This is one of my favorite exercises, from one of my favorite meditation teachers, on how to end the mindless, incessant chatter that keeps most of us in a constant state of cognitive disarray.
Mingur Rinpoche describes a very simple practice for giving your chattering “monkey mind” a job. The job? Pay attention to the breath. This sounds like such a silly strategy on paper (or pixel 🙂 but in truth, it’s a powerful way of allowing your awareness, (that which lies underneath the monkey mind) to be “tricked” into observing the breath, rather than fighting it.
Try it – these really DOES work. (even if only for a moment at a time……but that’s really ALL you need to get this off the ground)