Guided Visualization – Equanimity

Here is a guided visualization to cultivate equanimity: Find a comfortable seat and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths, allowing your body to relax. Bring your attention to your breath. Notice the sensations of the breath moving in and out. Don't try to change your breathing, just observe it as it is. Imagine yourself sitting on the shore, watching the waves of the ocean. See the waves rise and fall, each one different yet all part of the same flow. Notice how some waves are large and crashing, others small and gentle. Just as the waves come and go, notice how thoughts, emotions, and sensations also arise and pass in your experience. Some may be pleasant, some unpleasant. Rather than grasping at the pleasant or pushing away the unpleasant, imagine you can simply observe them with an even, balanced awareness - like watching the waves come and go. When a thought, feeling or sensation arises, acknowledge it, but don't get caught up in it. Let it be, like a wave in the ocean. It will pass on its own. Rest in this even-minded, equanimous awareness. In this spacious presence, all experiences are allowed to come and go freely, without judgment or attachment. Take a few more deep breaths and open your eyes when you're ready. See if you can carry this sense of equanimity with you throughout your day.