Hello,
This is Addie D.
Hilster,
And today we're going to be practicing together an equanimity meditation.
Equanimity is steadiness of the heart and mind,
And we'll be invoking that quality in this meditation through the somatic felt sense of the body,
Through a little bit of imagery,
And through equanimity phrases.
These are my personal favorite equanimity phrases.
They're sort of my take on the traditional phrases.
So that said,
Feel free to modify the words to resonate more clearly with you and to make the meditation your own.
So finding your seat,
Whether that's in a chair or on a cushion,
Making sure the body is supported well,
And that you have a sense of ground.
That could be your feet touching the floor,
Coming into contact with the actual ground.
That could be your legs and sitting bones on the cushion or in the chair,
Maybe your back upright against the back of the chair.
Letting that sense of contact with something solid really register in your awareness.
Feeling into the sense of ground,
Support,
And the steadiness it lends.
It's sort of a somatic hint of equanimity.
Imagining a tree,
A really excellent symbol of equanimity.
The trees go through many changes during the seasons.
They experience lots of weather and yet they stay in their ground,
Imagining the roots of the tree diving deep into the earth.
I'm also imagining the upward growth of the trunk and the expansion of the branches,
The space between the branches,
Perhaps a glimpse of a clear sky,
The spaciousness that a tree embodies as well as the rooted,
Grounded quality that it embodies.
Like the tree,
Can you feel a little bit of space around you?
With this inspiring imagery and this somatic foundation,
Let's start to bring in our equanimity phrases.
So you can repeat these silently as we go.
May I feel steady and grounded.
May I feel steady and grounded.
May my view be wise and spacious,
Free from reactivity.
May my view be wise and spacious,
Free from reactivity.
May my view be wise and spacious,
Free from reactivity.
May my view be wise and spacious,
Free from reactivity.
May I care and let go.
May I care and let go.
May I know what to do.
May I know what to do.
May I feel steady and grounded.
May I feel steady and grounded.
May my view be wise and spacious,
Free from reactivity.
May I care and let go.
May I know what to do.
You can continue repeating the four phrases,
Or you could choose one or two that particularly speak to you today,
And focus on those.
You're also welcome to simplify the phrases if you'd like.
That might sound something like steady and grounded,
Wise and spacious,
Care and let go.
Feeling the resonance of these words internally as you invite the quality of equanimity,
As you learn to embody and get familiar with the quality of equanimity.
May I feel steady and grounded.
May my view be wise and spacious,
Free from reactivity.
May I care and let go.
May I know what to do.
Steady and grounded,
Wise and spacious,
Caring and letting go,
Knowing what to do.
Now as you release the phrases,
Let's check in again with this felt sense of the body,
Tuning into qualities of equanimity through the sense of space,
Spaciousness around the body,
Perhaps the image of the trees branches reaching for the sky.
And also our feeling of groundedness,
Rootedness,
Sensing the parts of the body that are touching solid supports,
Much like the roots of the tree connected to the earth.
Thank you very much for your practice and I wish you much steadiness and ease.
