EPISODE 13

Cultivating Equanimity In The Turbulent Times for Therapists

In this episode of The Practitioner’s Heart, Poh explores a quality that feels especially essential in today’s world: equanimity.

As global instability, conflict, and uncertainty ripple through our collective nervous system, many therapists find themselves holding not only their clients’ distress but their own. This episode offers a Buddhist-informed and embodied approach to staying present without becoming overwhelmed, shut down, or consumed.

Why Everything Feels More Intense Right Now

When the world feels unstable, our nervous systems naturally become more reactive.

For therapists, this can show up as:
• over-empathy and emotional exhaustion
• vicarious anxiety during sessions
• difficulty switching off after work

This is not a personal failure it is a human response to sustained uncertainty and exposure to collective suffering.

What Equanimity Really Means

Equanimity is often misunderstood.

It is not indifference.
It is not detachment.
And it is not spiritual bypassing.

Equanimity is the capacity to stay open and steady in the presence of difficulty without collapsing into it or pushing it away.

It allows us to care deeply, while remaining grounded.

The Ocean Beneath the Waves

Poh introduces the metaphor of the ocean:

At the surface, there are waves constant movement, urgency, and turbulence.
But beneath the surface, there is depth, stillness, and steadiness.

Equanimity is the practice of returning to that depth.

Not by escaping the waves but by learning to drop beneath them.

Non-Attachment and Impermanence

A key part of equanimity is understanding non-attachment.

This is not avoidance or disconnection.
It is the ability to engage fully without clinging or grasping.

When we truly understand impermanence that all experiences arise and pass our sense of urgency softens. We no longer need to control everything.

We can respond, rather than react.

A Practical Tool: The 20% Anchor

This episode introduces a simple but powerful practice:

The 20% Anchor.

While holding space for clients, gently keep a small portion of your awareness, even just 20% anchored in your body, breath, or physical environment.

This allows you to:
• stay connected to yourself
• regulate your nervous system in real time
• remain present without becoming overwhelmed

Expanding Capacity, Not Numbing

Equanimity is not about shutting down emotion, it is about expanding our internal capacity to hold it.

Like the “tablespoon of salt” metaphor, when our internal space is small, even a little distress feels overwhelming. But when we expand, the same experience becomes more workable.

This is the practice.

A Gentle Return

Equanimity grows each time we return:
to the breath
to the body
to awareness

Again and again.

For therapists navigating burnout, compassion fatigue, or the emotional weight of the world, this episode is a reminder:

You do not have to carry everything.
You can care deeply and still remain steady.

🎧 Listen to Cultivating Equanimity in Turbulent Times for Therapists on The Practitioner’s Heart.