Postures: Notes Copy

I mentioned the word “equanimity” in the video, but it deserves more than a few seconds of explanation. Equanimity is non-judgmental awareness, and it is an essential part of meditation. In normal, everyday awareness, people judge experiences as “good” or “bad,” and tend to turn them into concepts by using labels like “pleasure” or “pain.” For example, you may judge sensations in your legs or back as “painful”, and label them as “pain” or “aching.” But those judgments and labels do not accurately reflect reality. Instead, judgments and labels distract you from being able to simply observe the experience, as it is. By simply observing the sensations (without labeling them or judging them), you’ll notice that they are not inherently painful or pleasurable; they just are. The more you practice observing your experiences with equanimity, the more you can get beyond judgements and labels, and just feel things, as they actually are. This can help you transcend all kinds of pain (both physical and emotional), experience pleasure without clinging to it, and much more.