The Monkey Is the Messenger

DE LA ROSA, RALPH

Shambhala (Local Printing)

Hope for all those who want to meditate but feel they can't because they think too much. “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.

The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Alternative Medicine

Shambhala

A handbook for staying grounded, emotionally connected, and empowered regardless of what's in the headlines and who's in your face. "How can I practice acceptance when what I see all around me is unacceptable?" "How can I 'let go' when the headlines that trigger me are constant?" "How do I get involved without burning myself out?" For empathetic people who don't want to ignore the challenges of living in a politically divisive time and don't want to have our minds commandeered by the media, the challenge of living with mindful equanimity is a daily struggle. If distress isn't at the forefront of our awareness, we are, at the very least, holding a background anxiety that makes us susceptible to emotional reactivity. We know that acting out strong emotions impulsively robs us of our clarity, hinders our relationships, and distorts our ability to respond effectively. Yet, so many approaches to emotional intelligence and mindful coping seem to fall short in the fever-pitch moments. How do we walk through the fire of these times without getting scorched? With his signature warm, funny, street-wise style, author Ralph De La Rosa gives us a handbook for mindful living in contentious times. Full of insights and dozens of practices to address common reactions to our current political climate--from media addiction and rage to dissociation and apathy--Don't Tell Me to Relax brings the welcome news that our thoughts and emotions are not the enemy. That in fact, when used skillfully, they can become a powerful foundation to support our practice.

Don't Tell Me to Relax: Emotional Resilience in the Age of Rage, Feels, and Freak-Outs

Mental Health

Outshining Trauma: A New Vision of Radical Self-Compassion Integrating Internal Family Systems and Buddhist Meditation

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Books by DE LA ROSA, RALPH