A little something I found that has help me greatly with meditation.

YT video titled "Buddhist monk reveals ancient mindfulness secret" 1:48 min long - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b32ep8Rhtw
I put the title ect just in case that link does not work. And as times goes by I plan (for now at least) To add to this of more tips that work for me.

I've always loved hearing Mingur Rinpoche talk or reading his poems/reflections on life in words. He just has that "suchness" about him that makes it click!

Thanks one creed, I didn't know this person but what he said made me laugh so much
It is good to have some explainations about why breathing is so important in meditation. Most of the teachers do not necessarily explain why it is important they just tell you to do it and that it will help you focus which is maybe enough I don't know, but I feel there is more to it than that. What do you think?

His "Monkey Mind" is what many would call the ego. Been working on this myself actually.

It chatters at you all day, tells you what you see, gives you thoughts. Many people mistake the "monkey mind" for your own mind. I like how he uses this example. You wouldn't listen to a monkey, would you? No, that would be silly. So why listen to it?

At this point, several months down the road of being aware of the "monkey mind", I can hear it, but it isn't me and doesn't choose my thoughts anymore. Sometimes it tricks me. Monkeys are smart like that. They get where you don't want them to get, they rattle things around until you pay attention to them. Best to ignore it until it learns to behave.

Thanks for the share, love the different wording to the lessons I've been learning.

One of the dangers of the "monkey mind" is that it's so nearly subliminal - much of the time you don't realize how much noise is playing in your head until you're challenged to actually focus on something (whether meditation or just basic mindfulness as you go about the day). I think of the relationship between "tapes" (background self-narratives) and the "monkey mind" at lot. My first teacher used to say about meditation: "Just because a thought comes into the room, you don't have to get up and follow it out the door". Like Arisaig said, it eventually helped me to separate my conscious process - where I was directing awareness - from all the trapped "stuff" circulating at that barely-there level which was trying to direct my emotions and actions.