Tag: spirituality

Seasonal Transitions and the Practice of Equanimity:

Meditating through the cycles of life.

Transitions can be challenging, whether they involve seasonal changes, life events, or shifts in health. I find the seasonal transition from summer to autumn challenging for several reasons. Firstly, I experience seasonal pollen allergies this time of year that are hard to manage some days. Although my birthday is on the autumn equinox, I prefer summer because, as a mesa mermaid, swimming and paddling in the Rio Grande are favorite activities. Furthermore, watching my flower gardens slowly wilt and go dormant is something my heart struggles to accept. Wisdom teachers say that what we struggle with is our personal dharma practice, so mine is to accept seasonal changes with equanimity. Understanding that the cycles of life are reassuring reminds us to accept transitions. Mother Nature will rest for a while, and when spring comes, she will renew herself. 

Nonetheless, it doesn’t matter how many times we experience transitions; they can leave us feeling uneasy and uncertain. Change is a constant in life and the Five Buddhist Remembrances mirror the understanding of the inevitability of transitions. All beings are of the nature to grow old, to have ill health, to grieve loss, and to die. Everything changes, from our health to our thoughts and our physical bodies. We grow in many ways as we experience the transitions of life, and meditating with equanimity is a way to respond to these changes.

Equanimity is defined as “mental calmness, composure, … especially in a difficult situation” and is a way to navigate change that helps us accept transitions with grace and patience. In an article in Lion’s Roar entitled Finding a Better Balance, author Christiane Wolf points out that meditating with equanimity helps us welcome a more balanced perspective. 

  • Mindfulness helps us accept change as we observe the flow of thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the body without rushing to fix them. 
  • Be open and willing to accept things as they are in each moment.
  • Practice caring deeply with acceptance and nonreactivity.
  • Consciously living life will help us be equanimous over time. 

Meditation is referred to as a “practice” because it requires consistent repetition to reap its relaxing benefits. By practicing with equanimity, we learn to accept each moment as it is. We also express kindness and compassion to ourselves and others when life’s changes are challenging. Using mindfulness, we can accept what we can’t control. This awareness can be helpful because it reminds us that the cycle of life and the changing seasons are a natural, necessary part of life. Embracing change with equanimity and acceptance helps us stay present in the moment, identifying what we can change or alter and what we need to allow. 

Welcoming seasonal changes can be a ritual that brings us closer to our surroundings and helps us find balance between our body and the natural world. Several meditation practices come to mind that help cultivate equanimity in our daily lives. Sitting outdoors, watching the yellow-orange leaves slowly drifting, can be a calming and grounding experience. Walking meditation without a specific destination in mind can help us flow with what is happening around us, noticing those special moments when nature shows us resilience.  I particularly enjoy walking my backyard labyrinth as a flowing meditation, knowing that the path always returns to its origin. 

Sitting on the porch, sipping a cup of tea mindfully, with a smile on the lips, is a meditation practice that welcomes equanimity. “Drink your tea” is a metaphor for staying present in the here and now, as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh. “To be mindful is to be fully present with whatever we are doing. If you are drinking tea, just drink your tea. Do not drink your worries, your projects, your regrets.” Equanimity enables us to be present with whatever life brings into our awareness, encouraging us to experience all the emotions that arise from life’s transitions.

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director of Mindful Frontiers LLC, a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) based in Taos, New Mexico, dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness. We offer individuals, schools and organizations a variety of mindfulness and meditation tools designed to support and nurture positive social-emotional growth. Our mission is to “welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time,” guiding people towards greater awareness, emotional resilience, and a deeper connection with themselves and others. Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and labyrinth facilitator, with over 25 years of experience practicing meditation. Mindful Frontiers can be found on the Insight Timer app, YouTube and at our website, ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

Loving Kindness and Self-Compassion Meditation Offers Big Benefits

Children are born with an innate capacity to give and receive affection and compassion. We’ve noticed how young children absorb the smiles of others and instinctively reciprocate their heart-melting energy. We’ve watched a young child shed tears seeing another being in distress and noticed how they can join in laughter with others. As they grow older, this spontaneity wanes as life affects their lived experiences. They find out that others are not always kind and loving, that people can display hurtful behaviors, and life may become more challenging to navigate.  

Some ways to bring mindfulness into our daily lives are to pause, check in and genuinely wish ourselves and others well.

While the world is sometimes a hard place, mindfulness can help assuage the feelings that come from suffering, known as dukkha in the Pali language. The Four Noble Truths are a core concept in Buddhism, outlining the nature of suffering and the path to liberation from it. They are: the truth of suffering (dukkha), the truth of the origin of suffering (samudaya), the truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha), and the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (magga). The Noble Eightfold Path shows us a way to navigate the effects of suffering in our lives. This path is a set of eight interconnected principles that guide a wholehearted lifestyle.

The Noble Eightfold Path is a holistic approach to living a mindful and ethical life, with each aspect supporting and strengthening the others. Two of the paths, Right Intention and Right Mindfulness, include the cultivation of Loving Kindness and Present Moment Awareness. Through these areas of emotional intelligence, we learn to accept the changing nature of our life experiences, our own inner landscape, and the moods of others by generating compassion.

Some ways to bring mindfulness into our daily lives are to pause, check in and genuinely wish ourselves and others well. In the words of Thich Naht Hanh, “The first element of true love is loving kindness. The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness. You can be the sunshine for another person. You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself. So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself. Learn how to practice mindfulness in such a way that you can create [moments] of happiness and joy for your own nourishment. Then you have something to offer the other person.”

Mettà or Loving Kindness meditation is a guided practice that uses phrases that you repeat silently as you visualize yourself and others in the mind’s eye. Some basic phrases are: “May you be well; may you be happy; may you be peaceful and at ease.” Mettà takes a bit longer than a formal sitting practice, and it involves a step-by-step process as we express well-wishes to people in our lives, ourselves, and our community. It is helpful to be guided in this meditation so that we can be fully present and mindful of our body, breath, and mind as we follow the guidance and silently recite the phrases. In time, it is possible to guide ourselves in Mettà or to offer it on the fly as we go about our daily activities.

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of Mettà / Loving Kindness meditation and being guided in a formal practice, Mindful Frontiers offers a variety of options. At our Insight Timer portal, you will find a user-friendly online platform (app) offering a wide range of meditations. You may also wish to consider a private workshop for you and/or your family.


Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers, a B Corp based in Taos, whose mission is to welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time, and is dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness and meditation. We offer individuals, families and organizations a variety of practices designed to support and nurture positive social-emotional growth. Lifelong Taoseña Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and labyrinth facilitator. Mindful Frontiers is available on social media, on Insight Timer at insighttimer.com/amemanuelli, and at ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

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Tonglen practice for awakening compassion

When life is challenging, we can share kindness with the world.

Generating kindness and compassion during challenging times is a way to feel engaged in and supportive of the world. Helping others brings meaning to our lives and reminds us that we are all interconnected. Helping those in less fortunate circumstances opens our eyes to their struggles and brings perspective to our challenges. When we help others, we benefit society and ourselves. Tonglen is a compassionate meditation practice that awakens our potential for releasing suffering and seeking relief. 

The word tonglen comes from the Tibetan language and translates as giving and taking. Tong means giving or sending, and len means receiving or taking. Pema Chödrön, an American-born Tibetan monk who is a Tonglen practitioner and teacher, explains that in tonglen practice, “we visualize taking in the pain of others with every in-breath and sending out whatever will benefit them on the out-breath.” Tonglen meditation uses visualization and the breath to transform negative energy using messages that generate peace; in the process, we feel love for ourselves and others.

Tonglen originated in India and was brought to Tibet around the 11th century. The practice originated to help those suffering from serious diseases so people might heal and continue to help others. Buddhist monks would practice Tonglen with the intention of releasing the suffering of others in their community and the world at large. “Usually, we look away when we see someone suffering. Their pain brings up our fear or anger and our resistance and confusion. So we can also do tonglen for all people just like ourselves—all those who wish to be compassionate but instead are afraid, who wish to be brave but are cowardly.” (Chödrön)

Tonglen is similar to Loving Kindness (Mettà) in that we use the transformative power of the heart to channel healing. Although the overall intention of these practices is similar, tonglen welcomes the feelings of suffering into our hearts. We feel the pain and sadness before guiding the heart to transform the pain into compassion and extend it outward into the world. Chödrön explains the compassion practice further: “Tonglen can be done for those who are ill, those who are dying or have died, or those who are in pain of any kind. It can be done as a formal meditation practice or right on the spot at any time. If we are out walking and we see someone in pain, we can breathe in that person’s pain and send out relief to them.”

Compassion is not the same as empathy. A working definition of compassion is “the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.” A subtle difference is that empathy is the ability to understand another’s emotions, whereas, with compassion, we also desire to relieve their suffering. 

The following short tonglen practice can be offered for those struggling with illness or emotional suffering. It can be done sitting in meditation or on the fly as we go about our day’s activities.

Tonglen practice for families and groups. Young children can be invited to draw during this practice and use their creativity to channel compassion.

  1. Sitting in stillness with eyes closed, we welcome compassion into our hearts. Generate open awareness as you watch the breath go in and out, inviting the desire to fully awaken to compassion. Bring your attention to the heart and welcome feelings of love – this could be a golden light, an image of the Buddha, or an overall feeling of warmth. You may also choose to place your hands on your heart.
  2. Visualization of a person’s suffering using the breath and sensations. Breathing in and out welcomes an awareness of your or someone else’s suffering. Name the suffering (sadness, grief, pain). See the situation in as much detail as you wish. 
  3. Receiving and taking in suffering. Focus on the situation by seeing an image of the suffering. Use the in-breath to receive the image and transform it into something more positive on the out-breath. You may try using smoke changing into a healing white light. You can also see the person in pain and visualize their face turning into a smile. As you do this, recite several times: May this pain and suffering be released.
  4. Expand compassion by extending it to all who are in the same situation. Using the same in-and-out-breath practice described above, visualize and welcome an awareness of all who feel the same suffering. On each out-breath, offer them the mantra: May this pain and suffering be released. 

Conclusion of the practice: Sit in silence for several more breaths, enjoying the feeling of release and transformation. Recite the final mantra: May all beings be well and live with ease. When ready, open your eyes slowly, bringing awareness back to your environment and noticing your surroundings.

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC. Mindful Frontiers is a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) based in Taos, New Mexico, dedicated to promoting community wellness through mindfulness. We offer schools and organizations a variety of mindfulness & meditation tools designed to support and nurture individuals and groups with positive social-emotional growth. Our mission is to “welcome a mindful future, one present moment at a time,” guiding people towards greater awareness, emotional balance, and a deeper connection with themselves and others. Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and a certified labyrinth facilitator. Featured practices can be found on the Insight Timer app. Our website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠.

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