I stumbled upon this blog post by Krista Tippett, Confessions of a Yoga Convert, after listening to her interview with Seane Corn, on Krista’s radio show On Being. I like what Krista says: “In flow yoga, every transition is as important as every finished pose; and grace in transitions is as important as getting the final poses right.”

I have one yoga teacher who reminds us that, during Sun Salutation B, the transition from Warrior 1 to the bottom of a push up is not a throw-away; that every movement counts.

In response to Krista’s blog post, one reader left the following comment: “I complained one week to my yoga teacher that when I practiced on my own, instead of being fully in each posture, part of my mind was thinking about what posture I was going to do next. “Is it like that for you in life too?” she asked. I gasped with the realization. The ability to observe, to realize, to decide to do something differently – those are yoga’s most precious gifts.”

So today, or tomorrow, try to be fully present with the task at hand, and when you complete that task try to be graceful in the transition to the next task. Remember, the goal is progress, not perfection. And every movement counts.