When I was younger, I had a talent for being impatient. I wanted things now. Answers, changes, love, clarity. I imagined life like a drive-through window: you place your order and a moment later, it’s in your hands. Simple, instant, efficient.

But life, thankfully, is not fast food.
It’s more like a tree.

It grows slowly, in layers. It knows when to rest, when to push, when to let go, and when to simply be. And so much of what we want, healing, transformation, purpose, connection requires time. We don’t always realize this when we’re just starting out, when the world feels like something we should conquer, not something we’re meant to move with.

Patience isn’t something we’re born with. It’s something we learn.
And I’ve been learning.

We often think of patience as passive, just sitting around and waiting. But patience is actually an active, dynamic process. It’s alive, engaged, and full of quiet work. It means staying present even when things aren’t moving as fast as we want them to. It’s about taking meaningful steps forward, even small ones, while releasing the grip on the outcome. And it’s about being okay with what’s still unsolved in our heart, learning to live with the questions.

In yoga, we hold postures that don’t always feel graceful. We breathe through discomfort. We listen to the space between one movement and the next. We don’t rush through the practice, because that’s not the point. The practice is the process. And so is life.

Life, much like yoga, demands patience. We must take the time to think before we act, be kind to ourselves as we grow, and trust that the seeds we plant today will bloom when the time is right. Only then do we truly begin to master the art of patience, not as passive waiting, but as an active, thoughtful, and compassionate way of moving through life and the world.