Introduction To Meditation Session #18 Equanimity
Welcome to session #18 of our thirty (30) session introduction to meditation course. Today is session three of five exploring Equanimity. Last week we explored acceptance as the seed of equanimity. Equanimity is a practice that helps us experience our relationship to everything, in the moment. A direct experience of life that can be really comforting, deep, healing, and so much more vibrant. Equanimity is learning to experience the world without an impulsive reaction to it. To see it, feel it, hear it, and then have the space and time to respond mindfully.
Transcript
Today is session three of a five-part module on equanimity,
And last week we looked at equanimity and acceptance,
And acceptance was the seed of equanimity.
And as we said before,
Equanimity is a practice that helps us experience our relationship to everything in the moment,
A direct experience of life that can be really comforting,
Healing,
And make things so much more vibrant and richer.
Now I'm not the most eloquent person in the world,
So a good friend of mine who is also a yoga teacher here in Piedmont,
Some of you may know her,
Petra,
She turned me on to a poet whose name is Donna Folds,
And Donna writes about equanimity in a beautiful poem called,
The Fruits of Practice,
And I think it speaks so nicely and beautifully to equanimity.
So I do want to start tonight by reading Donna's poem.
I'm going to go ahead and mute it first.
Mute everybody.
All right,
There you go.
Here we go.
Despite fervent pleas for ease and safety,
There are many days when reality doesn't quite line up with what I'd choose,
Breakdown,
Letting go,
Surrendering even the illusion of control.
Breathing into the unknown,
Sometimes that is what life holds.
Practice hasn't brought an end to pain.
I still increase my suffering like a fish caught on a line.
My struggles only draw the hook in deeper.
But being in reality is its own reward.
It's the perfect paradox.
The courage to stand and breathe when everything in me wants to flee is as great a gift as the freedom to seek retreat.
No,
Practice hasn't brought an end to pain,
But it has honed my willingness to experience the moment and sometimes see perfection unfolding in ways I wasn't big enough to plan,
Much less predict.
Practice isn't about achieving a goal.
It's not a means to pole vault over suffering.
Practice is my way of looking life in the face and saying yes to all its disparate gifts.
Practice keeps me awake when I would sleep and reminds me it's the journey unfolding in this very moment.
It's the journey that reveals the truth and not the destination.
Okay,
Let's explore.
Enjoy the meditation.
Meditation.
Coming now to sit.
Entering into our meditation.
Setting your intention to be here,
Present and alert.
Taking a few moments to settle into your favorite meditation posture.
Choosing a position in which your body is supported and can relax.
Sitting or lying down,
Whichever you prefer.
Beginning with three deep,
Calming breaths.
Breathing in through your nose and breathing out through your mouth as you make a soft sigh.
And with each exhale,
Letting go of any cares,
Worries and concerns that you might have brought with you tonight.
Letting them fall away.
Closing your eyes or keeping them slightly open,
Whichever you prefer.
In this meditation,
We're going to have the option of working with seeing,
So perhaps you might want to try meditating tonight with your eyes slightly open.
Bringing your awareness to the sensations of breathing.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Feeling this light stretch up your spine as you inhale,
And your whole body gently settling with the out-breath.
In and up,
Out and down.
Your breath moving through your body like a wave in the ocean,
Softening your forehead,
Head,
Cheeks,
Jaw,
Mouth,
And shoulders,
And hands.
Loosening your chest,
Relaxing your lower back,
Releasing your belly,
Soft,
Warm,
Pelvis,
Groin,
Legs,
And feet.
Breathing in,
Aware of your whole body.
Breathing out,
Releasing any pockets of tension,
Tightness,
Or holding.
Layer by layer,
Breath by breath.
Activating your equanimity,
A kind of openness in how you sit or lie here,
An easy-goingness,
Making a commitment not to get uptight about things,
Not being perfect,
Not being concerned if there are sounds around you or in you,
If distractions appear,
If you're concerned,
It's okay.
Allowing yourself to notice these things without judgments or criticisms,
And then ease your awareness back to the sensations of breathing.
Everything is welcome.
Now bring your attention to some sensation or sound,
Or if your eyes are open,
Some visual sight,
And rest your attention on this.
For the next little while,
This will be your point of focus.
Paying attention to the sensation,
Sound,
Or sight in a light,
Easy way.
Exploring the sense and feeling of this,
A kind of neutrality.
Can you listen to the sound and not have an opinion about it,
Like it's just a sound?
Or feel a sensation in or on your body,
And just feel it,
Not deciding if it's good or bad.
It's just a sensation.
And if your eyes are open,
Can you see what you're seeing without having to go up into your head for an opinion?
Lightly and playfully explore this,
Observing sounds,
Sensations,
Or sights.
Good,
Aware and anchored in feeling,
Or listening,
Or seeing,
In this stance of allowing.
We begin to make space,
Or to notice even a kind of beautiful neutrality in things.
At first blush,
We might think of a sensation as boring,
Or annoying,
Or desirable.
But it's really us who brings boredom,
Annoyance,
And desire to the table.
See if you can connect with the bare sensation,
Sound,
Or sight.
Just observing,
Watching.
It's completely normal for us to have judgments about our inner thoughts and sensations.
We don't like being agitated,
Understandably.
We don't like being uncomfortable.
We don't like being lost in thoughts.
But thoughts,
Discomforts,
They happen.
It's part of being alive,
Of having a mind and body,
Part of nature.
Our practice is to see if we can let go of any resistance to those things,
And notice them just for what they are.
Just a sensation.
Agitation is just a sensation.
Discomfort is just a sensation.
Sound is just a sound.
Can you watch them in a more neutral way?
The body is still.
Quiet.
Hearing sound.
Rising and falling.
Noticing breath.
In and out.
Feeling sensations.
As they arise,
Stay around for a while,
And then go.
Some things solidifying.
Some things changing.
As you watch this occur,
Life passing through,
As soon as you notice that you begin to tell stories or layer on ideas about this stuff,
See if you can let those stories and ideas pass in the same way.
Noticing.
Life passes through.
You remain.
Home.
Now let go of all of this effort of noticing,
And just sit,
Relax,
And let yourself do nothing at all.
Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Nam-myoho-en-ge-kyo Breathing in,
I see myself as a mountain.
Breathing out,
I feel stable.
Mountain Stable Breathing in,
I am fearless.
Breathing out,
I am brave.
Fearless Brave Breathing in,
I know I have arrived.
Arrived Breathing out,
I am home.
Arrived Meditation helps us learn to give ourselves a bit of space to observe before responding.
We become aware of our constant judging and ceaseless vigilance which is exhausting.
We give ourselves the space and time to see things as they are without our own overlays of good or bad,
Want or don't want.
We see that rain is just rain.
Sounds are just sounds.
Thoughts are just thoughts.
Sensations are just sensations.
They don't define us or confine us.
This is sanity.
Slowly and gradually emerging from your meditation.
Relaxing and releasing your meditation posture.
Wiggling your toes and your fingers.
Rolling your wrists and ankles.
Rubbing your legs.
Rocking side to side.
Bringing a little motion back into your body to wake it up slowly.
Taking a deep breath in and stretching your arms up high in a nice big stretch.
As you lower your arms letting out a sigh.
Reaching around to your lower back and giving your lower back a massage.
Bringing your hands around and gently holding your lower belly.
Offering your affirmations of loving kindness to yourself.
Beginning with repeating,
I am well.
Hands over your heart.
Repeating,
I am happy,
Loved and loving.
Crossing your arms and putting your hands on your opposite shoulders giving yourself a hug.
As you lightly stroke down your arm from shoulder to elbow a few times as you repeat,
I am safe.
At home.
In my body.
With my breath.
Caressing your face,
Your forehead,
Your eyes,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Jaw.
Over your head,
Through your hair,
Around to the back of your neck and pausing to give your neck and shoulders a massage.
Hands back to your heart.
And back to your belly.
Repeating,
I am peaceful and at ease.
And take a few moments to be grateful for this time that you gave yourself.
And also being able to come together as a group and share it together in community with each other.
And take these good feelings into the rest of your night,
Rest of your week.
And rubbing the palms of your hands together,
Warming them.
Lightly cupping them over your eyes,
Feeling the warmth of your hands on your face.
As you breathe in,
Opening your eyes into your hands.
And as you breathe out,
Slowly lowering your hands,
Returning your awareness to the room around you.
Thank you all very much.
Thank you.
