Equanimity - The Key to Freedom
Equanimity is not a word we hear everyday. Although with mindfulness becoming more a part of mainstream conversations, I have heard it more in the last few years.
Equanimity is defined as a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by the experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind.
I believe the ability to stay equanimous is one of the keys to healing and freeing ourselves from the patterns that limit us.
How can we practice equanimity?
By understanding and praticing equanimity we can be more balanced and composed in a difficult situation.
If you really want to learn more about equanimity I recommend taking a Vipassina course. Over a ten day period you will get plenty of practice and it truly is the best way to get these teachings.
Find a center: www.dhamma.org
However, I am going to do my best to write about ways you might start to understand and practice equanimity if you aren’t quite ready to sign up for a silent retreat quite yet.
Equanimity goes hand in hand with awareness. In the discourse at these silent retreats, Goenkaji talks about two wings of a bird if we are going to fly. You can’t have one without the other.
Awareness allows us to be in touch with what we are feeling. Equanimity allows us to transmute the habitual reaction. If you have awareness, but find yourself reacting you are charging or fueling that pattern. If you have equanimity, but are not aware you are off in la-la land, pretending you are balanced, but disconnected from reality.
The practice of these two qualities is key. It means nothing to talk about them or understand them intellectually. So how do we practice?
Developing a meditation practice, or a mindful movement practice gives us the opportunity to play with these concepts in our own experience.
If you take the time to sit and observe your inner world, your thoughts, your emotions, your sensations, you will first, likely, meet with an inability to focus. When one begins the process of observation it is common to meet with distraction and realize the mind is like a monkey swinging from one thought to the next.
The common response to seeing the monkey mind is frustration. Why can’t I focus?
We might try to pay attention to breath and realize before we get to three breaths we are off thinking about the past or future. Moment to moment awareness is difficult to maintain. The mind jumps around from past to future; from this thought to that thought.
If that is where you start. It is normal. Stay present. Accept: I have a monkey mind. Witness the thoughts. Let them come and go. Observe them like clouds passing in front of the sky. Or hear them like background music.
Once you are not in conflict with your thoughts they will become quieter. Then you can turn your attention to your breath. Observe it come and go. You do not have to control breath. Just observe it. It is either coming in or going out. Pay attention.
Likely your mind will wander. Notice the tendency to feel frustrated. Observe that. Let go. Continue to witness. Bring your attention back to your breath or your body. Notice sensations.
Practice detached awareness. Non-abiding awareness.
Start with 1 minute, or 2.
Need guidance, reach out. I love helping people get started.
Want to see how to bring equanimity onto the mat? Check out this video.
Or listen to me riff about the subject on my podcast: The First Step.
