Welcome.
I'm so glad you're here.
Our focus in this meditation is equanimity.
Equanimity is the ability to maintain a balanced mind in the midst of chaos.
Let's begin by coming into a comfortable meditation seat.
Once you get here,
Let yourself land.
Close your eyes and spend a few moments getting grounded.
Presence yourself to your physical body.
Feel the connection of your feet with the earth.
Then walk your awareness up and through both of your legs.
Notice the quality of space in your knees.
The quality of vitality within your thighs.
Feel your legs as whole.
Feel the front of your legs,
The backs of your legs,
All the sides of your legs.
Feel front and back coming together just to create your full set of legs.
And in this moment experience your legs as whole.
And then from your legs walk your awareness into your pelvis.
Spend some time getting present to your pelvis.
Notice any sensations that arise here and simply be with them.
Allowing sensation to exist without needing to react is the practice of equanimity.
And now here just like you did with your legs,
Imagine your pelvis as whole,
As balanced.
Feel the bones that form your pelvis.
Feel them joined together.
Experience your pelvis side to side,
Front to back.
Experience your pelvis as a balanced unit.
And from your pelvis walk your awareness up your spine.
Spend time getting present to your lower spine,
Your coccyx,
Your sacrum,
Your lumbar spine.
Walk up to your mid-back,
Your thoracic spine.
And then move up to the upper bones of your spine,
So your cervical spine.
Now imagine your spine in all its dimensions,
Front,
Back,
Side to side.
And then picture the front side of your spine connecting and meshing,
Coming together with the back side of your spine.
And feel this quality,
This experience of balance,
Of equanimity being created right from within this center most part of your physical body.
You are centered.
Now funnel that awareness down your arms,
Through your elbows,
Into your forearms,
All the way down into your hands.
Now bring your fingertips together and then peel your palms apart,
Almost as though you're holding an invisible ball of energy between your hands.
So there's space between your palms,
Space between your fingers.
Now keep your awareness in your hands,
Present yourself to your palms,
Your thumbs,
First finger,
Second finger,
Third finger,
And baby finger.
Shift your focus from one finger to another as a method of anchoring and centering you right here.
So you use your hands as a bridge from your mind to your body.
It's like an anchor to the present moment,
An anchor to your equanimous way of being,
An anchor for you into equanimity.
So then at each moment when you might notice yourself drifting into thinking or if your mind wanders,
You use your hands as a way to bring yourself back.
You notice and then bring yourself back.
And that's the practice of equanimity.
And so here in your practice,
You can support yourself and use your hands as a grounding point for your mind.
And so as thoughts come up,
And they will,
Let yourself notice them,
Accept them,
And let them go.
And you do that by you keep coming back to this awareness of your body,
Your breath,
And your hands.
Now experience this power that you hold,
This equanimous power of remembering your hands,
Of remembering your balanced power,
And then embracing the moment again from this newly anchored,
Newly grounded,
Newly readily available to the moment space.
And then very,
Very gently begin to lift your hands to heart center.
Bow your head towards your hands,
Just as a way of acknowledging self.
I acknowledge you for showing up to this practice.
As you move throughout your day,
Let your hands be an extension of your heart and your equanimity.
We'll close out our practice with a deep breath in,
And a deep breath out.
Namaste.
