All we need is just a little patience...

It’s summer, and not only are temperatures rising but so can tempers. With summer comes family vacations, trips to theme parks and trips to visit other family. The saying “patience is a virtue” could never be truer.

Things requiring our patience include: waiting in a long line; traffic; visiting family; waiting for an important call or email; waiting for a late friend or business associate for a meeting; waiting for a delayed plane, train or bus; waiting for a child to express what they want or finish what they are saying; and managing a child that does not want to go to bed or take a bath or eat their food.

Research supports patience is not something we are born with, rather it is something we learn.

Yoga has been a tremendous vehicle for me to learn patience in my life. I still remember my first yoga class- my feet, hot and sweaty, were slipping on the mat in a yoga pose in which I was trying to look good. As I followed the instructor’s many verbal cues: “square your hips, turn your back foot at a 45 degree angle, make sure your front knee is not over your ankle, reach your arms up... and breathe”, I really wondered when I was going to experience the calm everyone talked about!! After ten years of practice, I feel I’ve come a long way and I still find patience is the key to my practice.

I find the patience I practice in yoga follows me off the mat and in the grocery line, in traffic, waiting for someone to get back to me or even teaching a yoga class with several chatty kids.

Here are some ways to practice Patience:

• Take deep breaths.
• Count to ten.
• Practice patience in small increments (either by time such as 5 minutes, the drive from home to office (one day), and/or standing in a line). As you reach those milestones you can gradually build on them.
• Practice empathy. Depending on the situation, imagine yourself in the other person’s shoes. This is a good one to practice with family.
• Notice how your body feels when you are not experiencing patience as well as when you are. Use this information as cues to practice patience.
• Resist the impulse to finish another’s sentence. By listening fully we show our respect and let the other person know they are worthy of our time.
• Give yourself plenty of time to get somewhere.
• Read a magazine instead of watching the clock when at a doctor’s appointment.
• Only do one thing at a time.

Patience is a change in attitude and without patience we experience frustration, become easily annoyed, bothered, irritated and angry. With patience, we become more accepting of what is and we experience ease and a sense of peace.