We all get “monkey mind” – and neuroscience supports the Buddhist solution | Hacker News Reader

We all get “monkey mind” – and neuroscience supports the Buddhist solution

bigthink.com

34 pointsBrajeshwar6 comments

I combat this by listening to books and podcasts when going to sleep or when waking up in the middle of the night. It was a challenge to fall asleep at first but once I got used to that I have hardly experienced monkey mind.

If anyone knows of wireless noise cancelling headphones with a sleep friendly design and 8h+ battery life, please share.

Why not use earplugs? They’re passive and nullify transient sounds, not just steady-state noise, like active noise cancelling.

Yes! I use Shure SE215 with comply pro red foam tips. With the aonic "true wireless" Bluetooth you can toggle ambient sound passthrough. Comfy and even adequate for sleeping, but don't expect to be woken up by the fire alarm.

nice suggestion. here are two earplug options:

https://www.sensaphonics.com/collections/earplugs/products/s...

https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/fullshellsolid

"Monkey Mind", is with regards to meditation. When you try to maintain mindful awareness of your breath or body, your mind hijacks your awareness and takes it on a trip back into the past or into the future. You have to tirelessly bring it back into the present moment. After a few moments it again takes flight. As you repeatedly do this, your mindfulness increases. This is the monkey mind.

If you are living a normal regular life you won't really be aware of the monkey mind.

And if you are not aware of the monkey mind, then it is likely you are often under its invisible control.

Becoming aware is the first step. Then choosing which thoughts to pursue and which to shut down or replace is the next step.

Then after enough times of shutting down a particular thought, such as “I’m not smart enough for (this whatever).”, the negative suggestion stops appearing.

And if you are replacing the negative thought with something positive, such as “I can learn anything, and I build good things.”, then eventually you believe this. (And your life experience seems to confirm this — or whatever you are thinking often).

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