Meditations of a Contemporary Contemplative: Volume 2

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You are free from conceptuality or any form of objectifying. The interested reader is referred to the extensive literature on this topic from the contemplative traditions, which is beyond the scope of the present review.

In other Buddhist texts, including those from the Mahayana traditions, more accessible forms of equanimity practice are introduced in the early stages of meditation training. Some of these contemplations are described in detail in the classic Intermediate Stages of Meditation by Kamalashila, an Indian master who wrote several treatises on introductory Buddhist practices Dalai Lama, a ; Thrangu Rinpoche, A more detailed contemplation would be: In order to do so, it is considered effective to meditate on three particular individuals personally known by the meditator: Observing how the mind reacts to thinking about each, the practitioner notices that, upon thinking of the enemy, the mind becomes irritated, resentful, or hateful; upon thinking of the friend, the mind becomes relaxed, comfortable, delighted; upon thinking of the stranger, there is neither irritation nor delight.

The next step is to look for the reasons the mind might have for these types of responses. We should note that this practice is not unique to the Tibetan tradition, as it can also be found in Theravadan texts such as Buddhaghosa, , page Equanimity has not been discussed much in the context of Western psychological theory. However, it appears in related concepts such as acceptance, non-judgment, non-striving, and non-reactivity—especially in the context of mindfulness meditation practice. Equanimity has also been conflated with emotional control and emotional suppression, which understandably can create confusion.

Here we attempt to clarify the concept of equanimity using the Theravadan Buddhist framework, but in the context of modern psychology and neuroscientific processes. We specifically propose and discuss the following: Psychoanalysis is focused on acknowledgement and acceptance of emotions. So while the early psychoanalysts did not promote equanimity practices in the form of formal meditation, the idea that all forms of emotions should be held in awareness with an attitude of acceptance in order to be healthy is the essential foundation of psychoanalytic theory.

While psychoanalysis focuses on the process of bringing unconscious emotions into awareness during the therapeutic encounter, more recent developments in psychotherapy more explicitly teach patients to alter their relationships to their inner experience in general. In this clinical context, equanimity is still not explicitly mentioned, but is implied in the form of a certain set of attitudes on how to relate to experience, which can be taught in the form of contemplative practices during the therapeutic encounter.

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We propose that this attitudinal component corresponds to a shift in perspective toward all experiences or objects, regardless of their affective valence pleasant, unpleasant or neutral or source. This process has been called psychological self-distancing, decentering, cognitive defusion, reperceiving, de-reification, or meta-cognitive insight Bishop et al. For example, poor meta-awareness skills increase the risk of recurrence of major depression Teasdale et al.

This process of disidentification results in greater clarity, perspective, and objectivity Shapiro et al. Such a process fits into traditional conceptualizations of emotion regulation. Emotion regulation also called self-regulation refers to any process that influences the onset, offset, magnitude, duration, intensity, or quality of one or more aspects of the emotional response Gross, Here we describe equanimity as an emotion regulation strategy that can change both the magnitude and quality of responses.

Behavioral strategies can be antecedent-focused, in which case the appraisal process is controlled through selection or modification of context to avoid the emotion altogether or to modify the emotional impact e. Behavioral strategies can also be response-focused, in which case it is the emotional expression e. Of note, these strategies all involve some form of effortful control, unlike equanimity. While equanimity has some overlap with the emotion regulation strategies described above, it is not identical with them, and in some cases may be opposite Chambers et al. Importantly, while attentional control is also a central aspect of mindfulness practice, in this case the focus of attention is not guided away from the emotion-triggering stimulus, but rather toward the stimulus, and also toward the internal emotional experience in response to it—such as the habitual experiences of wanting positive states to last, negative states to end, and neutral states to be less boring Williams, Mindfulness practice involves bringing sustained attention to the body and resting awareness on sensation during an emotional experience, which leads to a situation of exposure.

Equanimity leads to non-reactivity, which then naturally prevents habitual maladaptive response behavior. Engaging the emotional stimulus in this manner regulates the magnitude and duration of the emotional response. Rather than being stuck in the habitual reactions to the external and internal environment, one can experience the transitory nature of all related perceptions, emotions, or cognitions in each moment of experience. Once the purely sensory aspects of the emotional stimulus are recognized, one can choose to disengage from the mental elaborations that usually follow it.

In contrast to the response-focused reappraisal strategy, equanimity does not modify the cognitive interpretation of an external stimulus, but rather facilitates the recognition of such thoughts as transient, insubstantial mental events rather than accurate representations of reality Chambers et al. In other words, narrative, self-referential processing i. Thus, continued equanimity practice is predicted to yield the same outcome as stimulus-response reversal methods, where stimuli that formerly provoked reactivity are being responded to with an equanimous state and habitual patterns of maladaptive behavioral response are extinguished.

Both mental balance and cognitive flexibility are important for effective management of stressful emotional events. A balanced state of arousal between hyperexcitability and torpor helps conserve expenditure of mental and physical energy in the face of emotional challenge, while cognitive flexibility broadens the repertoire of possible behavioral responses.

Thoughts and emotions in response to a real or imagined stressor stimulate a coordinated set of bodily responses involving the interaction between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems McEwen, ; Sternberg, Under ideal circumstances, these coordinated responses allow the person to effectively cope with stress, such that when the stressful stimulus has passed, the body gradually returns to its regular state of rest. However, if there is a failure in coping, habituation, or recovery e. Equanimity can aid in the recovery from emotional or physical stress, helping the individual return rapidly back to a state of balance.

As indicated above, the timing of recovery from a stimulus is a crucial component of emotion regulation. Many strong emotions have evolved to function as signaling mechanisms sensitive to the onset and offset of environmental threats towards the individual. These mechanisms have had clear advantages for survival during the course of evolution; however, they are not necessarily adapted to the circumstances of modern life, in which they can lead to chronic stress.

It has been proposed that individuals differ in their emotional style, and that these individual differences can manifest as variations in physiological responses to emotional challenge Davidson, Davidson proposed that specific parameters of physiological response to emotional challenge can be objectively measured, including the threshold to respond, the magnitude of the response, the rise time to the peak of the response, the recovery function of the response, and the duration of the response see Figure 1.

The last three parameters correspond to different aspects of affective chronometry, or time course for emotional responding Davidson, We propose that these parameters could be used to measure certain aspects of equanimity. Different parameters of affective style and chronometry are depicted.

The magnitude of response corresponds to the height of the response at its peak. Duration is the time from the onset of response to the return to baseline. For example, in response to a loud noise, there may be a similar initial startle response, but with equanimity it is less likely to be followed by anxiety and the person will quickly return to their regular state. Furthermore, in our opinion equanimity does not necessarily entail a complete lack of physiological response to emotional challenges.

A lack of emotional response in circumstances when it is normally expected is usually considered a mark of psychopathology. As discussed above, mere indifference is very distinct from equanimity. Assessing equanimity, both subjectively and objectively, presents several challenges. For instance, as discussed above, equanimity may be difficult to distinguish from apathy, as both can lead to diminished emotional responses to a given stimulus or context.

However, in the case of equanimity, one still experiences care and interest in the situation. Therefore, a scientific measure of equanimity will ideally be able to distinguish it from apathy. Below we review previous studies that have used a variety of psychological, physiological, and neuroimaging methods to assess equanimity or emotional responding, either in experienced meditation practitioners or in longitudinal studies with novices, and suggest ways that these measures could be further developed towards a more complete measure of equanimity.

Buessing, Ostermann, and Matthiessen developed a questionnaire to measure distinct expressions of spirituality. In an assessment of the psychometric properties of a Resilience Scale, Lundman et al. They suggest that in order to maintain psychological equanimity, sources of meaning have to be preserved. Whenever an individual experiences disruption to one domain of self-meaning, alternative sources of meaning are being bolstered to regain equanimity. This definition is at odds with the one that we propose here based on the Buddhist tradition.

Other scales have recently been developed that assess constructs closely related to equanimity. Phenomenologically, nonattachment is described as having the subjective quality of not being stuck or fixated on ideas, images, or sensory objects and not feeling an internal pressure to acquire, hold, avoid, or change. This description corresponds well to the Buddhist definition of equanimity we have described here.

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While the scale includes an array of related constructs e. Another construct that is related to equanimity is the concept of decentering. The Experience Questionnaire developed by Teasdale, Segal and Williams assesses decentering, along with rumination. Studies have demonstrated good psychometric properties and construct validity of the scale and showed that the relevant items load on a single factor of decentering Fresco et al.

The construct is negatively related to experiential avoidance and positively related to emotion regulation. Finally, it should be noted that any self-report measure of equanimity is likely to face the same problems that the existing mindfulness questionnaires are facing, namely: While a number of these issues can be addressed, some are inherent to all self-report measures. In addition to the inherent limitations of self-report measures, study participants may not recognize their own equanimity if some emotions are still present, albeit transient and short-lived.

Some of these emotions may even have a high intensity, especially in individuals who had a tendency for blunted emotions before meditation training. Therefore, we propose that objective measures should be pursued to provide a more meaningful and accurate metric of equanimity. Physiological measures that may be relevant to measure equanimity objectively include autonomic, endocrine, and inflammatory markers. Indices of autonomic function have been used for decades in the field of psychophysiology to assess how emotions manifest in the body Ledoux, Popular indices include skin conductance, heart rate, respiratory rate, and heart rate variability HRV.

For example, skin conductance varies with sympathetic nervous system activation and can be used as an indication of psychological or physiological arousal. Many studies to date have investigated how these autonomic indices relate to emotion regulation e. We propose that these indices may also be used to assess equanimity from a physiological perspective. Other physiological markers relevant to emotion include stress hormones and immune markers such as cortisol and inflammatory cytokines, which affect the brain and are influenced by it in a bi-directional fashion Sternberg, However, responses vary across individuals, and it has been proposed that this variability may correspond to differences in emotion regulation skills across individuals Pace et al.

For example, Pace et al. In one case study, an experienced Buddhist monk showed a smaller startle response to a loud noise as measured by electrical activity of the muscles controlling eye blinks during meditation than during distraction. This case study suggests that external physiological measures can be indicative of different levels of equanimity. The above two sections describe complementary methods that could be used to measure equanimity.

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While physiological measurements may give more objective assessments, supplementary psychological self-reports could be used in combination with laboratory measures to help distinguish equanimity from apathy or other forms of top-down emotional regulation e. A number of recent neuroimaging studies have revealed possible neural mechanisms underlying equanimity, using various forms of emotional challenges, including pain.

While these studies were not explicitly designed to investigate equanimity per se , we believe that they offer important insights into how equanimity might manifest in the brain in various experimental contexts. In a recent study of experienced Vipassana meditators, these findings were replicated and extended with a neuroimaging investigation of the underlying neural mechanisms Gard et al. This suggests that this meditative state corresponds to a decrease in cognitive control of the pain, rather than a decrease in the pain sensation per se.

In response to pain heat stimulation, the experienced meditators exhibited lower pain sensitivity together with greater activation in primary pain sensory processing regions insula, thalamus, and anterior cingulate cortex and less activation in executive, evaluative, and emotion-related areas prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus compared to controls.

Importantly, the lower pain sensitivity in meditators was strongly predicted by decoupling between activity in the cognitive-evaluative prefrontal areas and sensory pain areas Grant et al. Other neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural correlates of emotion regulation in the context of meditation. In one of several recent neuroimaging studies of meditation, experienced Zen meditators perceived emotional pictures as less intense while being in a state of mindfulness than during rest, but that this happened without increased activity in modulatory prefrontal brain areas and without down-regulation of the amygdala, suggesting that it was not just a standard case of top-down control over low-level affective cerebral systems from higher-level cortical brain regions Taylor et al.

The difference between experienced and novice meditators indicate that emotion regulation strategies may shift dramatically with extensive meditation experience, following the development of greater equanimity that no longer requires active down-regulation of emotions. Another recent fMRI study suggests that, after eight weeks of shamatha focused attention meditation training, novice meditators exhibited a longitudinal decrease in amygdala activation in response to emotion-evoking stimuli, compared to before training Desbordes et al.

Importantly, throughout the experiment subjects remained in an ordinary, non-meditative state. This finding suggests that eight weeks of meditation training may affect emotional processing in everyday life, and not just during meditation. In addition, these patients also showed altered functional connectivity between the amygdala and regions of the prefrontal cortex which are known to be involved in the monitoring of arousal.

While studies on emotion regulation typically show a negative correlation between prefrontal regions and the amygdala when subjects down-regulate emotional responses, this study found a positive correlation between amygdala and prefrontal activation following mindfulness training, suggesting that the typical down-regulation of reactivity through the prefrontal cortex may have been replaced with a mere monitoring of arousal amygdala activation through the prefrontal cortex. These findings appear in line with our conceptualization of equanimity as the observance rather than suppression of emotional responses.

Interestingly, this study also showed a longitudinal difference in the timing of amygdala activation during the initial reaction to negative self-belief phrases a form of emotional challenge , when comparing before and after MBSR. After MBSR training, the amygdala response initially rose quickly, but then reverted after 4. This finding is in agreement with our proposition of a faster return to baseline in response to emotional stressors that would correspond to greater equanimity. Of note, the time course of amygdala activity in response to negative emotion stimuli has been linked to trait measures of affective style: A few other studies have investigated the temporal aspect of emotional reactivity and engagement with emotion.

These studies indicate that subjects trained in meditation show higher equanimity as defined by a faster disengagement from a stimulus once it has become irrelevant. Most studies discussed above indicate that experienced meditators, who purportedly have high levels of equanimity, show decreased activation in evaluative and regulatory brain regions but increased activation in sensory brain regions in response to emotion-evoking stimuli.

The above studies suggest that while experienced meditators exhibit neural activation patterns indicative of equanimity, beginner meditators tend to show patterns reflecting increased cognitive control and regulation. This is consistent with our hypothesis above that equanimity may take a longer time to develop than purely attentional skills. Beyond the emotional response to specific stimuli, recent neuroimaging studies have begun to look at spontaneously occurring brain states in expert meditators, who may have overall greater equanimity than non-meditators.

The investigation of spontaneous brain activity is a particularly promising approach for studying equanimous states because it may reveal underlying changes in connectivity between brain regions and synchrony within neuronal assemblies that are thought to shape our moment-by-moment responses to stimuli. For example, Brewer et al.

Other recent studies also found differences in functional connectivity in the default mode network between meditators and controls Jang et al. Overall, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the cultivation of specific meditative states, which are relatively short-term, can result in enduring changes in mental function, i. In summary, we introduced equanimity as a fundamental concept in meditation practice that we propose captures an essential psychological element in the improvement of well-being, and therefore should be a focus in future research studies of meditation and other contemplative practices.

Dissociating equanimity from mindfulness is a critical step in dismantling the neurocognitive, psychological, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms that enable the transformation of maladaptive processes into more adaptive ones. Here, we describe equanimity as a state and dispositional tendency that can be developed over time through specific contemplative practices. Equanimity transforms our sensory-perceptual and cognitive-emotional systems to widen our perspective on experience, more readily engage incoming sensory information, and more efficiently disengage cognitive-evaluative and emotional-reactive behaviors when appropriate.

Generally, this transformation is more gradual than the development of enhanced meta-awareness. Identifying mindfulness and equanimity as separate mental factors also facilitates a more cohesive and accurate nomenclature. Understanding the distinction between mindfulness and equanimity will also facilitate the development of more precise quantitative tools to assess each. Given the significant difficulties with previous self-report psychometrics in meditation research, we also propose that equanimity should be measured objectively in the laboratory instead of constricting this dynamic process into a solely self-report questionnaire.

While a self-report component will be useful for developing and validating the interpretation of objective metrics such as brain activity or physiological markers, most individuals will not be able to accurately assess their own levels of equanimity. In particular, in some instances the emotional response to a given stimulus may become larger, though more transient, with the development of equanimity, which could be confusing and counter-intuitive for many novice practitioners.

It should also be noted that although we have described how equanimity can be developed through the practice of meditation techniques, this does not exclude the development or expression of equanimity within other contexts, such as traditional psychotherapeutic techniques or mind-body practices e. We hope this article will stimulate research into developing new laboratory measures of equanimity that more comprehensively capture this important, multidimensional construct. Perhaps this is a small contribution to a larger shift in orientation around the whole issue of well-being and human flourishing, which so often seems to aim at maximizing pleasure and sustaining happiness while avoiding or eliminating pain and ameliorating the effects of emotional discomfort.

The authors would like to thank Andrea Grabovac for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Author manuscript; available in PMC Apr 1. Hoge , Britta K. Lazar , Andrew Olendzki , and David R. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. The publisher's final edited version of this article is available at Mindfulness N Y.

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See other articles in PMC that cite the published article. Abstract In light of a growing interest in contemplative practices such as meditation, the emerging field of contemplative science has been challenged to describe and objectively measure how these practices affect health and well-being. Introduction In recent years there has been increasing interest in the concept of mindfulness as well as in meditation techniques which can be used to develop it. Mindfulness and Equanimity in the Buddhist Tradition In this section we will review definitions of mindfulness and equanimity in the Buddhist tradition, provide an illustrative example of mindfulness and equanimity in everyday life, highlight important distinctions between equanimity and indifference, and describe some meditative and contemplative methods for cultivating equanimity drawn from the Buddhist traditions.

Definitions of Mindfulness and Equanimity The Buddhist tradition offers a very rich taxonomy of the different states, abilities, and qualities of the mind. Illustrative Example of Mindfulness and Equanimity To illustrate these concepts of mindfulness and equanimity with a simple example from everyday life, let us consider what happens when we are driving a car. Equanimity versus Indifference in Buddhist Psychology Buddhist psychology draws clear distinctions between equanimity and indifference.

Methods from the Buddhist Traditions for Cultivating Equanimity The even-mindedness that characterizes equanimity can be cultivated in various ways. In the words of the Dalai Lama: Equanimity in Western Psychology and Psychophysiology Equanimity has not been discussed much in the context of Western psychological theory. Equanimity Impacts the Time Course of Emotional Responses Thoughts and emotions in response to a real or imagined stressor stimulate a coordinated set of bodily responses involving the interaction between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems McEwen, ; Sternberg, Open in a separate window.

Generic representation of a typical physiological response to an emotional stimulus Different parameters of affective style and chronometry are depicted. Measuring Equanimity Assessing equanimity, both subjectively and objectively, presents several challenges. Physiological Measures Indicative of Equanimity In addition to the inherent limitations of self-report measures, study participants may not recognize their own equanimity if some emotions are still present, albeit transient and short-lived.

Putative Neural Mechanisms of Equanimity A number of recent neuroimaging studies have revealed possible neural mechanisms underlying equanimity, using various forms of emotional challenges, including pain. Conclusions and Future Directions In summary, we introduced equanimity as a fundamental concept in meditation practice that we propose captures an essential psychological element in the improvement of well-being, and therefore should be a focus in future research studies of meditation and other contemplative practices.

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