Appreciation -10 Ways to be Kind!
Mental Health, Self-Inquiry and Journaling
Equanimity is an – ‘Evenness of mind especially under stress’: right disposition: balance’.
Dictionary Meaning
Strangers, friends and enemies! How do we feel about these people? I guess some of our answers will be ‘mixed’. What are our thoughts about strangers? Some feelings we might experience as ‘indifference, fear, curiosity, nervousness, the feeling of being exposed. Close your eyes and ask yourself ‘Why do I feel these feelings’?
Then, what are our thoughts about friends? – loyalty, acceptance, trust, thankfulness and a sense of value. Repeat, close your eyes and ask, ‘Why do I feel like that’?
Next, what are our thoughts about enemies – dislike, anger, fear, disapproving, let down, resentful.
Repeat again, close your eyes and ask, ‘Why do I feel like that’?
“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Here are some questions for you during contemplation: How did you meet your friends? Were they at first strangers? Have you ever had the experience that your friends become your enemies, however long or short? Have you ever had the experience of your enemies becoming surprisingly your friends and sometimes a greatest friend. Take time to reflect on your answers for a moment.
“Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn
How to develop and practice equanimity daily?
- Practice ‘Non-Attachment’ – this does not mean ‘detachment’ – ‘the state of being objective or aloof’.
- Non -Attachment – means a ‘state in which a person overcomes their emotional attachment to or desire for things, people or worldly concerns and thus attains a heightened perspective’. In other words, to not ‘identify’ with the emotions or thoughts related to external situations we cannot change; it does not mean we do not feel or think but that we just watch and not attach.
- Practice ‘Mindfulness’ – by watching our own mind. How do we feel? What are our thoughts? Do we feel ‘attraction or repulsion’ for example?
- Practice ‘Self-Compassion’ – by not judging ourselves, accepting ourselves as making mistakes, the fact that we are human, and, in this way, we will develop ‘Compassion for Others’ simultaneously.
