A few thoughts about Transition and Momentum.
Rise and shine with your positive pants on? Another weekend has gone bye without me going for my beloved long run in nature. Actually it has been months now because of this stubborn achillis insertionaltendopathy. With lots of conventional and non-conventional therapy aswell as yoga therapy and all that alternative training I have become master in observing every bridging moment literally. Patience has become my biggest teacher. In all that time I had many possibilities to consider the „mental invitation“ for this disbalance on both feet.
No matter if on the yogamat, in day-to-day life or being a runner, sometimes we have the tendency to start at „A“ going to „B“ often ignoring the moments in between. There are a couple of reasons for this. The most obvious being that transitions are nowhere near as rewarding to the ego as the glory of a full pose or crossing the finish line after a race. We just like to avoid the less comfortable or attractive places in our yoga practice in order to get to the final.
Transitions in Yoga as in Life are hard.
When the body is well aligned in a pose there is often a sense of ease. That is when the bones absorb much of your body weight and the muscles support and stabilize you.
Moving slowly through transitions is more demanding mentally and physically. But if you always rely on momentum to take you to the next pose you’ll never build the strength to stop using your momentum.
Those moments when your muscles are shaking as you move from „A“ to „B“ are opportunities to create strength and integrity in your body. These are very important aspects also for injury recovery or when learning efficient running. All these take so much patience, too!
Momentum can be risky, too.
When you push yourself you risk missing a cue that your body can’t handle the pose or step you’re moving into. Or if you have poor alignment in a transition and you quickly move through it over and over and over you risk injury (hello inefficient running, hello chaturanga or down-dog misalignment).
But if you slow down and really pay attention you give yourself the opportunity to notice what is happening in your body.
Finally – Paying attention to your Transitions can bring your Focus back to the Journey instead of the Destination.
When you are able to tune in to transitional moments you will begin to sense that the whole continuum of your practice can be a seamless process of paying deep attention to the body, mind, and breath.
Not only will you get satisfaction from those moments when you get to „B“ but you’ll also enjoy the quality of your yoga practice, race or life as a whole.
As you practice Bridge Pose observe your thoughts.
- are you anxious to get to the harder pose variation (challenge/day)?
- are you bored during the transition?
Practice to let go of the outcome. Tune in to your moment-to-moment awareness.
Gliding seamlessly from pose to pose will generate heat, strength, and mental toughness as you repeat and hone your movements in the spaces between the postures.
As you refine these transitions you’ll not only realize that they are as worthy as the poses themselves. You may also find that giving them extra attention improves the quality of the postures, your day or your run once you arrive.
Bridge Pose Benefits.
- strengthens your spine and buttocks
- opens the lungs and heart and stimulates the heart muscles
- stretches chest, neck, back and hip
- exercises pelvis, hips and legs
- activates your Anahata Chakra and your Vishuddha Chakra
- calms mind, nerves and body and gives you new invigorating and refreshing energy, helps with stress and sadness
- improves blood circulation
- promotes digestion
Enjoy your journey and Keep Om Running!
Sonja
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