Autumn leaf, San Francisco | © Nicole Bratt 2015
Dear friends,
I sit here at my keyboard, both exhilarated and exhausted having just finished a six day teacher training intensive. This training marked the final module for application for my 500-hour certification. Every training has been a mirror, and this past week was no different. The community, my practice, and my teachers' wisdom reflect back onto me: my own shadows and light, my gaps in knowledge and internal truths, my stuck places and my open spaces. It is a profound blessing to be doing this work, and it is not always easy. With each training, I deepen my practice of, my consciousness around, and my relationship with yoga.
One such deepening this past week was my relationship with patience. It is a challenging one, and I recall this being true for as long as I can remember. That is a nice way to say that I've always flippantly called myself "impatient". This week, I recognized and acknowledged that I am both: patience and impatience each have a stronghold in my psyche. And, that both have a place, and neither are necessarily "good" or "bad". I realized that it is particularly hard for me to be patient with those things that I am most passionate, when I have not given myself enough time, or when my self-care has suffered. Patience, on the other hand, is most present with my students and loved ones (both human and furry), when I am dedicated in my meditation practice, and when I have made self-care a priority. When I am able to cultivate the patience, it opens me to greater rewards: sweeter relationships, a more grounded energy, less stress and anxiety, and a deeper attention to everything in my environment.
"Why is patience so important?
Because it makes us pay attention."
— Paulo Coelho
If you are feeling impatient, try this simple exercise:
Become FULLY present to your moment: where you are, what sounds are present, what you are doing, how you are feeling.
Take the longest, deepest breath you possibly can — in through your nostrils.
Open your mouth and evenly exhale ALL your breath out. Draw your belly in at the end to get out that last bit of air.
Keep breathing like this, then start to repeat a mantra that is empowering for you (either out loud or in your head). Examples: "Be here now" or "Patience, my friend" or "I have all the time I need." or "This is how I practice patience." or "I am enough."
Blessings,
Nicole