YAMA 5 — Kshama, Patience

Exercise patience, restraining intolerance with people and impatience with circumstances. Be agreeable. Let others behave according to their nature, without adjusting to you. Don't argue, dominate conversations or interrupt others. Don't be in a hurry. Be patient with children and the elderly. Minimize stress by keeping worries at bay. Remain poised in good times and bad.

How does patience help in daily lives? For starters, it reduces conflict. Parenting, teaching, fixing broken machinery, being stuck in traffic jams, and all the other little daily annoyances are gone, if we practice this yama. I personally believe patience is intricately tied to the belief in reincarnation. My Guru's Guru used to repeat, "No hurry, no worry." That pretty much sums it up.

I am interested in hearing any personal testimony on how this yama, or any other affected anyone in a beneficial way.

Aum Namasivaya