Practicing Patience

Theme: Where can I practice patience today?

Technique: Extended Exhales & Slow Body Scan

Patience is often misunderstood as a passive state of waiting. In this practice, we redefine patience as the active capacity to stay with ourselves exactly as we are, without the urgent need for change or progress.

This session is divided into two parts:
Breathwork: We begin with a slow, extended exhale technique to signal safety to the nervous system and anchor the mind.
Meditation: A meticulous, slow-paced body scan. Instead of scanning to "relax" or "fix" tension, you are invited to simply witness physical sensations. We practice the art of non-striving—observing the body without the pressure to move, change, or improve the present moment.

This practice is an invitation to slow down just a little. Whether you are navigating a physical injury, mental restlessness, or the rush of daily life, this meditation offers a space to practice the profound patience of being alive.

Transcript

When you're ready, Just find a comfortable seat or position for meditation. Make sure that you're completely comfortable and settled. Soften your body. So making any movements, Adjustments, Grabbing any props, Anything you need. Soften your gaze or close your eyes if it feels comfortable for you. And just mentally scan your body. Notice if there's any part of your body that you can soften just a little bit more. Our focus today is patience, And we often treat patience as a waiting room, Something we have to endure to get to what we want. And today we're going to shift that perspective a little bit and think about patience a little bit differently, Not just as waiting, But about how we wait and how we behave while we're waiting. Patience is allowing yourself to live and exist in the now without rushing to the next thing. So looking at it as how we're acting as we wait for the next thing and not being focused necessarily on what's coming. So just thinking about how you can bring more patience into your life or where you need to bring more patience into your life. And it can be something really small. It can be maybe being patient while you wait in a line at the store or being patient when a family member is annoying you, Where you think you can bring a little bit more patience and just holding that in your thoughts during practice. So taking a few cleansing breaths to start, Take a deep breath in through your nose and then open your mouth slowly, Quietly, Softly, Sigh it out, Let it go, Empty. Two more like that, Deep inhale through your nose and then sigh it out through the mouth. Last one like that, Deep inhale and exhale all the air out, Let it go. And then just allowing your body to breathe naturally and noticing how your breath feels. Noticing when you're not controlling the breath how your body breathes today and maybe it's fast or slow, Deep or shallow, Maybe it's quiet or audible, Just noticing it, Noticing the movement in your body when you breathe, Not trying to change it, Just feeling your breath as it is. Feel the cool air entering the nostrils and the warm air leaving. Our breath work today is a slow extended exhale and the goal is to make the out breath longer than the in breath so don't worry too much about counting, Just as long as the exhales are longer than the inhales. We're signaling to the nervous system that we're safe and we can relax and the way we're going to breathe is you're going to inhale through the nose, Maybe for a count of four if that feels good and then for the exhale, Purse your lips like you're breathing through a straw and exhale through pursed lips. Inhaling slowly through the nose and then pursing your lips and exhaling through the mouth. Inhale through the nose, Exhaling through the mouth. Continue like that and if it feels good, You may try to extend your exhales a little bit more every time until you get to a point where you still feel comfortable but you can't go any longer. So just continue to breathe slowly and making sure your exhales are longer than the inhales. Inhaling deeply through the nose, Feeling the ribs expand and then as you exhale, Feel the body soften and let the breath go slowly through the mouth. Keep going like that and if you notice that your exhales are not as long as you want them to be or not even longer than the inhales, Just be patient, Practice patience with your own breath. Staying focused on the inhales through the nose and long exhales through the mouth. If your mind wanders, Just patiently bring it back to your breath. Inhaling slowly through your nose, Counting maybe up to four and then exhaling through pursed lips for six, Eight, Maybe ten counts. Yes, Focusing on the breath is one of the hardest things to do and if you can bring yourself back, You're actually doing meditation and that's what meditation is so getting distracted and getting pulled away with thoughts and to-do lists and feelings and emotions is part of being human and what we're practicing is continuing to come back patiently and kindly and gently bringing ourselves back to this moment, To our breath. So a few more rounds like this, Inhaling through the nose, Exhaling slowly, Quietly, Softly through the mouth and when you're ready, Let go of that and just allow your breath to return to its natural effortless pace. So allowing your breath to become natural and letting your body breathe for you. Just noticing how your breath feels now compared to the beginning of practice, Just noticing any changes in your body, In your posture. Our meditation today is an extremely slow body scan and as we move through the different body parts, Try not to jump ahead to the next body part or think about what I'm going to say next, Just stay exactly where we are. And if you catch yourself thinking of the next body part, Just bring yourself back patiently and kindly. We're not scanning the body to fix the tension or reach a state of bliss or do anything specific. We're just practicing the patience of staying in the present moment and if you feel discomfort or boredom or restlessness, Look at it from a point of curiosity and think about it in a way that's kind to yourself but just notice why that may be and tell yourself that you're here and there's no rush. If you feel the urge to fidget or move, Just bring your attention back to patience. Just notice it and see if you can watch it go away. Now bring your entire focus on to the toes, The toes on the left foot and then the right. Don't move them, Just feel them. Notice the temperature, Notice the air against your skin or the fabric of maybe the socks you're wearing or a blanket that's touching your toes. Now move your awareness to the soles of the feet, The bottom of the feet and just feel any sensations. This is the part of your body that is the contact point to the earth most of your day, Holds you up, Supports you, Feeling any sensation in this area in your body. Now trace the line of the shin bone and feel the calf muscle. If you're feeling the need to twitch or shift, Just notice that urge and just wait. Watch that feeling come and go. Watch it fade away without acting on it. Bring your awareness to your knees. Just noticing any feeling, Any sensation, Any tightness. Again, Not labeling it or trying to change anything, Just noticing and pausing in this area. Moving up to your thighs, Just noticing any feelings and sensations, Any tightness in the muscles. Maybe the feeling of fatigue or any feeling that comes up. And maybe what comes up is nothing at all and that's okay, But just keep your awareness on your thighs. Bringing your awareness to your hips, Just feeling heavy, Pressing down where you're seated or lying down. Just noticing the contact point with your support. There's nowhere else you need to be, No need to move or adjust. Bringing your awareness to your back, Lower back, Mid back, Upper back. This is the part of our body that holds us up, Supports us. And see if you can soften that effort and just notice if you can allow the chair or the floor to do the work. And just watch the sensations in your back. Bringing your awareness to your belly and your rib cage, Just noticing how they expand as you inhale and contract as you exhale. And notice the movement, The rhythm and feel the sensation that you don't need to control this at all. Your body does this on its own. All you need to do is just be patient and watch, Letting the body breathe itself. You are just a witness. Bringing your awareness to the chest and the heart, Just feeling the subtle beat of your heart, Just noticing it. Now letting that go and bring your awareness to the very tips of your fingers, On your left hand and then the right hand. And just at the very tip of the fingers, Notice any vibration or maybe you feel a pulse. Maybe a sense of coolness or warmth. Just notice if you're starting to feel frustrated with the pace of this body skin. And if you are, Just know that you are completely right. You are practicing patience by noticing that. Shifting your focus to the palms of the hands. Our hands are usually the doers and at this moment, Just let them be. Just open, Empty, Still, Not doing anything. No tasks. Just watching them be. Moving your awareness to the shoulders. Notice if they started to hike up towards your ears. Don't move them, Just notice. If they are ready to move on to the next thing. And see if you can invite them to come back to the present moment. And if they remain tight, Just be patient with that tightness. It doesn't have to go away for you to be in this moment. Shifting your awareness to the throat and the jaw and the mouth. This is where we hold back words or grit our teeth in frustration or clench our jaw when things get heavy. Just notice if any of those sensations exist. Notice if your tongue is pressing to the roof of your mouth. If your lips are pressing together or apart, Just notice it. Now bringing your awareness to the muscles of your face, Around your mouth, Your cheeks, Around your eyes, Your eyebrows, Your forehead. Just noticing if there's any tightness. And maybe with the next exhale, Allowing those muscles to relax. Not forcing it, Just inviting them to relax. Now expand your awareness to include the entire body at once. From the crown of your head down to the soles of the feet. And looking at your body as one single breathing organism. At this time, There is nothing you need to fix about your body. There's nothing you need to do. No better version of this moment exists or needs to happen. You're just practicing patience with being here, Being alive, Exactly as you are right now. Patience is the strength of allowing things to unfold at their own pace. And trust the pace of your body right now. Trust everything that it's doing and feeling and holding on to. And just watch it. Bring your mind back to our question at the beginning of practice. Where is one thing, One area that you can practice patience today? Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more like that, Deep inhale. Full and complete exhale. Slowly start to bring some movement back to your body. Wiggling your fingers, Your toes. Maybe gently rocking your head from side to side. Maybe rolling your shoulders up to close your ears and down your back. Slowly open your eyes if that feels good. Bring your hands to heart center. Bow your head to your hands. And thank yourself for practicing patience today with yourself, With your body. Thumbs to your third eye, The space between your eyebrows. May your thoughts be kind. Thumbs to your lips, May your words be caring. And thumbs to your heart center. May your heart be filled with love and gratitude. Thank you for practicing with me today. Namaste.