Smart Advice For Navigating Life Transitions

It seems to me that life is a series of transitions.  There are some really big ones like when your child graduates high school and then leaves for college.  Then there are some much smaller ones like when you’ve been on vacation and you have to transition back into your worker bee mindset. 

Is one easier than the other? 

Not necessarily, it’s just that some take a bit longer to assimilate into your life. 

Regardless of whether the transition seems large or small to you right now, how fast you adjust to it, is largely a matter of your mindset towards the transition.

Life transitions are a time when change happens. 

It’s when we’re adjusting to new circumstances that are about to happen or have already happened.  A transitional period is that time in your life where you take a new look at life as it is right now and perhaps compare it to where you want to be in the future.

During this period, you’ll frequently make reevaluations of your life and then decide whether change is needed. Maybe you’ll find that you want to make change, and then again maybe you don’t. 

Do you fight transitions?

Many of us do. 

Let’s look at this example…job loss.  This is not a transitional period that many people would look forward to having in their lives.  If you all of a sudden lost your job would you accept that your job is no longer a part of your life and move forward?  Or, would you get mad at you former employer and blame them for all the problems in your life and refuse to take any action that helped you to find a new job?

You might do a little bit of both, right?

If you can find acceptance around your situation, then you’ll move forward easier and faster. Then, you can look for solutions that will move you forward again in life.

Your transitions can be rocky or smooth. 

How your life transitions will affect you depends on whether you are open to exploring the changes that are happening.  Are you ready to look inside of yourself to become aware of how the changes are settling in your life?  Or, are you pushing change away, fighting against it only to make the transitional period longer and harder? 

You have the ability to navigate a transitional period with more ease simply by being aware of what you are feeling and accepting your current state of being.

I think how you handle the small transitional periods (think coming back home after a vacation) can indicate how you will handle the bigger life transitions. 

Transitions are going to be messy and might even be traumatic.

Some transitions are messier than others for sure. Some even involve a bit of trauma.

Recently, I finalized a divorce that was years in the making. Was there a bit of trauma during this process? I would say yes. Was it messy? Definitely YES! I had to push through the messy transition in order to get through to the other side of the transition. That’s often the way it works.

You can’t really stop in the middle of the transition and expect to get the results that you want. If I had stopped the divorce proceedings, I wouldn’t have been able to finalize the divorce.

I’m grateful that I was able to use my yoga therapy training on myself. It gave me the tools that I needed to find acceptance in the midst of all the messy parts. It also helped me to lean into the transition instead of fighting it. Looking back, I can see how it helped the whole process go more smoothly. No, it wasn’t pain free but it could have been much worse.

So, what’s the smart advice for navigating life’s transitions?

It’s to lean into the transition, find acceptance for where you are right now, and continue to listen to your body (especially when there’s trauma involved). Doing these three things will help to bring you through the transition with as much ease as possible.

Finally, each time that you face a transition, big or small, take some time to just notice your body.  Notice your breath.  Notice your thoughts. 

Giving yourself a little bit of space to be aware of what ‘s happening in your life right now, can be a gift that enables you to live your life more fully as you are able to then take advantage of opportunities that await you on the other side of that transition.

If you’re in the middle of a life transition and need support to find that acceptance for it, then let’s chat. Set up a free call to find out if Yoga Therapy could be the help that you need to navigate your transition.

You don’t have to go through this alone. Having a support system in place can be the difference between acceptance (helps you move forward) and denial (keeps you stuck) and you deserve the same support that you so often give to others.

And remember, it’s never too late to live healthier and happier!

Becky is a Yoga Therapist & has been teaching yoga since 2006. She loves to match people with a yoga practice that helps them to feel better every day & believes that there is a yoga practice for everyone. Click here to sign up for her mailing list & get all of the important news & tips first!