Wiser by Day
Even Keel · Lesson 1 of 6 · Free
Notice the swing
Stay steady through good days and bad, without going numb.
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Listen to Notice the swing
Playback starts only when you choose Play. The recording includes the teaching and reflection prompts. Quiet practice time is separate from the recording.
Read the recording transcriptThe lesson
Welcome. Life swings between good days and bad ones, and most of us swing with it. Over six short days, we'll practise staying level, without going numb. Today, we simply notice the swing.
As things alike to thee--pleasure or pain, Profit or ruin, victory or defeatThe Bhagavad Gita, spoken by Krishna to Arjuna · The Song Celestial, chapter 2
Edwin Arnold, 1885
This passage is sometimes read as advice to stop caring. It isn't. The word is alike, and the point is about how we meet things, not whether they matter. Pleasure and pain, profit and ruin: you'll still feel them. The practice is to keep your footing while they pass through. Today we're not trying to steady anything yet. We're only noticing how far the swing goes, and how fast.
Try it for yourself
A short reflection
Recall your day so far. Find one moment that lifted you and one that dragged you down, even slightly. Notice how your body responded to each. Don't judge it. Then notice what's here now, between the two, and rest there. If a memory is too strong, let it go and follow your breath. Take two and a half minutes.
One question to write about
What lifted you, and what dragged you down, today?
You can reflect without writing. Nothing you think or write on this page is collected.
Recording transcript
This text follows the recorded narration. Source credits for the quoted passage appear above.
Welcome. Life swings between good days and bad ones, and most of us swing with it. Over six short days, we'll practise staying level, without going numb. Today, we simply notice the swing. From the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Sanskrit poem, in Edwin Arnold's English verse of 1885. Here Krishna advises the warrior Arjuna, before a battle, on meeting whatever comes. As things alike to thee--pleasure or pain, Profit or ruin, victory or defeat The Bhagavad Gita, spoken by Krishna to Arjuna, The Song Celestial, chapter 2. This passage is sometimes read as advice to stop caring. It isn't. The word is alike, and the point is about how we meet things, not whether they matter. Pleasure and pain, profit and ruin: you'll still feel them. The practice is to keep your footing while they pass through. Today we're not trying to steady anything yet. We're only noticing how far the swing goes, and how fast. Recall your day so far. Find one moment that lifted you and one that dragged you down, even slightly. Notice how your body responded to each. Don't judge it. Then notice what's here now, between the two, and rest there. If a memory is too strong, let it go and follow your breath. Take two and a half minutes. What lifted you, and what dragged you down, today? That's enough for today. Tomorrow, we look at the part we've been handed.