About this item
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, theres no way I can meditate." Familiar dilemma? These days just about all of us know we should be meditating, but that doesnt 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 Rosas 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 cant because they think too much.
About the Author
Ralph De La Rosa is the author of The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation & What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You. His work has been featured in CNN, GQ, SELF, Women's Health, and many other publications and podcasts. He's was named amongst Sonima's "Next Generation of Meditation Teachers".Ralph is a psychotherapist in private practice in NYC. He specializes in early in helping people resolve their childhood traumas, anxiety, depression, and intimacy issues. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Fordham University's Graduate School of Social Services. He is trained in trauma-focused therapies, and he incorporates psychoanalytic, Internal Family Systems, somatic, and mindfulness-based approaches. Ralph began practicing meditation in 1996 and has taught meditation since 2008. He was a student of Amma's for 16 years and began studying Buddhism in 2005. He is a mentor to meditation teacher trainees at MNDFL; and a regular teacher at venues such as Spirit Rock, Omega Institute, and Kripalu. Ralph himself is a depression, PTSD, and addiction survivor. His work is inspired by the tremendous transformation he has experienced through meditation, yoga, and therapy. You can listen to (or read) his story on the Embodied Philosophy podcast episode, "Inside One Teacher's Journey From Darkness to Light."
