The Virtue of Patience

When it comes to exploring movement, patience can be a good three-fold strategy. Patience before you move, patience while moving and patience after.

Being patient before you move opens the door for something fresh to happen. If you pause for a split second between deciding to move and actually moving, a tiny gap is created and in that gap you can Notice. That frees your body to respond in a more balanced way and you sidestep your habits of movement.

Patience during movement means that you don’t try to evaluate what’s happening by how it feels. Instead, you let go of judging things kinesthetically and gently ask yourself: “Am I Noticing?” This little question extends the gap and your body continues to discover an easier way to move.

Having patience after moving is perhaps most important of all. The desire to improve is what motivates us to make a change in the first place. However, we get in our own way if we constantly check to see if it feels like were getting better. Instead, if you can be patient and allow the process of re-education to evolve in its own way and at its own pace, you have the chance to change in a deep and fundamental way and in the end you benefit much more than you ever could have anticipated.