2014 in a nutshell: All about those transitions

2014 is just about to be history.

I've been sitting down for the past few evenings to really contemplate and reflect on the lessons 2014 has taught me and to think about what I would like to see manifested in my life for 2015.

The word that comes to mind the most when I think of 2014 is "transition." There were a lot of changes or transitions, if you will, that occurred in both my personal and professional life. I dealt with some of them really well and some of them terribly not so well:)

Several people I was close to moved away--which was a bigger transition than I thought it would be.

I graduated from occupational therapy school and transitioned from being a student to being a therapist.

I made the transition from living off of loans and the kindness of my parents to being fully self-supporting (that transition is one that I actually loved because it made me feel confident and truly good about myself and the ability to know that I truly can take care of myself all by myself).

I transitioned from being a yoga practitioner to being a teacher again (and of course I will always be a yoga student and hopefully practitioner).

I made lots of transitions into new work settings since I work as a PRN therapist. I had to learn the transition from going to paper charting to new computer systems, new protocols, new billing systems, new co-workers, new buildings--new everything.

I transitioned from being just a sister to becoming a sister-in-law as my brother, Brian, got married in June (first big wedding for my family).

When relating all this to the yoga mat, I immediately think of the transition going from downward facing dog to stepping your right (or left) foot in between your hands at the front of the mat for either a low lunge or to come up to a standing pose like warrior one. Have you ever noticed how hard that is and yet how easy we have in our minds that it is? Another transition is going from a standing forward fold to stepping your right and left foot back to plank. Or how about going from triangle pose to half moon? (Geesh--I'm going to stop thinking about these transitions now before I keep going and overwhelm myself. ha!).

Those transitions, for those of us who have practiced yoga for awhile, don't look hard. In fact, in my brain they don't "feel" hard. But when I actually go to do them, they require more effort and skill than I realize. The reasons that make me realize they are hard and difficult are that I often times lose my balance when performing them. I don't step back quite far enough, or I step back in the same plane as my front foot and falter. Or I step back too far and my hip flexors hate me;) I also fall over quite often when going from triangle to half moon.

These transitions take a lot of strength, endurance, balance, patience--basically skill, to perform them with ease. They don't just 'happen'. They require me to be mindful and to follow my breath with intense concentration all the while not taking myself too seriously and allowing myself to be fully present in the moment.

The other "real life" transitions I mentioned earlier also require the same amount of skill to perform with ease and grace.

And I performed some of them with zero amount of ease and with grace no where to be found.

But you know what? It was okay. I learned a lot from some of my meltdowns. I also re-learned a lot from some of my "falls".

I think we basically learn the same lessons over and over again and I feel like each time we learn them again, we're able to handle them with a little more grace and a little more skill. 

To make this more personal, I'll be more specific: 

I learned (again) that it's pointless and futile to take things personally because it (98% of the time) just isn't about me.

I learned that some people aren't meant to be in your life forever--and really, that all the people in my life won't be here forever. And that's okay. That's just how it goes.

I learned that the only difference in "bad days" and "good days" is my perspective. And that I have the power to make the "bad days" turn to "good days" if I really want them to be.

I learned that I'm more fearful than I thought I was and that finding my teacher voice again was not as easy as I thought it would be.

I also relearned that the important things, concepts, and people are WORTH all the extra home-work, long hours, and hard conversations that I put into them.

I learned that I have a LOT to learn and a LONG way to go. But the reason I know I didn't totally "fail" all my transitions this past year is because when I look at my life this is what I see: 

Beautiful groups of people who love me and support me, a loving, gracious, and encouraging family, a career I love with several jobs I look forward to going to, fantastic co-workers, a fabulous little home, my yoga mat and all my yoga friends and teachers, love, laughter, warmth, hope, and peace of mind.

And that is when I realize that all those transitions allowed me to experience those things in a fuller way and enhanced those aspects of my life and gave me the strength to bring my right foot to the top of the mat and to rise up and answer the call to teach again.

I can honestly say that I'm grateful for all the pain that came along with each of those transitions. They made me stronger and gave me more courage. They made my line of vision even clearer and peace of mind greater.

Who knows what 2015 will bring. I bet it will bring about a lot of the same. and maybe a lot of different.

I pray that I will be open to all the possibilities that present themselves.

I pray for wisdom and clarity and balance and strength for the upcoming year.  

Whether you are a close friend of mine or just a distant acquaintance, thank you for being a part of my "transition" and for sticking by my side and loving me through it all whether by coming to a pop-up yoga class or by leaving a kind comment or being my shoulder to cry on and lending your listening ears--THANK YOU! 

You made each of my transitions worth it. 

With deep love and affection,

Jennifer

P.S Due to the length of this wordy blog, I"ll be writing another blog piece about my intentions and teaching opportunities for 2015! I'm working on my January schedule NOW!