“Have patience with all things but first of all with yourself.”

Ask any master of their craft the secret to their success, and one of the responses will always be “patience.”

There are many ways to define “patience” since application of this virtue is circumstantial. It takes a different kind of patience to train a puppy than waiting for a call back after a job interview! For today, though, let’s explore how patience ties into a yoga practice.

After some familiarity with yoga is achieved, it’s normal to start setting goals for oneself. Whether it’s an asana that you’d like to express or mastery of the breath, it takes time and effort to notice results.

Personally, I struggle with patience while trying to find asanas. My frustration lies in the connection between mind and body. Crow pose, for example. I know what I’m trying to accomplish and I can visualize it, but my body simply doesn’t know how to rest the knees on the triceps and lift the feet off the floor. My balance is wobbly, my wrists hurt, my knees won’t stay in place and if I lean forward at all I’m going to lose balance and bonk my head on the floor!

I keep trying, though. Small improvements will accumulate and someday I’ll reach that goal. Then I’ll set another, and another. How do I have the patience to keep pursuing and adding goals? The answer circles back to the first basic principle of yoga:

Yoga is practice of process, not of attainment.

Yoga is open-ended. There is no ultimate victory or “high-score” to be collected. Therefore there can be no failure. Remove the pressure of failure and re-frame it as “making progress.” Patience is easier to come by when failure is no longer a concern.

With a little practice, this mindset will carry over into daily life. The slowdown in traffic isn’t so annoying if you use the opportunity to practice some breath work. The rambunctious child who has recently discovered wax crayons is simply making progress in their development and not trying to annoy you.

Once you stop looking at the world as a list of tasks to be completed and start realizing the connections that we all share, your concept of patience will change. Have you ever heard the phrase “You’re getting on my last nerve!” when someone is about to “lose” their patience? With a steady and thoughtful yoga practice, you will evolve beyond “having” patience and instead wrap yourself in grace, acknowledge the situation, and BE patient.