MEDITATION, MINDFULNESS
AND HOW THEY CAN TAME THE MONKEY MIND

Highlights and Key Takeaways from GrowthLab #21

28 SEPTEMBER 2020

Peak Performance starts with refocusing our energy away from the many factors that are out of our control and redirecting it instead towards daily practices that emphasize next-level growth and impact. Join Joana Alberto of Ignite House, together with Aiena Mehta, a Holistic Health and Cancer Coach, as they weigh in on the science and stories behind mindfulness and its impact on our health and daily lives.

Love Yourself, Love Others

I cannot emphasize the importance of reminding ourselves everyday, how much we are worthy of being loved and how we are able to generously share our love to others. I like to use the practice of BELOVED to be more mindful:

Belly Breath

Signal our brain, sympathetic nervous system, adrenaline rush. In the morning you have to warm up, recalibrate our breathe, find our natural rhythm in order to prepare for the day ahead (like warming up a car)

Elevate our arms

Which stretches our back, our neck, and our spine, realigns our spine, and I’m able to align myself with my highest purpose (at the start of myday)

Lift up our hearts

Opening our hearts/lungs/shoulders. Studies show that saying I am lifts us up more, self-affirmation combined with stress release and breathework

Overhead stretches

Builds confidence, prepares our mind to overcome any obstacle

Victorious curls

Moving yourself forward and backwards, having a winning mindset, a reminder that with victory comes humility

Embrace yourself

Divinity pose

Fingers placed on each other, represents bringing our energies/elements into a state of balance

When you practice mindfulness, you are more patient understanding/compassion of others, these are things you want to practice, even with people who are hard to deal with.

TOP INSIGHTS FROM
OUR GUEST SPEAKER

20:30

Mindfulness is the brain-to-body connection that we sometimes fail to understand, which lead to certain pains and discomforts that we experience in our lives. Having wellness and mindfulness in your life comes from a combination of proper habits and mindsets. For example, my morning rituals of breathwork and yoga prepares me everyday on every level, whether physical, emotional, or social. I focus a lot on what I eat, and I try to understand how food affects my brain function. I meditate everyday for 45 minutes - meditation is a practice that can be done anywhere and most importantly, it brings you in line with your entire well-being. There is a misconception that meditation is about reflecting in solitude, that by just sitting alone you become more mindful. But it is more about being aware and present in the moment. Practicing mindfulness takes more practice of course for it to be more effective.

Most of us as adults do something because we benefit from it, or because we are bothered by something that we have not given enough energy and focus towards. When my dad suffered a stroke, I put all my energy into learning how I could better take care of my parents. I became stressed because my mind was constantly working, and so it became harder for me to sleep, and my lifestyle deteriorated. That’s why I got into the habit of meditation. Meditation is about knowing when you are drifting away. Through meditation I realized that there's a lot of sorrow and suffering in life but that is okay. Once you start understanding your vulnerabilities and insecurities, you become more empathetic and compassionate with others, connecting to others on a deeper level.

Most of us suffer from having a monkey mind that oftentimes does more harm than good to us. We do need a monkey mind, an active mind, but we need to realize when the monkey mind is taking too much influence and control on us. A lot of personal introspection is required because one’s ability to block his or her monkey mind varies from individual to individual. This comes from again, the consistent practice of self-awareness, mindfulness, and meditation. Through practice, you’ll be able to identify the positive and constructive input your monkey mind provides, while blocking out the negative and non-constructive input that we usually fall prone to listening to.

In such stressful times, I urge you to find the proper mindsets, practice the proper habits, and take small steps towards your goals by practicing in chunks. Balance the different aspects of your diet, connect with those who want you to be better, and most importantly, practice mindfulness everyday. Practicing mindfulness every single day is about forming the right habits. There are times when your monkey mind will tell you you are wasting your time, even that still happens to me after 7 years of practice. But challenge your belief systems, stay committed to being mindful, and get rid of those mindsets that don't serve you positively anymore. Your improved health and heightened awareness of yourself and your surroundings will help you reach or maintain peak performance.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Despite being exposed to the science of yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and mental health, the conversation was very enlightening in terms of how truly complex holistic wellness is, how our level of awareness impacts our behaviours, converting it into habits, and making it a lifestyle. We are, not only what we eat, we are what and why we think what we think.

Joana

When it comes to mindfulness, there seems to be this dance between challenging our neural pathways through questions and experimentation and then getting into groves that help concretize these neural pathways for us turning them into habits. It’s an interesting balancing act actually.

Miguel

The brain is a powerful tool – being able to harness its power will lead us to our peak performance.

Aileen

The WHY of our PEAK POCKET SESSIONS: B.E.L.O.V.E.D. (Belly Breaths, Elevating our arms, Lifting up our hearts, Overhead stretches, Victorious curls, Embrace ourselves, Divinity Pose)

Harvey

Doing your morning ritual helps you to relax your mind and body before you start your day. It helps you to have a positive and focused mind.

Maffi

Our monkey minds will always be there and will never go away. To train a monkey mind, you have to practice everyday. When you start to practice mindfulness enough, you’ll be able to change it. Practicing mindfulness starts with taking small steps by having a curious mind, by asking questions, by having a growth mindset, by exploring and experimenting.

Shanice

Being mindful will help you get rid of your “monkey mind.”

Marjan

It’s easy to say that I am mindful, but the challenge is to practice it continuously until it becomes second nature. As Aiena says, I have to commit my time and energy to practicing mindfulness everyday, because being mindful doesn’t happen overnight – it’s just of a habit and a discipline as anything else.