You know the problem with relying solely on your will-power, It is a process of the conscious mind and so requires a great deal of energy to get results. Unfortunately, it has its limits. This is because it does not use the subconscious mind. It often is in conflict with unconscious drives. You may make some limited progress, but it is like driving with the brakes on. The result often is that you fall back and get frustrated. This totally derails your efforts because you typically will summon forth more effort and get more frustrated when it again does not work. The example of broken New Year’s resolutions is well-known.
What is the solution? You need another approach. An approach that does not rely primarily or exclusively on will-power. The equipoise method is your answer. You practice developing and maintaining a calm, objective state of mind. This raises your self-awareness. The more aware you become, the more calm and objective you are. In this state you can more easily deal with life and life’s challenges and difficulties as they arise without undue effort. The equipoise exercise allows you to connect and harness your subconscious mind to your benefit rather than have it working against you.
When you are calm and still you can learn to gain insight into your state of imbalance. You do not try to fix it, you simply learn to observe it. By watching the unwanted thoughts arise, you gain control of them. It is so simple, yet so effective. It takes some practice, but it is truly magical in its results. We do not focus on results as in the will-power case. We also do not focus on trying to feel better, either. We simply and quietly access our equipoise state and allow the exercise of it to take care of things. We do not struggle with unwanted thoughts and behaviors. By simply becoming more aware of them from the equipoise state, we watch them arise and as they arise we do not get involved in them. As a result they evaporate without effort. The only effort required is to practice the exercise which is very simple to do. Like riding a bicycle, you may take a little practice to be able to access your sense of balance and be able to ride it. Pretty soon you will be saying “look ma, no hands! Of course you must get onto the bicycle in order to ride it. That is why I am going to share the practice with you here.
