Being in the now…who do you know that is 100% in the now, all the time, undisturbed by their thoughts or suffering? Anyone? There is no such thing as perfection. We are perfectly imperfect. I have experienced moments of peace, moments without thought, moments of undisturbed calm…and these moments of being present increase for me with practice…and they are moments I am grateful for. Life is a meditation practice. Sometimes we get caught up in our thoughts and our suffering and we let it define who we are, and we keep coming back, and coming back, and coming back to the present.
Equanimity is being in the now…it is a calmness and inner peace in the present, whether you’re experiencing pleasure or pain. When we are in the now, the mind views pleasure and pain as one and the same.
The highs. The lows. They all balance out when there’s equanimity in what we feel and experience.
What keeps us from experiencing equanimity is our memories, imprints of the past and anxiety about the future. Dwelling on the past or worrying about the future often results in a fight or flight response, which is exhausting, depleting, and draining. When we live more fully in the present moment, what results is a rest or relax response – a calm inner peace. When we hold onto our pain, suffering, and trauma, we are bound by them. There is no way out. There is no living in the now. Yet in reality, all there ever is and was and will be is now. So, we keep coming back to the present – yes, sometimes, perhaps often, our peace and calm is disturbed and the beauty is that we have the ability to practice coming back right now.
One of the most physically (and emotionally) painful experiences in my life was giving birth to my son. It was also one of the most joyful experiences in my life. Why? Because I was in it. Just in it. Fully present in the pain and the joy. There was no yesterday or tomorrow, only the moment and the next moment, the next now. Did my birth experience go the way I imagined? No. And, it went and I was not numb to it. I felt every single now.
We suffer when we have anxiety about the future. We suffer when we dwell on the past and allow the imprints of our memories determine who we are now. Ultimately, we are not our pain, suffering, or past trauma, though we often live as if we are.
Equanimity is the experience of being fully present in the here and now. Pain, sadness, heartache are just as much equanimity as pleasure, joy, and happiness.
You just have to be with it in the now…and as Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “turn your garbage into flowers.”
“Flowers and garbage are both organic in nature. So, looking deeply into the nature of a flower, you can see the presence of the compost and the garbage. The flower is also going to turn into garbage; but don’t be afraid! You are a gardener, and you have in your hands the power to transform garbage into flowers, into fruit, into vegetables. You don’t have to throw anything away, because you are not afraid of garbage. Your hands are capable of transforming it into flowers, or lettuce, or cucumbers.
The same thing is true of your happiness and your sorrow. Sorrow, fear, and depression are all a kind of garbage. These bits of garbage are part of real life, and we must look deeply into their nature. You can practice in order to turn these bits of garbage into flowers. It is not only your love that is organic; your hate is too. So you should not throw anything out. All you have to do is learn how to transform your garbage into flowers.” -Thich Nhat Hanh, You are Here
UPDATE: Posted on Facebook after sharing blog…
This morning I pulled up to the studio, parked, and unloaded three bags and a couple boxes from my van. As I took my first step with my hands full of items to take into the studio, the heel of my foot came down on a small broken piece of glass standing at the perfect angle to go through my shoe and into my callused foot. Without taking another step, I lifted my heel and put all the things I was holding down. I pulled the glass out from my shoe that had pierced through the skin of my heel, feeling quite thankful for my callused foot. (That’s what happens when you spend plenty of time barefoot.) I gathered my items, walked into the studio, took my shoes off, cleaned up my heel, and prepared to teach my yoga class. Breathe…
It’s very easy when something like this happens to let it set the tone of your day. You wake up and stub your toe. You go to leave your house and you have a flat tire. You misplace your keys, your glasses, or your wallet. Whatever it may be that takes place in a matter of seconds we allow to ruin a 24-hour day (or more). However, at any moment in time, we may choose something different.
We can take the garbage of our life and create more garbage, or we can “transform our garbage into flowers,” as Thich Nhat Hanh so eloquently wrote. Timely that this shard glass my foot came just after posting a blog on this topic. I believe it’s an opportunity for me to practice being present and turning my garbage into flowers.
Have a beautiful day.
Anna Ferguson is the author of World Peace Yoga: Yoga for People Who Breathe, a book on yoga that inspires peace in action, developing intuition, deepening empathy, and expanding compassion. Connect with Anna via Instagram @annafergusonpeace or via Facebook or join her for a class in the studio or online at worldpeaceyogaonline.com. Click here to learn more about Yoga Teacher Training.
