The Monkey Mind

The character of a monkey is playful and cheeky, and they love to move and swing from branch to branch.  We teach our students about the ‘monkey mind’ at times, and we call it this because the mind is like a monkey -  busy jumping from thought to thought. 

A fun activity that can help to occupy and calm the monkey mind is a ‘double doodling’ exercise. The benefits of this are not only the sheer enjoyment and concentration, but this exercises both sides of the brain as it uses the non dominant hand. 

How to do it

• Find a great picture of a monkey first and take a few moments to look at.
  
  
• Close your eyes and see if you can picture it in your mind – adds more calm!
  
  
• Open your eyes and on a blank piece of paper using two markers move your hands in different directions at the same time and see if you can draw the monkey face.
  
  
• Of course the monkey face has everything on both sides – so is a mirror image.
  
  
• At the end put on some funky music and move and dance like a cheeky monkey…..why not!

​Have fun.

Karen x