Mind chatter or monkey mind has negative effects on our mood making us anxious, restless, unhappy and angry.
The Buddhist philosophy believes that the human mind is occupied by drunken noisy monkey who jump around creating a lot of incessant chatter. In simpler words, our mind is filled with intrusive thoughts and anxiety owing to the information overload and the mechanical and busy lives that we lead. The restlessness that we feel because of the mental chatter can be, however, brought under control.
Slow and Deep Breaths
Taking long, slow and deep breaths helps calming down the anxiety and the restlessness that you feel. It will allow you to bring your awareness into your senses and let you focus. Bringing your mind into focus will prevent it from wandering away into the distractions caused by the mental chatter.
Creating Counter Thoughts
Mental chatter is heavily characterised with negative thoughts. However, this can be easily managed by creating counter thoughts. Ask yourself questions that would allow you to reach to conclusions about why you are feeling what you are feeling. Counter the negative thoughts by looking at the brighter side of the picture. Moreover, ask yourself if your thoughts are actually getting you closer to your goals or are they just obstacles keeping you from achieving something positive.
Engage With Your Mental Chatter
We often tend to dismiss mental chatter by looking at it as background noise. Instead engage with your thoughts. Address them but in a non-confrontational and non-judgemental way. Being aware of your mental chatter will allow you to find the source of the problem, which will make it easier for you to find a solution.
Vigorous and Rhythmic Work-Out
Exercising, like meditation, is another great way to calm down the mental chatter. High intensity workouts release endorphins and other mood-boosting hormones. An ideal body makes you focus on the negative mental chatter causing anxiety and restlessness. When you engage your body into actively doing something it takes your mind’s focus away from all the negative mental chatter.
Listen to Soothing Music
Time and again, psychologists have stressed on the benefits of music therapy. Listening to music that appeals to you, soothes you and calms you works wonders in taking away the mental chatter. Music acts as a de-stressing agent and takes away the pain that comes with mental chatter.
