Transitions

The importance of these little segues is limitless

The transition between then and now. A moment of pause, of reflection.

What can we find in this space?

How much is there to learn?

We talk about transitions, the movement between a pose and a counter pose, a lot in Yin Yoga (for some, the transition can be just as important as the pose itself) but how often do we turn our attention towards it?

Let’s bring this metaphor into our everyday life.

We are always striving for the next thing and we forget sometimes that the way we get there also matters. We must keep in mind our values, morals and beliefs, so that when we have achieved what we want to achieve, we can be proud of the route we took to get there. And this time, this so-called ‘journey’ is not to be underestimated.

Why is a transition so significant?

We’ve all been through periods in our life where we ‘just don’t have time’ to stop. But how often has that then ended in collapse? Or burnout?

It simply isn’t sustainable to go straight from one thing to the next without some down time or time to reflect.

This is really down to the fact that pausing is so much more than stopping.

It’s the ability to let yourself be, in a natural state without needing to push or change or reach for something more. It’s saying to yourself ‘this is enough’.

It’s also allowing yourself to imprint a memory of what has gone before, storing it in your body, mind and nervous system.

We go through many big transitions in our lives: notably from school to work, from work to retirement, from being single to in a long-term relationship.

But we also go through many small ones each day. Most of the time without even noticing.

The transition from sleeping to waking.

The transition from sitting to standing.

The transition from hungry to satiated.

A transition holds a lot of untouched power. But the real power lies in the noticing. How you are moving from one thing to the next, both physically and in your mind.

So next time you are rushing from one task to the next, or wishing you had already reached the end of the work day – take a moment to pause and see what you could actually learn from this very moment.

Because when we are able to treat these transitions with the respect they deserve, we, in turn, treat ourselves with respect and perhaps even get to know ourselves a little better.

All photos by Rosa Sawer