This blog discusses the importance of adaptation in helping us move through challenges in life and ultimately disappointment in the way we thought things would be. Adaptation asks us to link to the function over the form.
Yesterday, I found myself scrambling! Big Time! When it was time for me to teach my regularly scheduled class through Zoom, my audio went out. None of the students could hear me, although they had been able to hear me during the first 5 minutes of class. Incredibly, they patiently waited for me to go through a variety of technical checks, including shutting down my computer and reinstalling the program. I could not figure out how to fix the problem. After 30 plus minutes, I decided to use my phone to teach class through the Zoom app. I could only see one student during the call, but they all said they could see and hear me well. I was adapting! They too were in the process of adaptation!
Adaptation is essential if we are to move through life’s challenges in a fluid way. As an Austin Yoga Therapist, I feel that a student’s ability to adapt to Plan B when Plan A doesn’t go as expected is evidence of growth and benefits of practice. Especially if that student’s patterning is to become irritable, frustrated, and/or rigid when plans change. This ability to adapt quickly was one of the first benefits I noticed from my personal practice. My patterning was one of wanting things to go as planned and planning my life around this concept. I would tend toward moments of anxiousness and frustration when life gave me it’s “hiccups.”
As a Viniyoga teacher and therapist, I am trained to help students find adaptations within postures to receive the function over the form. I am trained to look at the student and give them movements that meet them where they are versus forcing movements that may not be appropriate for their structure or condition. Breath too is adapted based on a student’s respiratory fitness and physiological conditions (such as asthma/allergies). As my teacher Gary Kraftsow explains, “The postures are here to serve you. It’s not about you serving the postures.” He uses the example of your car. You see, your car is of no use to you when it’s sitting in the garage. It’s only when you need to go somewhere that your car becomes of use to you. Then, it’s the vehicle that takes you where you want or need to go. Brilliant! You can think of the movements (asanas) in this way. In fact, you can use function over form as a barometer in the choices you make when what you wanted doesn’t always work out.
This summer was supposed to be a time of international travel for me. My sister and I had planned for 2 years and saved to go on a trip to Greece. Right now, I should be in London visiting friends. With the COVID pandemic, plans literally came to a screeching halt and adaptation was calling my name. The week that I was to be in Greece, I created a Greek-like atmosphere in my home. I listened to Greek music and danced during dinner, channeled the goddess, Aphrodite (but of course I did), and ate olives, feta cheese, and tzatziki sauce. I pretending that the pool I was swimming in was the beautiful sea and I entertained myself with the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Not exactly, the trip I envisioned, but you know what…I was happy! I knew how to adapt.
The next time you find yourself upset that Plan A went off course, take a deep breath and remember this concept of function over form. A great question to ask yourself is, “What are the qualities that I need from what I had planned?” I needed adventure, connection, Greek food, ocean and atmosphere as well as time with my sister with the Greece trip. But, I was able to create many of those same qualities in a different way through some imagination and playfulness. This is a sign that my practice works for me.
Google uses this description involving adaptation as …”The special characteristics that enable plants and animals to be successful in a particular environment are called adaptations. Adaptations afford the organism a better chance to survive in its environment.” We are after all…animals.