The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You by Ralph De La Rosa (PDF)

Description

An engaging, funny, and introductory guide for anyone whose overactive mind gets in the way of starting a regular meditation practice “My mind is so busy, I really need to meditate.” “My mind is so busy, there’s no way I can meditate.” Familiar dilemma? These days just about all of us know we should be meditating, but that doesn’t make it any easier to sit down and face the repetitive thoughts careening around our brains—seemingly pointless, sometimes hurtful, nearly always hard to control. Rather than quitting meditation or trying to wall off the monkey mind, Ralph De La Rosa suggests asking yourself a question: If you were to stop demonizing your monkey mind, would it have anything to teach you? In a roundabout way, could repetitive thoughts be pointing us in the direction of personal—and even societal—transformation? Poignant and entertaining, The Monkey Is the Messenger offers a range of evidence-based, somatic, and trauma-informed insights and practices drawn from De La Rosa’s study of neuroscience and psychology and his long practice of meditation and yoga. Here at last—a remedy for all those who want to meditate but suppose they can’t because they think too much.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The reviewers who gave this book less than four stars seem to be expressing that this book is not what they expected, and then reacting to that disappointment, and not the book itself (and kindly note, I left a comment on the one star review). I didn’t open this book with any expectations, and I have benefited tremendously. This book is a springboard – read it and take the jump. Under this book’s direction (chapter 13, pp. 223 – 226) I did a meditation last night to work with one my exiles, and she had information for me. Her info made total sense, and I take it to be true, and not a creative fabrication. I woke up feeling lighter. I’m so grateful.This book is exceptionally well-written and well-paced. It does not read like a first book, which may be a sign that there are more to come. RDLR fearlessly shares his trauma with the reader, and that is nothing short of heroic. If he were to write a memoir, I would read it in a heartbeat. I feel the meditation community here in NYC needs his story — it has helped encourage one of my parts to tell the truth about things she has done, and to start/continue healing. This book – more specifically, practicing this book’s guidance – is now part of my self-healing process, and I recommend RDLR’s teachings wholeheartedly.

⭐If you are ready for a fresh perspective within the mindfulness conversation, I can’t recommend this read enough. De La Rosa delivers a powerful combination of heart and smarts to this fascinating work; taking the idea of mind as potential ally well beyond the often inaccessible approach to quieting said mind. Meditation should not feel like a chore and our minds are not monsters to be slayed, and in fact this energy of resistance makes the peace we seek all the more elusive. The combination of neuroscience and somatic awareness explored within these pages is a refreshing mix of hard science and lived experience, offering a potent model for both creative and highly strategic mindfulness practice. De La Rosa’s relatable tone and inspired inquiry around trauma, difficulty, and mental feedback provides a solid access point into the healing and integration of all the messy parts, the bits that can be profoundly useful when we listen and redirect skillfully. Nerds and feelers unite, this book has something for every seeker of embodied peace and whole person wellness.

⭐I’ve practiced meditation for several years. A friend recommended this book, and I found it to have some interesting perspectives on interacting with and leveraging the voice in your head.The author notes many times that this is his first book, and that’s quite clear. The structure is often disjointed, regularly referencing relevant info essential to the point in other sections. I ended up flipping around a lot. It meanders at times, and others leave you short. Most frustrating are the practices themselves are not concisely documented in a way that makes them easy to use. Went back through the book and made my own notes to create the guide I wish the book was built around.Even with all those style and editing shortcomings, I still recommend the book. Especially to someone that’s been meditating for a while and wants to go deeper, or feels stuck. I would not recommend this as a book for getting started with meditation. It’s not really aimed at that audience, and the writing issues I noted create undue obstacles to getting started.

⭐Insightful, informative, relatable and right on time. If you find yourself going through your grocery list 10x during an attempt to meditate, and then proceed to beat yourself up because you are too distracted to reach Nirvana, here is help. With humor and compassion Mr. De la Rosa guides us through acceptance and understanding for why our Ego (Monkey Mind) puts up such a fight. He clues us into the nuggets of clarity that the chatter is trying to impart and gives us permission to embrace our Monkey and listen to the wisdom therein. There is no easy way – there is just The Way and each of us has our unique mode to get there. The overarching message is that we are here to love and serve each other and the planet. The hope is once we recognize this – all of our Monkeys will chatter in harmony.

⭐Many memorable moments in this psychodynamic contemporary and yet deep rooted analysis of the meaning of the discursive mind within the context of personal and human evolution. Both philosophically and solution-based, this work crackles with meaning, verve, challenge, solace and commiseration. With breaking psychodynamic news, this scholar of the psyche walks the walk: The authenticity in synch with the exploration. I read lots of books at the brain/mind/spiritiality cross roads. This is the best of 2018, and I know I will be referring back to it in the years to come. Many thanks to the author for “giving it all he has got into this” — and by the way… that is alot! But that is not all. The author offers “spot on” guided exercises that come from tried and true experiences and neuroscience; and he makes them very accessible. Inspired and helpful, that would be a basic description of this book!

⭐This book and the practices it offers have been a godsend to someone who used to have a very loquacious monkey mind. While many other meditation books and guides emphasize silencing the monkey mind, RDLR offers a compelling counterpoint to instead learn how to listen one’s monkey mind. This book is rich in offering many resources that support this theory and practices (breathwork, 5-3-1-1, written + audio meditations) that have enabled me to test it out for myself. I have found the meditations offered to be the most useful and powerful component of this work. After engaging in these audio meditations for several months, I have learned how to listen to my monkey mind which paradoxically has enabled my monkey to be quiet at times. Highly recommend!

⭐With genuine warmth, caring and honesty, Ralph blends eastern and western wisdom in this accessible guide to working with our heart-mind. Highly recommended!

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