EQUANIMITY

Finding balance isn’t easy.  In Hatha yoga, we use our body, breath and meditation to help us go inside and see the truth.  If and when the truth reveals itself, we may or may not be inspired to do the work.   What, when and how we decide to make changes, balancing effort with no effort makes for an enjoyable journey.

In my yoga class the other day, a student asked ‘what is equanimity?’.  That made for a long interesting explanation by our teacher.  The word and its meaning are still on my mind, along with a true story about a special friend of mine who I call the Warrior Princess (hereinafter; WP).

How could a 15 year old girl find equanimity in her life?  When exactly did she know she was off balance?  Here’s what WP said;  ‘I knew I needed to change my lifestyle when I was constantly tired and had zero energy.  It wasn’t a normal feeling for someone my age.  My biggest lifestyle change was eating differently.  I asked my parents to stop buying certain foods that were always in the cupboard; like crackers and other snack foods.  The biggest challenge day to day is knowing how to plan my eating when I go out with my friends;  I ask myself, ‘do I want to indulge with the main entree and skip dessert or eat light at dinner and have the ice cream afterwards?’  My friends always eat a lot at dinner and the ice cream too, but I want to stay healthy and eat good food in reasonable portions…eating healthy is a lifestyle goal, not a ‘diet trick’.’

The Warrior Princess also said she felt motivated with her efforts and that feeling morphed into more inner energy for an easy transition while changing her eating behaviors.  WP said the hard part is staying consistent and not giving up if you don’t see or FEEL immediate results with weight and energy.

Follow the WP’s lead and dig deep for some mental muscle like she did and enjoy your health journey as if you were 15 years old and this was the first time you embarked on such an adventure.

It matters what type of food you bring in the house.  Why sabotage yourself with  crackers, popcorn, and ice cream?   You can’t bring it in the house people, we’re only human! Enjoy the high calorie, high fat, high sugar items outside the house and eat a reasonable PORTION when you make your choices like WP did and continues doing so with control and happiness.   Be mindful like the Warrior Princess, day to day, meal to meal and snack to snack.  WP enjoys bountiful amounts of fruit and vegetables…raw and crunchy carrots and celery, juicy peaches, plums, apples, bananas and oranges to keep her mentally and physically full and satisfied.  She also cooks cruciferous veggies like broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower. 

You know I eat, breathe and sleep food, nutrition and yoga and I was and am totally inspired by this 15 year old girl.  There are no diet tricks just like WP said, which means NO POWDERs, PILLs or POTIONs will bring us equanimity.

WP’s advice; ‘stock your fridge with good food and lose the snacks in the cupboard, most importantly don’t give up on yourself’.

Equanimity, comes from exactly what the definition says;  e·qua·nim·i·ty

mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.”she accepted both the good and the bad with equanimity”

Carry on my fellow Warrior Princes and Princesses, go forth in equanimity and enjoy the journey by all means.