Welcome.
My name is Kate and this meditation is part of our 40 Days to a Personal Revolution program developed by Baron Baptiste.
Today we will be doing a 15-minute meditation to help cultivate equanimity.
Take a moment and get comfortable in your seat.
Close your eyes.
And start by noticing your foundation and adjust your seat and support system so that you're comfortable enough.
Now do something on purpose with your hands.
Bring your spine to an upright and alert position and relax your shoulders.
Notice your breath for a moment.
The greatest challenge to our equanimity is our reactivity.
This is the automatic response of resistance and resentment that we have when we encounter anything that's uncomfortable.
I can remember when I first started practicing meditation.
I went to a 10-day meditation retreat.
Spent the first few days trying to figure out how to be perfectly still when my body was perfectly uncomfortable.
After about day five,
I was invited to sit with strong determination.
What the teacher told us is that now I'd like you to do your very best to be still.
What I didn't realize was during the first few days I had the freedom to move.
I just put myself in my own cell,
My own rules about how it should be.
And I was struggling with equanimity.
Today I'm going to invite you to sit with strong determination.
Resolve not to fidget or get up and quit the meditation before our 15 minutes are up.
If you get uncomfortable,
Simply notice what you're feeling and do your best not to react.
Resolve not to give in to these feelings.
When these restless feelings or behaviors start to arise,
Rather than just acting on them and your desire to escape,
See if you can just notice their pull.
Stay present,
Stay conscious,
And most of all,
Just stay.
Resolve not to give in to these feelings.
Resolve not to give in to these feelings.
Resolve not to give in to these feelings.
When your mind or your body or something outside of you distracts you,
Notice and return your attention to your breath.
When your mind or your body or something outside of you distracts you,
Notice and return your attention to your breath.
When your mind or your body or something outside of you distracts you,
Notice and return your attention to your breath.
If your thoughts are getting louder or more urgent,
Notice them and redirect your attention to the feeling of your breath in your body.
Notice the expansion of your chest or your abdomen.
Notice the contraction.
Anchor your mind to your body through your breath.
If your mind or your body or something outside of you distracts you,
Notice and return your attention to the feeling of your breath.
Nobody has ever died or lost a limb from an itch or a tickle.
So if your body is begging for you to move,
Resist,
And know that with time everything shifts.
If everything is pulling you away from your stillness,
Notice that feeling of the pulling.
Every time you choose to stay,
When you want to get up and leave or walk away,
You're developing your equanimity muscles.
Take a deeper breath.
Before you open your eyes,
Take a moment and acknowledge yourself for making the time to strengthen your meditation muscles and foster equanimity.
Namaste.
