Daoist meditation is a process where you practice stillness. Through stillness, your intelligent consciousness separates from the chattering thoughts rattling around in your mind. Daoist’s call the mental chatter your “monkey mind.” Achieving separation from your own monkey mind through stillness is an interesting phenomena. Personally, it took about 9 months of once a week 1 hr classes, with 3 or 4 ten minute practice sessions a week on my own to achieve that separation. It is a noticeable event.
From that point, achieving mental quietness is rather quick, like after you learned to ride a bike. You don’t have to go through the lesson again. You just get on and ride. Same is true for meditation. Once your mind is separated, you can observe how your thoughts make you feel. Practicing meditation from there shows you where your mental, emotional and spiritual quirks are — areas where your original code was altered. Sometimes these quirks open new pathways for progress. Sometimes these quirks create blockages or issues that need to be addressed.
This is an interesting article using modern Daoist influenced psychological techniques to quiet the negative voices we find in our head. Good tips to quiet the monkey mind. https://www.theemotionmachine.com/why-you-should-give-your-negative-inner-voice-a-name/
