This roundtable discuses the third podcast in the Staying Composed series and is titled ‘Cultivating Equanimity Within Everyday Life’. Topics discussed included: how so many small things can build equanimity; how we should cultivate a certain skepticism or epistemological humility in the face of misinformation and disinformation; how we need to transcend particular disputes looking for the larger picture; how we need to strike a balance in attending to, and turning away from, media reporting; why we ought to be grateful for our existence; how eudemonic happiness is central to equanimity in modern times and the importance of having a ‘why’ for what we do’; how authentic relationships are central to general equanimity and the primacy of action in the face of a divided world.

The first 2 podcasts in the Staying Composed in Troubling Times series focused on more direct psychological strategies for equanimity, but the focus in this third podcast is on less direct, but nonetheless very practical strategies that lead to inner calm and composure. I broke these into four, overlapping categories: 1 Maintaining physical health & resilience; 2. Intentional information and media consumption; 3. The active pursuit of purpose and of awe and; Prosocial action, compassion, gratitude and civility. Although there is much to worry about in the world, it is fortunate that there are so many ways to practically nurture equanimity and this series, hopefully, gives people a few extra practices they can add to their wellbeing toolkit!

Today in this Music & Mental Health Podcast I’m talking with artist, composer and record producer Robert Koch, who is much better known by his stage name, Foam and Sand. Originally from Germany, At the age of 13 he was inspired by MTV videos and embarked on his musical career. Now residing in Los Angeles, Robert has a stellar background in composing and producing his own work as well as for other major artists. Our topics are creativity and music and their relation to mental health, with a focus on what challenges our wellbeing and our creativity and what Robert has found that nurtures his creativity as well as he physical and mental wellbeing. I found this conversation very uplifting, and topics touched on included: the toll that touring took on him physically and psychologically; his decision to follow his passion, trust his intuition & stop touring; artistic sensitivity as a ‘super-power’; the relationship between intuition and a sense of coherence; meditation and accessing intuition; egolessness and the problems of the ego; healthy perfectionism and intrinsic motivation; being comfortable with the unknown; and other topics.

This roundtable on cultivating equanimity psychologically, with my esteemed friends from Nettwerk Music, explored many implications of the podcast: that you can always exert some control over your response to the world; that playing the victim keeps us stuck and is a psychological trap that extends our suffering; that the Fundamental Attribution Error feeds into polarisation and hatred; that mindfulness is at the core of slowing down and magnifying mental contents so they can be recognised and changed; that we must start with self before we try to change others and the world, and thereby we can better infleunce others; and that choosing our repsonse is circumscribed by the very real constraints on our access to high qulaity information and knowledge, and by the pressures to 'choose a side' and not take more nuanced and middle-gound positions. As always with my colleagues from Nettwerk, thsi was a wonderful conversation!

Many of us are finding contemporary life unsettling. This second podcast in the series focuses on psychological pathways to equanimity. We cover a lot of gground: the Serenity Prayer and the freedom that potentially lies in the space betwen stimulus and response; the power to choose as exemplified by Viktor Frankl; The role of courage and of Mindfulness in equanimity; the Buddhist notion of the Sacred Pause and how this can be applied using the 2 Conditions Test and finally, how all of these strategies are 'defusion' techinques as we defuse our identity from our automatic thoughts and feelings.

This roundtable with my colleagues from Nettwerk Music explores the podcast with Martin Kerr, a British Canadian singer songwriter based in Edmonton, Canada. It was a broad-ranging discussion on topics including: creativity as a connection to the ‘undermind’ or unconscious intelligence; the central role of intuition in this process; the role intuition has in life decisions and career moves; the importance of learning from one’s own experience and the problem that others can’t really tell you what you should do; the centrality of music in communal spirit; how music can be a mirror window into the human experience that allows that listener to connect to the artist through this feeling; collective effervescence in a group as a feeling that transcends you, but includes you; eudemonic joy being based in meaning and purpose beyond self; and how the latter relates to the purpose at Nettwerk of connecting people and artists. A great discussion!

This roundtable discussion of the first 'Staying Composed' podcast is full of deep and practical questions and insights. The topics discussed included: how equanimity is not a one-off, not a black and white phenomenon, but rather an ongoing activity that results in a continuous changing of our experience; how often after a triggering reality is in the past, we have to now apply equanimity to our ongoing thoughts, feelings and reactions; the power of taking one's upset as useful data and thereby choosing to be less upset and taking relevant action as a result; the issue of virtue signalling where'I'm superior to you because you are not suffering as much as I am'; how everyone has to find their own path to equanimity; how elite sportspeople practice a type of equanimity; and about de-identifying with, and letting go of, upset in favour of pragmatic problem-solving. A wonderful conversation.

The central theme of this podcast series is equanimity as the antidote to the stress of living in turbulent times. Defined as the ability to maintain inner calm when the world around us is objectively disturbing, this podcast begins by exploring the nature of equanimity. We see that it is a very active psychological state that is in dynamic engagement with the world. It is not passive and is not a state of retreat from the world. We then suggest there are three broad methodologies for cultivating equanimity: Psychological; Practical and Action-Based; and Social. We begin by exploring the foundations of emotional intelligence: remembering to take responsibility for our emotions. We then see how paying attention to our reactions, especially our mindset, allows us to rethink and to redirect our attention, and thereby, to be more equanimous. The following podcasts will go into more depth in explaining these three broad ways to cultivate equanimity.