the #1 reason you should name your brain
based on Buddhist teachings & neuroscience
This past Monday, I was having an absolutely amazing day. What is amazing, you might ask? To me, it usually consists of extreme productivity, belief in myself, investing in my health and marriage, and healthy, blood-sugar balancing food.
Then 5pm hit, and so did thoughts of failure and one of the darkest sides of my brain. My mind became clouded with thoughts of…
Can I do this?
Do people even care?
Am I putting in all of this work and effort with no return?
Why am I so behind in life?
Am I worth the effort?
Why can’t I seem to get my own thoughts straight?
It was clear my brain was working against me…and in my follicular phase? How could she!
I was stuck in this pattern of knowing the thoughts in my head were false (and likely based on the levels of dopamine within my system), while also having trouble stepping out of the failure quicksand that I was quickly sinking into.
Dopamine helps to control our levels of motivation and reward, and I was clearly experiencing a fall in dopamine below baseline. However, sometimes knowledge of neuroscience isn’t enough, and we need tangible steps to help get us out of the pit.
I stumbled upon this tiktok by Faye Plunkett that truly inspired me to name this dark side of my brain. Faye states,
“The wildest piece of advice that I’ve ever received that actually works is… name your brain, and I know it sounds mental, but whenever I have a dark thought… my brain is called Becky, and I have nothing against Becky, but when the dark side comes out, I literally say to myself, ‘Becky, not today my girl. I can’t be dealing with that today.’”
So insightful, and the perfect tiktok to grace my feed during my low-dopamine doom scroll.
So I set out to find a name for my brain. In Buddhist teachings and neuroscience, there is a concept called Monkey Brain. Monkey Brain describes the uncontrolled, chaotic nature of the brain, where you have difficulty controlling your mind. When my dark side takes over, my Monkey Brain has control.
I wanted the name of the dark side of my brain to relate back to this concept. My family is big on the meanings behind names. (Funny enough for this story, my name actually means brave!) So as I was googling names meaning monkey brain, darkness, and despair, I came across the name Mona, which means “female monkey” in Spanish. I loved it immediately. It was absolutely perfect.
Mona and I have been getting acquainted over the last 2 days. Tuesday morning I woke up a little anxious. I had an exciting day ahead of me recording a podcast with a super special guest, and I knew I needed Mona to cooperate. I gently chatted with her, acknowledged her, and let her have her space, while also letting the brave part of my brain take over.
The podcast interview went so well, despite the technical difficulties that threatened us (Mona, me, and my interview guest), and I rode along a high the rest of the day, flying miles above the quicksand that consumed me the day before.
Mona is a part of me, and for that I am grateful. Putting a name to this protective part of my brain has really helped me understand myself, my fears, and my anxieties a little bit better, while also helping me better control how much of my brain Mona can control.
Soooo tell me. What is the name of your brain? What are some tips & tricks you have for controlling your overprotective part of your brain? How do you control your monkey brain?