Meditation Helps Tame the Mind's Wild Animal

Inside of each of us, there's a creature that's not too unlike the Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay.

That lonely primate flits from place to place, searching and scrambling with each step as he outruns potential captors.

Yogis often talk about the "monkey mind," the part of our brain that quickly moves from thought to thought or emotion to emotion, just like our area's itinerant mystery monkey.

My mind's "monkey" is actually a hamster. Or, at least, that's how I visualize it. The creature that runs around in my head is a tan and white high-strung rodent named Happy Menace.

When I feel the stress welling up, or my thoughts rapidly firing, I see little Happy Menace ferociously picking up speed in his wheel, taking my mind on a wild ride with him. And when he has used up all of my mental energy, he sits back, exhausted on his wheel, with his tongue sticking out and one foot twitching. (MORE)

Source: tbo.com