4 Steps to Patience

Hi, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to explore four steps to developing more patience. Now, patience is something I think we can all use a bit more of. There are moments where I think maybe a little bit of impatience can be useful. Impatience is often an indication that something is off, that our nervous system doesn't like what is happening.

And it can be a sign that we need to take action and, and be quick in relationship to something that's arising. So I do honor some of the wisdom that can arise from impatience. But even then, it can be useful and skillful to have the capacity to be able to stop in those moments so that we can respond rather than reflexively reacting. So here are four things you can do in those moments where you feel yourself caught up in impatience. The first thing is just breathe into that impatient energy that you're noticing in your body.

And you know, that impatient energy, right? It's that feeling of like hands are gripping, my heart's beating a little fast. Maybe there's some contraction in the chest. This feeling like I need to get out of this moment. First step, just breathe into that. Wherever you notice it in your body, maybe the chest.

And then relax around it, as you exhale. This alone can take you a really long way. With step two is now to become aware of the discomfort that's causing you to feel impatient. And then just recognize that this discomfort, it's just sensation. That feeling that's saying we need to get out of here.

We need to do something. We need to react. As strong as that feels and as compelling as a story is, the main thing that's motivating you is some form of sensation. So we breathe into it and just recognize, okay, this is just tightness, tingliness, heat, energy in the body. And becoming aware of it as sensation allows us to have a little bit more perspective and influence over it.

Step three is to ask yourself, can I spend one moment being with this sensation without reacting to it? Can I spend just one moment being with this sensation without reacting to it? The powerful thing about that is that one moment is usually pretty easy to do, but if you can do it for one moment, then you most likely can do it for another moment, and then another moment. Because all they are is just a series of single moments. And then another moment. So you just ask yourself, can I spend one moment being with the sensation without reacting to it? And step four, you hold the sensation in compassionate, non-reactive awareness. And you repeat this for as many moments as necessary.

So breathing into the impatient energy, becoming aware of the, the discomfort, recognizing that it's just sensation. Ask yourself, can I spend one moment, one more moment being with the sensation without reacting to it? And then hold the sensation in compassionate, non-reactive awareness. Repeat this for as long as necessary, until you are ready to respond in a way that feels intentional and skillful for the context and situation at hand. I hope this helps you as you develop more patience in your life. Thank you for your practice.

And let's settle in for today's meditation.