Deeper Dive: Patience & Persistence

In this episode, I’m going to talk about Patience and Persistence, which is our Deeper Dive topic for January. Starting with this new year, each month there will be a theme (“Deeper Dive” topic) woven through different Moved To Meditate activities, and some different ways you can engage with it – through the podcast, written reflections, self-guided study, and more.

The attitudes of patience and persistence are incredibly helpful for moving through life, being in relationships, and are certainly relevant to our yoga and meditation practice. The transition into a New Year is a fantastic time to contemplate these qualities, because having a balance of both patience and persistence can help us sustain whatever goals or intentions we set for ourselves.

Episode Details:

Patience and persistence are excellent qualities to develop for our movement and mindfulness practice, as well as navigating life. They are included in certain Buddhist teachings (like the 10 Paramis), and are very similar to concepts in the Yogic teachings (like Santosha and Tapas from the Eight Limbs).

But, the reason I’m bringing them up now is that we’re at the end of the year, and around this time, many of us are looking back, looking ahead, and thinking of goals, resolutions, or intentions for the coming months. But how do we sustain these? Often, we start out great, but then feel guilty when we fall off the new habit.

It’s important that we’re setting goals that are both realistic and kind (not based in self-judgment or obligation), AND we need the balance of patience and persistence to help us along the way.

Listen in to hear:

  • how patience asks us to look at our attachments to outcomes and timelines
  • how patience is different than passivity or apathy
  • that reactivity drives impatience, but not steady persistence
  • when persistence actually turns into forcing

Links & Resources from this episode:

There is a free 3-page worksheet that you can download and use to take a closer look at your own relationship to Patience and Persistence! I will be sending the worksheet out with my email newsletter during the first week of January…you can sign up to receive it here.

P.S. If you missed the newsletter because you’re listening to this later, you can still get the worksheet. All you need to do is email me at mail@movedtomeditate.com and ask. 🙂

To connect further with me (Addie), check out my main website movedtomeditate.yoga

or the Moved To Meditate Class Library at movedtomeditate.com

Lastly, I’m on Instagram at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, yoga, and pictures of PNW nature and my adorable kitten, Mustache).