Patience. Something I’ve been exploring during this week of equanimity. And something that has brought me great reward.
After the gigantic realization that I tend to push myself too hard, courtesy of my injured hamstring, I learned the importance of backing off when enough is enough, and giving something the time and space it needs to work itself out. And on Day 20, my forward bends returned to 90% flexibility. I felt like dancing. Or doing Half Hanumanasana (okay, that would have been too much). But I wanted to celebrate that after one week of patience and compassion for myself, I was rewarded.
Another triumph – no more snooze alarm in my life. That’s right, I conquered that vice. It helped that my new phone gave me an option to never allow a snooze alarm, but I’d like to think that I would have succeeded even without a little help from the tech world. It just took a little patience and compassion.
Again, I feel as though these attributes have been gained through my practice of equanimity. Although, right now I’m so in love with equanimity, I’m about to say the sun rises and sets because of equanimity, so you can take what I have to say with a grain of salt. But I’d rather you take it with a little inspiration to try practicing equanimity in your own life and see what new rewards show up for you.
A little tip to get yourself started:
In Ram Dass’s book Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook, he says to regard your thoughts as leaves falling into a moving stream. Acknowledge them as they pass you by. I’ve been using this approach to handle all sorts of things that come my way – conflicts at the office, sugar cravings after dinner, traffic, etc. I’m recognizing the circumstances, and letting them go without judgment or attachment. This is not to say that I don’t care about anything or don’t participate in anything; on the contrary, I feel like I have more feeling and have become more active. When I’m not distracted or irritated by things beyond my control, and I can see the paths that actually provide resolution.
See if you can allow things to enter and exit your mind without worry or reaction. The more times you succeed at this, the more you will be rewarded with patience while the things beyond your control run their natural course, and the more confident you will be in what role you can play in order to see things to a peaceful conclusion.
If you need a little encouragement, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m walking this path with you. We can figure it out together.
In service,
Sita