Monkey Mind Wins

Today is a monkey mind day for me. I know this is a buddhist term for someone whose mind hops around from branch to branch, maybe stopping long enough to breathe for a second or two, maybe not. It is a bit different than being manic, then again, maybe not. Even though I had been meditating for many, many years, I had never heard the term monkey mind until last year when The College of Westchester sponsored a conference for one of our assocations, APC Colleges, on Lifelong Learning. Our keynote speaker, Dr. Jackson Kytle, author of "To Want To Learn", first referenced it when discussing lifelong learners.

I stumbled across the monkey mind today as I attempted to begin my weekly yoga class....yes...weekly. One hour, all week. Doesn't seem like a lot to sqeak out, right? Today, for the first time, after trying to work though my busy mind and into my body for almost 30 minutes, I decided not to fight it. It just wasn't worth it.

I picked up my mat and walked back to my office and got to work. It's okay, sometimes, to acknowledge what you need. Today my monkey mind needed to win.