How To Master Patience : 7 Tips To Be More Patient
Mastering patience is so important in today’s world.
Mastering patience seems to be the theme for quarantine or self isolation.
We have all had our fair share of a taste of learning how to be more patient.
With our families, kids, government, society and maybe most of all with ourselves.
We have a mental tendency to go, go, go and perhaps why isolation has occurred during this time on the planet. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us all to slow down and enjoy more.
It is difficult to slow down. We are literally wired to achieve, compete, and get things done as fast as possible.
It seems counter intuitive to today’s culture to take our time doing anything. To be mindful and intentional about our lives is for the birds.
“I will not be distracted by noise, chatter, or setbacks. Patience, commitment, grace, and purpose will guide me.”
Louise Hay
But did you know patience is the key to success?
- Improving your patience makes you more efficient
- We get more done in measures of quality, instead of quantity.
- Relationships thrive when we learn to connect deeper.
- We can give better focus and give more effort to work, hobbies, family and things that we truly value.
When we shift away from quantity and embrace quality our lives improve immensely.
However like I mentioned earlier, this is not our nature and so I created these tips to help you become more patient in life and begin enjoying what you do more!
1. Surrender the negative feelings of impatience
It is just a reflex to go as fast as you can.
It is second nature to rush.
When in rush and feelings of impatience creep in, become aware of this rushing feeling you are experiencing.
Ask yourself – why am I rushing? You will find that most of the time this feeling is unnecessary and you can release it.
Releasing the tension this thought of rushing and the correlating emotion it created is as simple as taking one or more DEEP breaths in and slowly exhaling.
Take as many as you need to release the experience once you have become aware of it.
You will feel it fade away and you can reset the moment with patience.
2. Be more present
The feeling of impatience is a signal to become aware that you are perceiving the present moment as not important and instead placing value in the future where you do not live.
This is harmful because it takes the power to act away from you.
We cannot control the future, so much can change between now and your future and what we intend the future to be.
The present moment is all we truly have control over. What we do now dictates our happiness in the future.
If you believe you will be happier in the future and spend your time waiting to arrive at it, then you wont be happy now OR in the future.
To make yourself happier in the future you need to take action in the present moment to create future happiness.
That is just the way our universe works.
Rushing through life never noticing what is in front of us or what we do have is a fast track to misery.
This behavior will only bring stress, depression and anxiety to your future.
All you have is now to create the life you want. The future will only hold for you what you have worked for today.
Alexis Henderson, Life Coach
3. Practicing gratitude can increase patience
Gratitude keeps you in the NOW.
If you are constantly aware of what you lack and what you don’t have, the universe will send you more to envy, be jealous of and more things you want that you don’t have.
So, gratitude is a fast and simple way to bring your thoughts back to the present moment.
Focusing on what you are grateful for brings you even more to be grateful for.
4. Meditation and yoga can increase your tolerance to becoming impatient.
If I skip meditation and yoga for a few days, I can really notice my irritability increase.
I start losing patience more readily too.
Meditation helps you create space between your thoughts enabling more awareness and more opportunity to choose your thoughts and behave differently.
Yoga is also very beneficial to patience because as you stretch your body a couple things happen.
- You release negative emotion that are stored in your muscles and their counterparts helping you to not feel as overwhelmed and reactive in day to day life.
- As you stretch and go deep into the muscle these emotions arise, typically frustration, fear, impatience. You may experience this as a desire to come out of the posture to give into the feelings arising. However, if you become present and breathe into the uncomfortable sensations and feelings you are practicing a great skill to use off the mat as well.
5. Practice being peaceful
There is a difference between doing nothing and relaxing.
You can lay on the couch and binge on Netflix for hours and say its relaxing, but true relaxation is about feeding your soul.
Do something that nurtures you mind, body and soul.
Make a healthy meal, paint, dance, sleep, create, breathe, take a evening stroll, practice yoga, read a book, pamper yourself- Do something that truly relaxes you. That you value and enjoy.
Practicing peaceful activities recharge you mind, body and soul way more than laying on the couch watching tv or mindlessly scrolling through social media in bed.
Activities like these allow for connection in the mind, body and soul and that’s what you’re really after!
If you have trouble quieting your mind and allowing this peaceful flow to guide you in life, consider a brain dump journaling session to release the thoughts disrupting your energetic flow state.
6. Become mindful
Mindfulness is bringing your attention to what you are experiencing right now without judgment.
It’s paying attention to your thoughts and feelings.
It’s being aware of what is happening in and around you without attaching any thoughts or feelings that arise.
It is simply becoming the observer of your thoughts and feelings.
So much freedom accompanies mindfulness.
When we are no longer a slave to our egos, thoughts and emotions we create a space where we can begin to choose our thoughts and emotions instead.
I have a super helpful guide for mindfulness that I created as a cheat sheet you can easily memorize to become more mindful and start choosing you thoughts and feelings.
7. Remember that divine timing is everything when you feel impatient
Whenever you are impatient, remember that everything is unfolding for you at the right time – it’s called divine timing in spirituality.
Be like nature and allow life to unfold, enjoy all the seasons of your own life.
We cannot plan better than the universe can so resist the urge to control and begin to allow and enjoy this beautiful, crazy thing called life.
Know that the present moment is all you really have and start putting more emphasis onto it and less onto the past and the future.
Be grateful for every mysterious element that supports you, air, water, fire, earth.
Trust that life will work out in the best possible way once you become present, patient and enjoy it!
2 Comments
Johnna
Thank you; your site is very informative and you have good content. Keep up the good work and thanks for the tips.
Alexis Henderson
Thank you so much! So lovely to hear from you