Equanimity Meditation Find a comfortable position in which you are either seated with your spine straight,
Feet grounded,
Connected to the floor,
Or lying down on your mat or your bed.
If you have any lower back pain and you are lying down,
Try to place a pillow under your knees to connect your lower back to the ground.
Allow yourself to find a comfortable place as you gently begin to close your eyes.
Tune into the body and make any minor adjustments,
Allowing your mind to settle and arrive in our present time and experience.
Notice your body and your natural breathing.
See where in the body you can feel the breath,
Noticing if it's the throat,
The chest,
The abdomen.
Feel the rising and falling as your body breathes.
As you choose one spot as your anchor during this practice,
Feel your body breathing.
Try to stay with your breath all the way through.
If your mind wanders,
You bring it back to your breathing.
Breathe in with awareness and exhale,
You can count one in your head.
With the next exhale,
You count two,
Continuing to do this till about ten.
If you lose the number you're on,
Simply just start back at one.
Remember that the counting is a tool to help build concentration,
And it is not a measurement of how good of a meditator you are.
When the mind wanders,
You just bring it back and begin from one.
When and if the mind wanders,
It really offers us an opportunity to cultivate mindfulness and concentration.
Each time we notice the mind wandering,
We're strengthening our ability to recognize our experience.
Each time we bring the mind back to the breath,
We are strengthening our ability to focus on an object,
Treat it as an opportunity rather than a problem,
And return to one whenever needed.
Now bringing to mind somebody that is a good friend.
This may be a loved one,
A friend,
A mentor.
As this person comes to mind,
You recognize your wishes for the person.
You may tune in to a desire to see this person happy,
Free from suffering,
And at ease with life.
In this practice,
We're cultivating a mind and a heart that stays balanced and at ease with our surroundings.
Recognizing that although we may wish for this person's happiness,
We're not in control of their happiness.
Equanimity helps us to let the outcome and focus on our practice,
Letting go of the outcome and focusing on our practice.
With the recognition that this person is their own person in charge of their own actions,
You can offer phrases of equanimity in your head.
Perhaps you may choose the phrases,
Regardless of my wishes for you,
Your happiness is not in my hands.
All beings are in charge of their own karma.
May you do what needs to be done to find happiness.
May you do what needs to be done to find your happiness.
Offer these phrases to your good friend,
Connecting with the intention of recognizing that this person is in charge of their action and karma.
Letting this person go from your mind and now bring to mind a neutral person,
Someone you see maybe regularly but don't know very well.
It may be somebody who works somewhere you go or a neighbor.
Although you don't know this person well,
You may recognize that this person wants to be happy as well.
You don't need to know what their happiness looks like.
Again,
Just offer the person the phrases of equanimity,
Recognizing that you aren't in charge of their happiness.
Repeating the phrases in your mind.
Regardless of my wishes for you,
Your happiness is not in my hands.
All beings are in charge of their own karma.
May you do what needs to be done to find your happiness.
And now you let go of the neutral person and you bring to mind somebody you find difficulty with.
You may not want to pick the most difficult person in your life.
Perhaps choosing someone who brings minor difficulty,
Agitation,
Anger.
Again,
Offer these phrases of equanimity with the intention of recognizing that they are in charge of their own happiness and their own ease.
Repeat the phrases in your mind.
Regardless of my wishes for you,
Your happiness is not in my hands.
All beings are in charge of their own karma.
May you do what needs to be done to find your own happiness and ease.
May you do what needs to be done to find your own happiness and ease.
Allow yourself to bring your awareness back to your breathing.
Notice where the breath lands now.
The nose,
The throat,
The chest,
The abdomen.
And with every exhale,
Just allowing yourself to let go.
Notice your body being supported by the body of Earth.
And we bring awareness to our whole body as is.
Now we take a moment to bring awareness to our surroundings.
Any sound,
Maybe a gentle breeze on our skin.
If we're in a seated position,
We stay here for a while with our breath.
If we're lying down,
We slowly begin to wiggle our toes and fingers.
And gently taking some time to come into a comfortable seated position and bringing our awareness to our breath.
And as we all are present with our spine straight in a seated position,
We take a deep breath in through the nose and a gentle sigh out through the mouth.
And we slowly release our hands to rub our palms together for warming palms.
We place our palms on our closed eyes.
On our next exhale,
We slowly release our hands and we open our eyes.
Thank you.
