Equanimity
During the month of January, I am embracing the frequency of equanimity.
Meditative.
Peaceful.
Still.
Silent.
Inward.
Mysterious.
Detached.
The Visionary Dreamer.
I will be going deep TO REMEMBER what I am here to joyfully create and experience. TO REMEMBER exactly how I am meant to serve.
According to Shinzen Young…
Equanimity in your body is equivalent to “attempting to maintain a continuous relaxed state over your whole body as sensations (pleasant, unpleasant, strong, subtle, physical, emotional) wash through.
He also describes equanimity in your mind as “attempting to let go of negative judgments about what you are experiencing and replacing them with an attitude of loving acceptance and a gentle matter of factness”.
As I begin this journey of equanimity
I will consciously attempt to relax parts of my body that feel tense (this is usually my chest + throat when I feel stressed). And if the tension in my body cannot intentionally be relaxed, I will try to accept the tension sensations and JUST OBSERVE THEM… to welcome them and not judge them. Shinzen describes this as giving tense energy in your body “permission to dance their dance, to flow as they wish through your body”.
This is definitely a PRACTICE… a way of living… of being.
Here’s a beautiful song and the lyrics, by Eve Decker, that embodies the meaning of Equanimity…
Equanimity
by Eve Decker
It’s like this…
It can be no other way
Everything that came before
Has led us to this moment
It’s like this…
So open and let go
Bring awareness and acceptance
To this moment as it’s passing
Here I am…
Life arising as it will
How can I bend gracefully
With the winds surrounding me
Here I am…
Life brings both sorrow and joy
Letting go the fight, the blame
A deep calm infuses me
Stand in the heart of the moment…
Inner stability
Return to a place of stillness…
Equanimity
Just this much…
Seeing clearly into now
No need for all the stories
Just naming what is present
Just this much…
Without reactivity
I don’t have to push, to clutch
I can simply let it be
Stand in the heart of the moment…
Inner stability
Return to a place of stillness…
Equanimity
Stay awake…
To indifference, to “don’t care”
You can feel your heart respond
Without getting swept away
Stay awake…
The promises are great
Radiance, exalted mind
are the praises Buddha sang
p.s. The Hebrew word for EQUANIMITY is Hashlamah, which is directly related to the word for peace (SHALOM) and the word for completeness (SHLEMUT). When one is fully present (shalem) and equanimous (hashlamah) with what is, then what is presents itself as peace (shalom).