Meditation and Equanimity

by Nina

Of course most of us realize that while meditation is an excellent stress management tool this is not its original goal nor its only benefit. But because I wanted to explain something to people who are newer to yoga about the relationship between meditation and equanimity, I’ve been delving a bit deeper into this subject. In general here’s what I’ve come up with so far. 

One of original goals of meditation was to quiet the mind. Because our minds are typically busy with thoughts, many of which disturb our equanimity—regrets about the past, worries about the future, and dissatisfaction with the present—quieting your mind allows you to experience feelings of peace and contentment. Meditation also fosters feelings of compassion, which improve your relationships with others. And you can use meditation to cultivate feelings of gratitude, which allows you to be more content with what you have and what you don’t have. In addition, the process of meditating allows you to observe your habitual thought patterns and emotional responses, which is the first step in changing them to more positive ones. 

Here are my thoughts about these four different aspects of meditation. If you have any of your own you’d like to contribute, I’d love to hear from you! 

Quieting the Mind

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali defines yoga as: 

1.2 “Yoga is the stilling of the changing states of mind.” —Edwin Bryant

Stilling the changing “states of mind”—also translated as the “whirls of consciousness”—means quieting the thoughts that cycle over and over in your mind. While not all our thoughts disturb our equanimity, when we are worried, anxious, sad, depressed, or even overly excited, we can be tormented by thoughts and emotions that whirl uncontrollably through us. What if I miss my deadline? What if the plane crashes? What if I can’t fall asleep tonight? If only my lover hadn’t left me. If only I wasn’t so helpless/afraid/overwhelmed. If only my parents had loved me more. I hate that person. I wish I had a different body. I suck at meditating. 

In classical yoga, quieting the mind is a necessary prerequisite for achieving the union with the divine that is yoga. But it is also recommended as the antidote to the kleshas, our reactions to life that disturb our equanimity and that are the source of our suffering. 

2.3 The five afflictions (klesas) which disturb the equilibrium of consciousness are: ignorance or lack of wisdom, ego, pride of the ego or the sense of ‘I,’ attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, fear of death and clinging to life. —Edwin Bryant

The simple act of regular meditation quiets your mind, but you may find that certain techniques work more effectively for you than others, depending on your particular personality or even just your current circumstances. So you might wish to experiment with several different techniques, perhaps even keeping record of the state of your mind both before and after practice for several days in a row. See Yoga Meditation Techniques for information about how to meditate. See Thoughts About Quieting the Mind for more information about quieting the mind. 

Self-Study with Meditation 

By using our witness mind as we meditate, we can engage in self study (svadhyaya) to learn more about habitual thought patterns and emotional responses that we might not even be aware of. The witness mind is that part of our minds that allows us to observe ourselves in action while we are acting. The Sankrit word for witness is sākshī (saa-kshe), and it refers to the “pure awareness” that witnesses the world but does not get affected by it or involved with it. The term combines “sa,” which means “with,” and “aksha,” which means “senses or eyes.” So the sakshi is an awareness that can disengage from any identification with thoughts and observe them “with its own eyes.” Another meaning of the word aksha is “the center of a wheel.” When a wheel turns, the spokes revolve and the outer rim rotates, but the center—the hub of the wheel—is still. So the witness mind remains steady while events turn around it. 

In meditation, your witness mind observes when your attention has wandered from the object of your meditation—and to what. Rather than floating down the stream of your thoughts, you sit on the shore and impartially observe from a distance. And as you observe with detachment what’s happening within you—your sensations, thoughts, emotions, and feelings—you start to recognize patterns that you may later decide to change. Observing your habits can help you change the way you react to stress (see Changing the Brain's Stressful Habits). And it can help you in general to change your patterns of reactivity (see Meditation and Brain Strength). All of this will help you cultivate equanimity in your daily life. 

You can also use your witness mind during your asana practice by cultivating mindfulness. To do this, step back and tune into the constant judging and reacting to inner and outer experiences that constantly stream through your mind. Eventually you can use on your witness mind during any activity. 

See The Power of Svadhyaya (Self Study) for more information about self study. See Yoga Meditation Techniques for information about how to meditate. 

Compassion 

1.33 By cultivating an attitude of friendship toward those who are happy, compassion toward those in distress, joy toward those who are virtuous, and equanimity toward those who are nonvirtuous, lucidity arises in the mind. —trans. by Edwin Bryant 

In addition to quieting your mind and teaching you its workings, meditation provides interpersonal benefits. Scientists have shown that the practice of meditation increases compassion. And becoming more compassionate clearly fosters better relationships with people in your life as well as strangers who are suffering.

In general, a regular meditation practices seems to have this effect. Scientists who studied this phenomenon speculated that there are two possible explanations for this. The first is that because meditation improves your ability to pay attention, this might improve your ability to notice what’s going on with someone else (as opposed to being lost in your own thoughts). Another explanation is that meditation helps us to experience the interconnectedness of all beings. Interestingly, a study showed that when people meditated on "non-referentail" compassion, the regions of their brains responsible for planned action were activated, as if they were preparing to aid people in distress. So you may find yourself with an urge to help others—always a good thing, both for them and you.

A regular meditation practice of any kind will foster compassion but if you wish to work on this intentionally, you could: 

1. Choose a person for whom you wish to cultivate compassion and before meditating set the intention that your practice will dedicated to them. Then check in again by thinking of that person after you finish. 
2. Use the word “compassion” as a mantra. 
3. Practice the Loving Kindness Meditation, a structured meditation designed to help you open your heart and cultivate compassion towards people close to you as well as strangers. Or practice any other formal meditation designed to foster compassion. 

See Meditation and Compassion for more information about meditation and compassion. See Yoga Meditation Techniques for information about how to meditate. 

Gratitude

Meditating on gratitude can have a profound effect on your mood and state of mind. In fact, scientists have actually identified the biochemical explanations for this. Apparently feeling grateful activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine, your reward and pleasure center, and gratitude toward others increases activity in your social dopamine circuits, which makes social interactions more enjoyable. And even just trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life, which boosts our serotonin levels, which increases happiness. 

To cultivate gratitude in your meditation practice, you can use the following techniques: 

1. Use the word “gratitude” as a mantra. 
2. Use one thing for which you are grateful as the object of your meditation, either as a mantra or an image. 
3. Set the intention that as you meditate you will notice things you are grateful for as they naturally arise in your mind. 
4. Practice any formal meditation practice designed to cultivate gratitude. 

Of course, when you are being harassed by negative thoughts, it often isn’t easy to find and focus on things you are grateful for. But apparently the effort of remembering to look for gratitude alone provides the benefits. And just like strengthening a muscle, a regular gratitude practice makes you stronger at being grateful over time. So you’ll be improving in your gratitude practice as you age! See The Biochemical Basis for a Gratitude Practice for more information on a gratitude practice. See Yoga Meditation Techniques for information about how to meditate. 

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Thoughts about Quieting the Mind

by Nina

Number 48 by Jackson Pollock*

The first time I read the definition of yoga in Patajanli’s Yoga Sutras, I have to admit my eyes glazed over a bit. Okay, a lot. 

1.2 Yoga cittavritti nirodha
1.2 Yoga is the cessation of the movements in the consciousness. — Iyengar  

It seemed so abstract! What are the movements in the consciousness? And why do you want them to cease? And what did all that have to do with what I’d been learning in my yoga classes? 

It wasn’t until I heard Patricia Walden discussing the meaning of the compound word “cittavrtti” (translated above as “movements in the consciousness” with “citta” being “consciousness” and “vrtti” being “movements”) that I had my little epiphany. Patricia described the vrttis as being “revolutions” of the mind and connected the word “vrtti” to the “revolved” poses we do in our asana practice, such as Parivrtta Trikonasana, Parivrtta Arda Chandrasana, and Parivrtta Janusirsasana. 

The Whirls of Consciousness

Once I learned that vrttis could be thought of as “revolutions” of the mind, I started to think about the way our minds tend to cycle over and over with the same thoughts. When we are depressed or anxious or mentally stressed out, aren’t we tormented by negative thoughts and emotions that go round and round? What if I miss my deadline? What if the plane crashes? What if I can’t fall asleep tonight? Or, if only my lover hadn’t left me. If only I wasn’t so helpless/afraid/overwhelmed. If only my parents had loved me more. (See Yoga Sutra 1.2: Restricting the Whirls of Consciousness). Later Baxter added to my understanding of this by pointing out that in addition to fears about the future and regrets about the past, our vrttis can include judgments about the present, such as “I suck at meditating,” or “I hate that person.” 

In fact, the Yoga Sutras identifies five afflictions that basically sum up all the negative thoughts we tend to experience.  

2.3 avidya asmita raga dvesha abhinevesha klesah


The five afflictions (klesas) which disturb the equilibrium of consciousness are: ignorance or lack of wisdom, ego, pride of the ego or the sense of ‘I,’ attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, fear of death and clinging to life. —Edwin Bryant 

Now the idea of being able to quiet those thoughts—to cease their movements—seemed quite appealing! (Not all the vrttis are negative thought patterns, by the way; those are just my example of some vrttis I’d really like to restrict. Edwin Bryant defines the vrttis as “any sequence of thought, ideas, mental imaging, or cognitive acts performed by the mind, intellect, or ego.”)  

So that’s why I started to prefer a different translation of the same sutra, one that translated “vritti” as “whirls” rather than movements or fluctuations.

1.2 Yoga is the restriction of the whirls of consciousness. —Georg Feuerstein 

That's very evocative, isn't it? It made me think of a Jackson Pollock painting....
 
Quieting the Mind  

In yoga philosophy, the whirls of consciousness not only cause suffering by disturbing our equanimity, but they also prevent us from being present and realizing the truth. Patanjali states the aim of quieting the mind in very next sutra:

1. 3 When that is accomplished, the seer abides in his own true nature. —Edwin Bryant  

So how do we quiet the mind? Yoga was initially developed (or perhaps “evolved” is a better word) for that purpose. Thousands of years of different kinds of yoga practice have resulted in a lot of different methods for quieting the mind, including meditation, breath practices, and chanting. But traditionally the recommended practice is meditation (see Samyama: The Trinity of Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi ). As the Yoga Sutras says: 

2.11. The states of mind produced by these klesas are eliminated by meditation. — Edwin Bryant 

Interestingly, Desikachar has a completely different and very straightforward translation of sutra 1.2, which essentially defines meditation in a nutshell. In his definition, the moment of quieting the mind through meditation IS yoga.  

1.2 Yoga cittavritti nirodha
1.2 Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward and object and sustain that direction without any distractions. —Desikachar 

Whether or not the aim of your practice is to achieve union with the divine or simply cultivate contentment, the concept of quieting the mind is useful because restricting the whirls of consciousness fosters equanimity. It also teaches you about how your mind works. When you start to become aware of the vrttis—of the way your mind gets caught up in them—they start to lose some of their power over you and you can begin the process of separating yourself from them.

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