Written by Jen Liu

When we catch the mind straying during mindfulness meditation, we practice something called "non-judgment": we acknowledge the thought without labeling it as good or bad, and return to our breath. Applicable to more than just our time on the cushion, though, the idea of cultivating equanimity — an unbiased, balanced view through good and bad, ups and downs — can become a lifelong pursuit for the practitioner who aspires to flow with change rather than fight it.

The concept of equanimity invites us to cultivate an inner stability deeper than the momentary joy or frustration brought about by causes and conditions. Not to be confused with apathy or indifference, equanimity isn't about shutting off or suppressing difficult emotions when they arise, but learning to meet them with a non-attached, non-judgmental view.

The way we "unstick" ourselves from thought formations during mindfulness meditation is the same principle by which we can practice "unsticking" from extreme emotions that we'd otherwise feel dominated by or overly identified with. The result is that we are able to face challenges with more flexibility and composure. In this way, equanimity is an enlarging exercise rather than a minimizing one: with an open-minded, open-hearted perspective, we can begin to respond to life's colorful and unpredictable scenarios with a light touch, the way water flows and wind blows with little resistance.

There is a degree of unknowable mystery as to why things unfold in our lives the way they do. As human beings with emotions, histories, desires, and aversions, we often can't help but project heavily onto the events of our lives and try to crack the riddle of “why me?” It is simply part of our nature to dramatize our existence — but the beauty is that equanimity is within our nature as well. It is in our capacity to develop balance and stability as things change, to accept the facts of our lives, relax into them, grow from them, and ultimately move along... maybe even with a smile on our face.