG 21