Medicine for the Monkey Mind

It’s tempting to think of our distracted and ruminating minds as enemies of the quietude and inspiration we seek in meditation. Same goes for our troublesome emotions and compulsive behaviors. Yet the paradoxical key to resolving the various tempests in our lives is actually right in front of us, staring us in the face.

Join author, meditation teacher, and psychotherapist Ralph De La Rosa, part of “the next generation of meditation teachers,” for an insightful evening of learning simple and accessible tools for revolutionizing your meditation practice.

Program Details

• Tame your monkey mind with a 20-minute embodied samatha (mindfulness of breath) meditation in our Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room while the sounds of our K2 Lounge compete for your attention.
• Then join the author for a lecture and Q&A discussion about the busy mind and how we can learn from it.
• Afterward stop by the shop for a book signing of the author’s newest release, The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You.

Stick around for the Museum’s K2 Friday Night.

Presented with New York Yoga + Life

About the Speaker

Ralph De La Rosa, LCSW is the author of The Monkey Is the Messenger: Meditation and What Your Busy Mind Is Trying to Tell You. His work has been featured in CNN, GQ, Self, Women’s Health, and many other publications and podcasts. He’s was named among Sonima’s “Next Generation of Meditation Teachers.”

Ralph is a state-licensed therapist in private practice in New York City specializing in trauma, anxiety, depression, and intimacy issues. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Services. He trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Trauma Systems Therapy as a social worker in the foster care and community mental health systems. Today his work integrates Internal Family Systems therapy, somatic psychology, and mindfulness-based approaches.

Ralph began practicing meditation in 1996 and has taught meditation since 2008. He was a student of Amma’s for 16 years and began studying Buddhism in 2005. He is a mentor to meditation teacher trainees at MNDFL; and a regular teacher at venues such as Spirit Rock, Omega Institute, and Kripalu.

Ralph himself is a depression, PTSD, and addiction survivor. His work is inspired by the tremendous transformation he has experienced through meditation, yoga, and therapy.

Ralph is also a musician and storyteller. He currently lives in Brooklyn with his two cats Emma Goldman and Henry Lee.