Patient Today?
The Sanskrit word “Mudra” is usually translated as a seal or gesture. Mudras are typically used during meditation or pranayama as a way to direct energy flow throughout the body. Yogically speaking, different areas of the hand stimulate specific areas of the brain. By applying light pressure to these areas of the hand, you “activate” the corresponding region of the brain, not unlike reflexology.
Mudras also symbolize various feelings and states of being. This hand Mudra—Shuni Mudra—is also known as the “seal of patience.” The middle finger represents courage to hold duty and responsibility. The thumb represents divine nature. When the two fingers are placed together in Shuni Mudra, it is meant to symbolize and encourage patience, discernment, focus and discipline.
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“Patient today”?
A number of years ago, if you drove into the main parking lot at DHMC, the booth attendant would ask you that exact question. Every day, all day. I was a daily visitor for about 3 weeks while my stepfather was in the ICU. My mother was spending many fretful hours by his bedside and I came down to make sure she was eating and sleeping enough. The attendant’s perfectly modulated voice asked the question with just the right balance of kindness, distance and empathy. As if quietly acknowledging that your visit might be associated with some kind of personal pain, but not intruding in any way. And I was not a patient, so at first I would say “no, just visiting” but the irony wasn’t lost on me, and my inner sarcastic commentator was screaming: “NO I AM NOT PATIENT! NOT TODAY, NOT EVER!” After a few days, I stopped responding verbally. Just a slight smile and a nod. I wanted his phrase, rather than my response or mental sarcastic retort, to linger in my head. I took the words “Patient today?” and gave the self-directed question its own gentle, reflective meaning. I let it become a kind of mantra through my day. It made me ask the question of myself, was I being patient? Was I staying present? but without harshness or judgment. Because it was his warm but slightly distant tone in my head, I felt patience itself was a quiet and accessible state. I am not by nature a patient person. I can—by sheer force of will and change in breathing—physiologically mimic the state of being patient, of being solidly present here and now, but it takes some work to get there. Right now, I feel the strong pull of Autumn, and I’m tempted to rush headlong past what is happening right now which is Summer. And so I stop, and look around me. Blueberries, ripe tomatoes, sun on my face. Both my boys at home. Patient today? Yes. For the moment.
This weekend and next we have many lovely opportunities at the studio to both savor the lingering taste of summer and begin the process of turning slowly toward autumn. Forrest Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga—each of these practices will ground you and ignite you in equal measure.
