Saddle into your space,
Feel the ground beneath you,
Your seat supported,
And know that you are safe in this space.
Take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
And a long,
Slow,
Gentle exhale out.
Lift your shoulders up and down and back around,
And imagine you're taking off a very heavy backpack and letting it go.
This backpack has all the things that came before and all the things that need to come after.
It'll be there waiting for you later when you're done,
But right now,
You have nothing else to do and nowhere else to be but right here in your space doing this meditation.
As you breathe,
Check in with yourself.
How do you feel inside today?
Send your breath around your body.
As you breathe in,
Fill both sides of your torso with breath.
Can you feel an expansion across your side body as you breathe in?
As you breathe out,
Slowly feel your side body coming back in.
Again,
Breathe in,
Filling both sides of your torso with breath,
Expanding,
And breathe out as your side body slowly comes back in.
Now as you breathe in,
See if you can also expand the back of your torso,
The width of your back gently expanding and opening as you send your breath there.
And then slowly returning as you breathe out.
Again,
Breathe in,
Gently expanding and opening across the entire width of your back,
And then gently returning as you breathe out.
Now as you breathe in,
Feel your entire torso expanding,
Belly expands,
Air entering and expanding your side body,
Your back body,
Your chest,
Your lungs,
Belly,
Back and sides,
Filling with breath,
Oxygen nourishing your entire upper body.
Continue this deep breathing,
Or if you choose,
Return to your natural breath.
If your mind has wandered,
Gently bring it back to your breath.
This is acceptance of the fact that things must unfold in their own time,
Yet we live in a world of instant gratification.
We can be quick to become impatient and frustrated when things don't happen in the time frame we want them to.
Our should statements sprinkle down like sparks,
Firing up our impatience.
I should have finished my work by now.
I should already have my vacation money saved.
My chores should already be done.
Sometimes we face difficult or annoying people.
Sometimes we face hardships in life,
Losing a job or dealing with illness or injury.
Most often we face daily annoyances like traffic,
Computer issues or lines at the post office.
You might notice you are patient in one or two of these categories,
But not the others.
Much of what makes us feel impatient is out of our control.
We can only control how we feel or react to the event or the trigger.
Call to mind a current situation that makes you feel impatient or creates emotions for you of anger,
Frustration or anxiety.
As you think about this situation,
What does it feel like in your body?
Where does impatience show up in your body?
Are there certain areas that have now become tense?
As you think about this situation,
Did something change with your breath?
Did it become more shallow?
Did your breath get quicker?
Did it get slower?
Did the type and quantity of your thoughts change when you think about feeling impatience?
Notice your impatience and how it makes you feel with compassion and without judgment.
Now take a deep breath in and direct the word yes to this situation.
Agree to this experience with yes.
Even if you feel waves of no,
Which is okay,
See if you can surround these waves with a yes.
Allow yourself to say yes to pain and frustration.
Yes to all your thoughts and all your feelings.
As you continue to breathe in and say yes to this situation,
Notice if your body softens and your mind has more space or openness.
Wrap air and breath around the negative thoughts and feelings to give them space to be.
As you continue to say yes,
Welcoming and greeting your emotions,
As you continue to allow your body to release any tension from thinking about this situation,
I invite you now to use the mantra,
This is or this too,
As you breathe in.
Breathe in and say to yourself,
This too.
And as you breathe out,
Feel waves of acceptance and yes.
Breathe in this too.
Breathe out acceptance and yes.
This is,
This too.
This is,
This too.
Thoughts,
Feelings,
External situations are like clouds.
They pass,
Some fast and some slow.
Patience is a feeling,
It's not a coin in a piggy bank that we can run out of or use up.
We can find pieces of acceptance in what is.
We are nature,
Nature takes time.
We don't berate a flower for being too slow to blossom or a tomato for taking too long to ripen on the vine.
Patience is not learned in safety.
Sometimes when we desire something is when we are least ready.
Waiting allows beauty to unfold.
You are perfect.
You are powerful.
And you are patient.
Take one slow,
Deep breath in,
Filling your entire upper body with air and patience and yes and a long,
Slow,
Deep exhale out.
Gently bring your awareness back to yourself in this space.
Namaste.
