transitional twists

It was one of those odd Mondays where everything seems slightly off. You hit all the yellow lights, get into heated discussions, run to three different stores for a project, don't have time for the project, run around putting up laundry, and barely make it to the 6 o'clock Hatha class with my nerdy friendly instructor.

A favorite part about her class (besides her routine greeting of "hello friends") is her intentionality with the thematic component of class. Today we focused on transition by spinning. We reversed over and over again on our mats in and out of poses. It was awesome!

You would be in a seated twist with your left leg over your right knee that is bent and flat on the mat, the next second you're twisting further behind placing your hands flat on the mat, pushing your hips up high pivoting your feet around and now into downward dog. Two deep breaths in the downward dog position, and then pivoting your feet back to the other side of the mat, and twisting yourself back into the seated position.

She encourages us to embrace the weird movements. In previous classes, instructors have played with the idea of twists and different transitions, but what was so unique today was spinning out of the pose into a new one, and then from the new one back into the original one.

It's like when you experience a hurdle in a relationship and you transition out of the flow that you are in. Now in a different position you are able to see things in a new perspective, inhale and exhale in this different angle, and when you're ready you rewind back into the original pose. It isn't easy. And it's almost never the same experience.

I think one has to be cautious of spinning in and out because even in yoga both sides of your body are not the same. Meaning that in life, relationships are not the same. Sometimes even one relationship is different depending on context. Moving in and out of these must be done with intentionality and embracing even the more difficult or uncomfortable of transitions in order to find the resolution your seek that brings you back to the foundation of the relationship.