"Her Secret Is Patience" Sculpture by Janet Echelman, Civic Space Park, Phoenix, AZ.
Learning from Patanjali
This week I’d like to focus on this beautiful new discovery, which I alluded to a couple of weeks ago in my introduction to the Eight Limbs of Yoga. Putting the Eight Limbs into practice on your yoga mat and in your life is transformative. Once we truly understand the application of yama and niyama we open ourselves up to the more profound benefits of eudaemonic wellbeing. This has a huge impact on our health, well-being and general enjoyment of life, and is a subject that I’ll explore in more depth in another article.
It’s Not What You Do, It’s the Way That You Do It
The way in which we approach a task or a practice often has a greater impact than the actual task or practice itself. For instance, this Thursday a friend and I went to a talk about time. It was an interesting talk and was meant to impart a useful message for meeting the environmental and social predicaments we currently face. The woman giving the talk pointed out that we no longer live in a culture, we live in an economy. An economy of time, where we make time, waste time, spend time and buy time.
She also introduced us to the different concepts of Greek time.
Greek Concepts of Time
Kronos, chronological time and chronic illness are derived from the root meaning of this word. This type of time is the most familiar to us. The ever-advancing march of time, expressed by the ticking clock, the calendar… measured time which seems to carry us onwards towards old age and death. This is a sombre view of time.Aion, cosmological time beyond the realm of ordinary chronological time. Aeon is the Latin translation, which despicts long cycles of time associated with eternity or infinity. This is a transcendent or divine understanding of time.
Kairos, focusses on the quality or significance of a particular moment in time. It is often associated with the idea of seizing the day, being in the right place at the right time and recognising a fleeting opportunity before it passes.
Time and Restriction
I enjoyed learning this Greek view of time but felt that something was off. My friend felt it more strongly, she actually had to leave the gathering for a while. The woman giving the talk (inspired by Bayo Akomolafe’s essay The Times are Urgent, Let’s Slow Down) was an accomplished storyteller, but she was hurried, and impatient. We were invited to ask questions and a man with an important contribution to the conversation was cut off and dismissed rather rudely. The allocated times to discuss things amongst ourselves were short. The speaker was keen to keep to time no matter what. Kronos loomed, as the speaker banged her rather discordant bell at various intervals to signal that we must move on to the next segment.
Time felt restricted and in short supply. Expansive Aeon seemed about as far away as the nearest star system. I felt hemmed in and restricted, and in great need of a different concept of time. The one that came to mind was the sense of patience and timelessness created by the yogic virtue of kṣamā, (pronounced: “kshama”.)
The Magic of Sanskrit
Sanskrit is an incredibly rich language, specialised for the exploration of the nature of reality, astronomy, cosmology, philosophy, spirituality, medicine and mathematics. It is highly technical, yet mythic and poetic at the same time. Individual words have many layers of multiple meanings. Sanskrit words are brim full of nuance and highly context-dependent. As such, it is the ideal language for apprehending the unknowable.
Some people believe (but others dispute) that the meaning of Sanskrit words can be communicated by the sound and vibration that they create in the body-mind of the speaker. I have heard of a group of Sanskrit explorers, who used to meet not far from where I live, to intuitively connect to the sensory, sonic meanings of Sanskrit words, without knowing their actual translation. Sanskrit is specialised to communicate the indescribable. It can accurately express higher states of consciousness and experiences beyond space and time. Sanskrit is a language of the Aeons. Yet as we translate the Sanskrit words into English, something is lost. However, we can but try to get a glimpse of the deeper meanings encoded within this ancient language of yoga…
Deeper Meanings of Patience
The word kṣamā is derived from the Sanskrit root kṣam which means to be patient, to forgive and to endure. The root kṣam has associations with tolerance and forbearance. These qualities contain the essence of biding our time. As we are so influenced by the Greek concepts of time these words might bring up a sense of reluctance, resistance, or of somehow being restricted. Yet, contrary to this, what is implied in by kṣamā is a sense of timelessness, of being outside of time, due to being in a deep, humble and kind communion with all beings and the Earth herself (prakriti).
This is the kind of energy we drop into when we’re unhurried, patient and embodied. When we use our senses to fully attune to ourselves, to others, and to the present moment, we create a sense of harmony and ease. This kind of patience is far broader, more loving and calm than simply being prepared to allocate a bit more time to the task at hand. It is the cultivation of an inner attitude of empathy which leads us to drop the sense of hurriedness and inner pressure that is so much a part of our working and family lives.
Trust in the Process of Life
Kṣamā involves embracing humility, a deep understanding and acceptance of oneself, others and of the process of Life itself, unfolding just as it is. It is an attitude we can cultivate on the mat when we go super slowly in our asana practice. By slowing down we become aware of more of our interoceptive sense (pratyahara), we are more able to witness and abide with those parts of us that are wobbly, uncomfortable or cut off. Regular practice (tapas) and self-knowledge (svadhyaya) is needed to maintain such an attitude toward ourselves, even more so with others. Indeed, abiding by the principle of kṣamā is akin to having “the patience of a saint.” This seems difficult and somehow tiresome from the point of view of chronological time, Kronos. Yet as we practice yama, such as ahimsa and kṣamā, time slows down, we become more interested in deepening the quality of our moments in time, we learn to savour Life, rather than rushing through it.
Slowing Down to Create Coherence
This is not to say that we won’t be faced with challenges, which are a natural part of life, and how we learn and grow stronger and wiser. The yama enables us to meet Life’s challenges in a more harmonious way. This creates more coherence within our immediate field of energy that has a reverberating effect throughout the wider field, enabling and supporting the work at hand. Conversely, if we neglect these principles, we tend to create more discord and difficulty. As such, life becomes harder and we start to watch the clock, wishing precious time would pass, looking forward to the time when we can escape and do something else.
Learning to Tolerate Difficulty with Grace
Do you find yourself wanting to get on to the next thing as quickly as possible? Would you like to explore a different way? Start by noticing frustration, anger and impatience arising when things don’t go to plan. You’ve used kairos to seize the moment, to recognise your thoughts, which is the hardest step. Then bring awareness to your breath, is more shallow and faster? Your breath and your heartbeat are seen as a marker of Kronos. In the yoga tradition, it is thought that slowing your breath down will lengthen your life span. Then notice your mind and body, can you create more space there? Space between the thoughts, space in the muscles. Let go of tension, gripping and holding in your neck, jaw, arms and hands. Creating these simple positive changes (as we learn to do on our yoga mat) supports kṣamā, your ability to be patient, to be present and endure difficulty with grace.
Yoga for Patience
Breathe longer, deeper breaths. Do some slow and juicy shoulder rolls to release some of that tension in your upper back, chest and neck. Tell your inner critic to quit the ranting, and access your inner coach instead. Allow the coach to keep you focussed on self-regulation (this means bringing your stress levels down). When we are less stressed, we have more access to the pre-frontal cortex, which enables us to make more thoughtful decisions that take into account a variety of factors. When we are more stressed we are ruled by the amygdala, which sees everything in simplified terms as it needs to act fast. It is difficult to access wisdom in this state. When we feel hurried, we are more likely to react in unskillful ways, rather than responding with an awareness of the full picture.
The more we practice self-regulation, the better we get at it. It literally changes our brain state so that the amygdala (the alarm bell of the brain) is less activated by small irritations. In this way, our sympathetic nervous system and adrenal glands get a chance to recover. The pathways through our ventral vagus circuit (the nerve complex that activates when we feel safe, welcome, heard and seen) become stronger.
It’s All Part of the Process
This is a process that we can work through over time if we’re able to identify the blocks we have in place that prevent us from slowing down. I have a history of high reactivity, anger outbursts, hormonal imbalance, huge impatience and a scathing inner critic. It has taken continued inner practice over decades to learn to change these patterns (samskaras) within me, and they still arise within me on occasion. However, I can say, that every time I manage to shift myself out of the pattern of rushing and impatience, I am rewarded. Some very magical shifts have occurred by catching myself and self-regulating. Often simply doing less, calmly and attentively, is all that is needed to create a more harmonious atmosphere. Sometimes, the best I can do is bite my tongue and not react. Yet sometimes I am capable of that inner reorientation that creates a rebalancing in the environment around me at a subtle level.
Regular practice of kṣamā creates a quality of timelessness, not being so inwardly hurried or time-bound. There was a time (before clocks were erected in most town centres, and church towers) when we did what needed to be done according to the rhythms of the sun and the moon. Indeed, some indigenous tribes still live within these planetary cycles, experiencing a far greater connection with the Earth than we can imagine.
Islands of Timelessness
In the modern world, we are required to be on time for our engagements. Those who know me will agree this is something I resist. And, it is something I’m working on… Being late is the only issue… It was a complete delight to meet another person at the talk that evening, who said he was working on not being so early for his engagements! As an alternative to being rebelliously late or fastidiously early, why not create some islands of timelessness within your day?
Here are some ways to hop off the relentless hamster wheel of Kronos.
Take some time out to do a Yoga Nidra or some other practice (asana, tai chi, gardening, art, crafting) that grounds you.
Leave your watch and your phone in a drawer somewhere for the whole day.
Allow yourself to be fully present with cooking, cleaning or gardening tasks - the is a practice called karma yoga.
The advanced practice of cultivating kṣamā is to experiment with giving more time, patience and loving awareness to everything and everyone that you are attending to. Immerse yourself in being present with a friend in need, a child who wants to play, or an elder who is feeling lonely. Be guided by your gut feelings, your instincts and the signs and signals that are present in Life Itself. Slowing, down, being patient and noticing allows us to expand our awareness of the present moment, the only moment in time that is real. The more you practice your yoga, both on and off the mat, the more you’ll support yourself in the most important work you are here to do in the precious time you have here on planet Earth.
ATTENDING TO THE MOMENT; TENDING TO YOUR SELF
A ONE-DAY HOLISTIC YOGA RETREAT
On: 1st July 12pm - 5:30pm
At: Studio Movement, Barbican
This retreat starts at midday so you can savour your morning in your own way.
We’ll interweave practices from all eight limbs of yoga, including asana, pranayama and yoga nidra to encourage a deep appreciation of the present moment (dhyrana) an experience of your bliss body (anandamayakosha) and a connection to your true Self (Atman)
This retreat is suitable for everyone from beginners to more experienced yoga practitioners.
Studio Movement is a 6-minute walk from Moorgate Station, which you can get to by overground from Hornsey or Finsbury Park. There are lots of lovely cafes in the area and the tranquil Barbican Conservatory is just 4 minutes walk away.
Private Yoga Classes Available
If you’re interested in private yoga classes, I now have some space on Wednesdays, just reply to this email if you’d like a lesson (it can be online, or at your home near Crouch End, or at my home).
With love and good wishes,
Julia xx
Yoga, Time and Patience