Hello.
Today we are going to learn about a concept that can help us manage stress and
strong emotion in our lives.
Equanimity is the practice of keeping a level head,
Especially
in a difficult situation.
It's about meeting life just as it is with confidence.
We can
get through anything,
And it's also a skill we can practice and get better at.
As human
beings,
When naturally reactive,
Our nervous systems are designed for fight,
Flight,
Or
freeze.
We've adapted to snap into action on instinct.
But if we want to go beyond our
instincts and live our lives with a bit more wisdom,
We have to learn to be less reactive
to the inevitable ups and downs of life.
Today's meditation is about bringing your emotions
into balance,
Not repressing negative thoughts and feelings,
But also not wallowing in them.
Staying open and receptive by creating enough space to respond to whatever arises rather
than being reacting.
When we're no longer at the mercy of our feelings,
Not only do
we see things a bit more clearly,
But we can also begin to look beyond our individual experience
so that ultimately we navigate our lives with a little more skill and a little more compassion.
Cultivating equanimity,
This ability to meet life as it is without adding emotional fuel
to our challenging situations is truly a superpower.
And it doesn't come easy.
In fact,
Our entire
biology is hardwired against this.
Our sympathetic nervous system,
That fight,
Flight,
Or freeze
instinct will kick in before we even know what's happening.
Our meditation and mindfulness practice
is about learning to notice as these sensations or reactions arise in our body.
And then through
noticing and observing with curiosity,
We can give ourselves the choice as to how we want to respond.
Imagine reacting thoughtfully to stress and challenge instead of simply reacting emotionally.
This takes work and this is the very task we are working on in our daily practice.
It does get
easier.
It does become more natural.
So be gentle with yourself as you begin to give it a try.
So
with that,
Let's go ahead with our practice.
Finding a meditation posture that suits you.
You
can sit or lay down,
Just allowing your spine to be relatively upright,
Allowing your shoulders to
be a little bit relaxed,
And gently letting your eyes close.
And as you settle into this posture,
Let's begin by taking a collective deep breath in.
A big deep breath in with a hold at the top,
And then a big deep breath out,
Letting it go,
Letting the breath go.
And doing this a few more
times.
The big breath in,
Holding at the top,
Letting that oxygen percolate in your body,
And then a big exhale,
Letting it all go.
And then just relaxing as you settle into your normal
and natural breath.
I'm going to open today's practice with a little breathing exercise.
I'll
keep count so you don't need to worry about counting.
I would invite you to take a deep
down into your belly.
Hold your breath,
And then slowly exhale before pausing at the bottom.
Slight pause at the exhale before you inhale one more time.
Inhaling deeply,
And pausing at the
top.
Letting that oxygen sit,
And then exhale,
And hold.
Holding that exhale ever so slightly,
And then doing another deep inhale.
One more round.
Deep inhale,
Letting the breath sit at
the top with a hold,
Feeling that air in your belly and your lungs before you exhale.
Just
like that.
And do another round or two on your own.
Breathing deeply,
And holding.
Holding on
the exhale,
Holding on your inhale.
And when you're ready,
Just releasing that technique,
And letting your body come back to your normal breath.
And then we're just going to do a little
experiment.
I would invite you to imagine your mind dropping softly into your body,
Meaning see and feel yourself from the inside out.
Just use your imagination.
Are there any
emotions or physical sensations that are present in your body?
What can you feel?
If you allow
your mind to fully inhabit your physical body,
What can you become aware of?
Are there any places
of tension?
Any places where you feel release or joy?
As you're doing this,
It can be tempting to
overthink and begin to plant a thought or an idea along the way.
And what I'm going to invite you
to do is just really listen to your body today.
Really listen,
Observe.
And as you do that,
I invite you to contemplate.
How are you feeling today?
Ask yourself,
Am I feeling right now?
And
see what arises.
Whatever the emotion or the sensation,
See if you can simply be with the
energy of that.
If you feel disappointed,
Just be with the disappointment.
If you're feeling
frustrated or concerned,
See if you can just be with those feelings without judgment,
Just observing.
If you're feeling happy,
See if you can sense where you feel that happiness.
Is there a place
in your body that is really feeling what you're feeling?
Allow yourself to be curious about the
sensation of the emotion in your body.
We're teaching ourselves to become aware of emotion
in our body.
And we're doing this so that as we experience those difficulties and challenges in
life,
Where our emotion would typically take over,
Where we can observe that emotion as it
builds,
As it appears in the body,
And we can make a choice about how we are going to respond.
Whether
we choose to react emotionally,
Reactively,
Or can we begin to challenge ourselves to observe
those sensations,
Those frustrations,
Those sensations in the body that might drive us to
action.
Can we learn to observe them,
To give ourselves the space to choose to respond differently?
So let's stay present to your body in this way.
And you might begin to notice emotions and
sensations shifting and changing as you observe them.
And this is okay.
We don't have to dwell
on one particular emotion or feeling.
In fact,
All we need to do is remain curious.
Where is that
sensation moving to?
Or as the intensity shifts or change,
Can we just simply notice it?
The longer
we are present with our emotions and these subtle sensations of our body,
The more we begin to see
how impermanent they really are.
They are constantly changing and shifting and morphing.
How am I
feeling right now?
Simply ask yourself this question and notice what arises.
And then let's
begin to gently let go of this technique,
This noticing.
Let's take a moment to breathe.
Breathe
in fully into your body.
And as you begin to exhale,
This last exhale of our practice,
Let's
open our mouths gently and just let whatever is happening in your body go with that exhale.
And
you might take a few of those.
Deeply breathing in and exhaling with an open mouth to let
everything go.
And as you make your way back into the world,
Into the present moment,
When you feel
yourself triggered or swept into a strong emotion,
Rather than inviting or judging yourself or
getting caught up again,
Can you instead meet your emotion with a sense of curiosity?
Really dig
into the felt sense of each emotion in your body,
Where it is,
Where is it moving to?
In these
moments where we're driven to action by something that stresses us,
Or someone says something that
triggers us,
A comment is made,
You read something that bothers you,
Rather than staying in the habit
of jumping into action,
Jumping to frustration,
Can you challenge yourself to use your breath as a
pause,
To give yourself space before you react,
To bring equanimity into your day-to-day habits.
Remember your breath is your greatest tool for helping you stay balanced throughout whatever
life throws at you.
Thank you for joining me today,
And I look forward to seeing you again soon.
