This past weekend, my Saturday started off fairly uneventfully with a quick drive to run some errands. However, it quickly took not only a scary turn thanks to a near miss with a falling tree branch (thank goodness for new brakes!) but also became a day that tested my patience in more ways than one.
As many of you are most definitely aware (unless you happened to be on a sunny beach somewhere) BC had quite the windstorm in certain areas of the province this past weekend. It was the worst one since 2006 apparently and knocked out power for upwards of 4 days for some people, crushed cars, caused traffic mayhem, and caused quite the uproar on social media.
So what can you do, if and when, another windstorm or similar unexpected act of nature throws a serious wrench in your plans (or a tree through your roof or on your car)l, not to mention your patience? You can meditate is what! It may not cause the power to come back on any quicker but a session of meditation can help to increase your patience when it’s running very thin. For me, it did, especially when learning that my 5 year old does not take lightly to not being able to watch the latest episode of Paw Patrol! Talk about a lack of patience!
Taking a few moments to meditate can help you:
- Notice when you are trying to rush things rather than letting them happen in tune with the natural rhythm of your day. This will help you feel better about yourself and more positive (rather than frustrated and angry). It also makes you more pleasant to be around for others.
- Stop and slow down when you are rushing to make a change in yourself, your circumstance, a project, or the future. This is easier said than done especially when we live in culture that is highly plugged in, overly results driven, always on a deadline, and fueled by competition. When you are able to however, it reminds you that richness in life isn’t always about what you accomplish within a certain time frame but instead it’s about just being alive in that moment and embracing it. Meditation can also help you to figure out which things are important from which things are not and teach you how to better practice patience.
- Re-connect with yourself and your body by bringing you back to the present and richness of the experience in that moment. Sometimes when you stop to focus on yourself again you may also notice feelings you weren’t acutely aware of such as sadness, anger, frustration, and fear. It’s important to address these.
- Feel less stressed by creating a heightened sense of relaxation that changes the quality of your brainwaves and releases feel good endorphins.
To your inner patience – Anna
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