Resident Mind Coach Don Macpherson took some time to talk to us about his book, ‘How To Master Your Monkey Mind’. Don tells us how he got his nickname ‘The Monkey Whisperer’ and he shares some tips on how to overcome anxiety and increase your confidence with some very simple steps:

My nickname, The Monkey Whisperer, came to be bestowed upon me by a lady tennis player that I was working with. My methods to help people through times include a bespoke recording of guided meditation and she told me that her recording reminded her of when her father used to whisper bedtime stories to her and because of this ‘The Monkey Whisperer’ was born. I originally wanted to call my debut book ‘The Monkey Whisperer’ but the publishers got their way and ‘How To Master Your Monkey Mind’ was released earlier this year.

We all have a chattering voice in our head, The Monkey… The Monkey will comment on and critique everything we do, and it shouts louder and more often when we are experience challenging times. I’d gone from never reading a book at school to reading ten books a week, researching the mind, and I found that Buddhists referred to this voice in our minds as a restless monkey, aimlessly swinging from branch to branch throughout our mind.

We have one voice, our conscious mind, it’s life’s filter. It’s your own personal SatNav guiding us through life and the challenges that we face and that’s the monkey. But actually, it’s our subconscious mind that is really in control. The Monkey’s main job is to keep us safe (don’t touch that it’s, hot etc…) and it is also there to stop you from making a fool of yourself so you wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it’s responsible for one of the top five phobias, glossophobia, the fear of speaking in public. But, sometimes it heads a little off course. So, we need to manage it sometimes.

I never intended to write a book, I never fancied myself as a writer! But in my book, How To Master Your Monkey Mind, I take you through ten steps to manage The Monkey and tune and train your brain. Our brain is the most sophisticated tool that we have, but it doesn’t come with a manual. So often we are not maximising our potential because we don’t know how to use our brain properly. But a strong balance between our minds and our bodies will keep us grounded and centred, which will help us control The Monkey’s chatter and be in the now.

When we’re under a lot of pressure, especially right now with the COVID-19 pandemic, our brains are managing a lot of stress, and just like a car’s engine when it’s being overrevved, it can malfunction. So I acquired these ten tools from the people I have worked with, from Formula 1 Drivers, Tennis Champs, Brain Surgeons down to the general public. They all were using their own tools to master their Monkey. The world is full of great talkers but not many great listeners, but I became a great listener by learning from each of the people I was working with.

By collaborating with Great British Radio as their Resident Mind Coach, I hope I can reach out to the listeners and share tools that they can use to master their own Monkey Mind. I want to teach people how to be their own mind coach, and learn how to look after their brain then they can their own children, friends and family and it creates a spread of positivity. We’re all already Accidental Mind Coaches, sharing advice with our loved ones all the time and I hope that by sharing my knowledge and techniques we can all help each other.

Don’s book, ‘How To Master Your Monkey Mind’ is out now.