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Minding the mind: tips for controlling distracting brain chatter

The Monkey Mind: That endless stream of troubling thoughts or other distracting chatter can zap confidence, preventing a person from focusing on what is truly important. 

In today’s fast-paced world of multi-tasking, working lunches and drive thru dinners, attention spans seem to be getting shorter and shorter.

But, with a little mindfulness, the monkey can be tamed.

Mindfulness?

“Mindfulness means paying attention,” said Lalli Dana Drobny. She teaches classes in mindfulness as well as other subjects at Santa Barbara City College.

Drobny, who has been meditating for 25 years, started offering mindfulness classes in Santa Barbara about eight years ago as a public service

“Because I knew how important it was, and I had seen the difference in my own life.”

Intention is an important component of mindfulness, so Drobny asks students to choose one goal for class.

“Everyone who comes to my mindfulness classes comes for a reason,” she said.

They want to find a way to manage stress, they are distracted or angry, they can’t focus, or they want to be able to make better decisions. “They want to change. They aren’t accepting where they are. (But) it’s a paradox. Because mindfulness is really about accepting what IS in every moment.”

Learn more by reading Lisa Osborn's full blog post on this topic.