AoH Defintions: Equanimity

Equanimity is a state of mind taught in yoga and Buddhism.  Sometimes called indifference in Buddhism; it is balance, evenness, calmness, emotional stability and composure, even amid challenging experiences. It is our ability to stay in the present moment, and in coherence, even in the face of triggering experiences. In an equanimous state, we are able to feel and experience the full spectrum of emotions, stay with the somatic experience to completion without reacting by moving to conditioned and well-worn paths of clinging to pleasure and attempting to rid oneself of pain.

 It is the practice of responding over reacting. From a psychobiological perspective, this means that: I am no longer and/or am conscious of my tendency to use protective responses to tamp down on my survival instincts (fight or flight). I am allowing these primal responses to rise up to conscious level and to be re-absorbed by my soma (body). As state (biology/physiology) creates story, I am clearing my body of all unprocessed survival-response material so that my mind can create a new story. This allows me to have a new and different experience in my life. This, is a fully integrated ego.

 As the practice of equanimity becomes more honed via somatic work via expanding capacity and resilience, decisions will begin to come from the heart and gut space (intuition) more often than the thinking mind (cortex). There will be a deep trust in that “my body holds the wisdom of the ancestral and animal parts of me that have allowed my organism to evolve and survive for over 500 million years.” Those that have this type of agency are naturally trustworthy as they are trusting of their own Self.