Episode 23: The Equanimity Factor
Episode 23 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Dr Joey Weber come on to the show to talk about all things equanimity - what it means, how we can implement it and how it interfaces with mindfulness and compassion.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
How equanimity is a bridge that moves mindfulness to compassion.
The work he undertook in establishing and validating the Equanimity Barriers Scale.
Why mindfulness used for the right purpose improves the human experience.
Dr Joey Weber is an author, equanimity enthusiast and lecturer in Health and Social Care at University of Bolton. His book Why Mindfulness Is Not Enough... explores the recent popularity of mindfulness practice and how it interacts with bias, compassion and equanimity.
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation...
Diminishing windows of tolerance have an adverse affect on compassion.
”If we're not exercising our tolerance and our resilience on a day-to-day basis and putting our nervous system out in different places that are not necessarily comfortable, then actually, this is shrinking to such an extent that we're finding it very difficult to have any form of compassion for ourselves and others because we're in a state of neuroses.”
Recognising that our biases have their place can lead us to understanding compassion.
”Because I think bias obviously gets a really bad rep, but it's natural and we naturally kind of lean towards groups of people and hobbies and behaviours... so sometimes I think that it's quite extreme to be like: "Everyone love everyone!" It's kind of a false Utopian vision of what humanity's like. There's so many nuances, so it's a mind that's able to hold all the complexity and all the nuances together, without necessarily acting with autopilot judgement, heavy judgement.”
Joey characterises a difference between equanimity, discernment and judgement.
”As a human I think it's impossible to be non-judgemental. It's actually an oxymoron. And it's far better to go into, "Oh look I'm judging like this", before then choosing to let go or not, rather than just kind of adopting the stance of, "Oh I'm not judging whatever happens." So there's a difference between equanimity and then discernment and judgement.”
The best place to find Dr Joey Weber is here.
See you next week!
