Transitions

September is right around the corner. It is a time of transitions, a time of new beginnings often even more than those that come January 1st. Summer is coming to a close, vacations are ending, schools are starting and people are getting back to their every day routines. For many of us, myself included, these transitions are challenging. The space between one thing and the next can be jarring. Its hard to "get into the swing of things."

Enter yoga.

Yoga does more than strengthen the body - it trains and prepares us for life. In vinyasa or power yoga, one of the most challenging parts of the class are the transitions. Think chaturanga to upward facing dog or warrior 2 to half moon for examples. Not only is it hard to make them graceful and fluid, but it is the place where injury can and often does occur and strength is necessary. However, it is in the transitions that we can also find the flow or the dance and the beauty of yoga.

How do we get stronger in the transitions, both in yoga and in life?

We practice.

Whereas we can maintain a static posture even if our mind wanders, we will most certainly fall during a transition if we start to think about the laundry list of things that have to get done. We fall as we enter half moon, we flip over as we jump into a handstand, and then we get up and do it again and again and again. We are forced to be totally present in the breath, in the flow and in the beauty of the here and now.

In life we breathe, we work hard, we listen, we ask for help when needed and we remember the strength and grace that we found on our mats. We know that we might fall or waiver, but we have the power to get up and do it again and again and again.