Maria Gonzalez Blog
Mindful Leadership

Through Equanimity We Gain and Maintain Our Personal Power

Equanimity develops as you train your mind, just as focus and clarity do. Equanimity is not something that you have full control over. Rather, you create the groundwork for equanimity to naturally arise in your life and in your experiences.

From an internal point of view, equanimity refers to accepting what is arising in your sensory experience without resisting or distorting it. For example, if you are angry, allow the sensations of anger to arise in your body—don’t interfere with the feel, or the physical sensations associated with your emotions.

Remember, when you experience equanimity internally, you can then choose your external response. This can mean that you choose to change the external situation you find yourself in. It can also mean that you choose to change nothing at all.

But how does equanimity manifest externally? What does it look like to others? What people see in an equanimous person is a deep calm and an even tone and temperament. The person is seen to be in total control, with sound decision making skills and judgment. He or she seems able to take facts into account, even in the heat of the moment, and to respond by addressing the issues rather than allowing things to get personal. Equanimous people are not derogatory, sarcastic, or insulting. Even when they call it as they see it, it is always about the situation, not the person.