transitions

tonight at yoga, our teacher had us trying a few new 'combination' poses. throughout class, she consistently emphasized the need for smooth and elegant transitions--stressing that the transition was equally if not more important than the pose itself.

after arriving home, i tuned into women's figure skating (lest ye think my olympic obsession waning), and watched japanese skater shizuka arakawa demonstrate that point beautifully. what so moved me about her program was how far it went beyond the successful completion of the lutzes, sal chows, axles, and loops. here was a woman who understood the importance of the transition.

the skater who followed her had a technically decent program, but her transitions were choppy and forced. the contrast was stark, and i couldn't help but consider the application to our every day lives.

transition is defined as a passage from one state to another. while it may be sometimes difficult to measure in concrete terms when our lives are passing from one state to another, it is something most of us can feel. often, it is just a subtle shifting in the undercurrent of our existence.

i struggle with change. i am ever eager, yet the process itself is always a challenge. it usually requires stretching and growing, and is rarely easy. now, i am on the verge of another transition. i'm not sure what it is yet. but i feel it. something is coming. or going. or just changing. this time though, i am determined to focus on the transition. perhaps by doing so i will be able to avoid getting ahead of myself (as i often do). and if i'm lucky, i may actually find that i have entered the next 'state' well prepared, because i took the care and concern to focus on smoothly and elegantly getting there.

"not in his goals but in his transitions is man great"
-ralph waldo emerson