Progression: More Than a Measure of Movement

This week, I have been sitting with the word progression.

It is a word we often associate with forward movement, improvement, achievement, or reaching the next level. We use it in fitness, yoga, work, relationships, healing, and life. Progression can sound motivating, but it can also carry pressure. It can suggest that we should always be moving forward, becoming stronger, doing more, or arriving somewhere new.

But the more I reflect on it, the more I believe progression is deeply personal. It does not look the same for every individual, every season of life, or every purpose. Sometimes progression is visible. Sometimes it is quiet and internal. Sometimes it looks like effort, and sometimes it looks like rest.

WHAT IS PROGRESSION?

“Progression is the process of moving forward or developing over time. It can involve growth, change, recovery, learning, adaptation, or simply continuing along a path”

In movement practices, progression is often described in physical terms:

·      Holding a pose for longer.

·      Building strength.

·      Increasing mobility.

·      Developing balance.

·      Learning a more complex movement.

·      Moving with greater confidence or control.

These are all meaningful forms of progression. But they are only part of the story.

Progression can also be the ability to listen to your body more clearly. It can be a learning experience to know when to challenge yourself and when to step back. It can be about returning to your practice after an injury, illness, a difficult season, or a long absence. It can be breathing through discomfort instead of immediately resisting it.

Progression is not always about doing more. Sometimes it is about becoming more present with what is already here.

HOW WE OFTEN SEE PROGRESSION

Many of us have been taught to measure progression by visible results. We may look for changes in our strength, flexibility, appearance, routines, careers, relationships, or accomplishments.

We compare where we are now to where we were before, or to where someone else appears to be. In a yoga class, progression might seem to be moving into a deeper expression of a pose. In strength training, it might mean lifting heavier or completing more repetitions. In life, it might look like reaching a goal, earning more, or achieving something we have worked toward for a long time.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating these milestones. They can be encouraging and affirming.

But when we only recognize progression through outward results, we can miss the quieter ways we are growing. We may overlook the courage it takes to begin again, the patience required to move slowly, or the emotional work involved in accepting where we are today.

Progression can be present even when nothing looks different from the outside.

PROGRESSION THROUGH HEALING

This week, I have been thinking about progression in relation to a close friend moving through breast cancer.

Her progression through post-surgery recovery has reminded me that healing cannot always be rushed or measured in a straight line. Some days may bring more energy, mobility, or confidence. Other days may call for rest, patience, and simply meeting the body where it is.

In this context, progression is not about returning immediately to a previous version of yourself. It may be about rebuilding trust in the body. It may be taking one small step, one breath, or one moment at a time. It may be allowing recovery to unfold in its own rhythm.

There can be progress in getting out of bed. Progress in attending an appointment. Progress in asking for help. Progress in noticing how you feel. Progress in resting without guilt.

These moments may not look dramatic, but they are still meaningful.

Healing has its own timeline. It is not a performance, and it is not a competition. Sometimes progression is forward movement. Sometimes it is pausing long enough to gather strength.

PROGRESSION IN ONE-ON-ONE PRACTICE

When I work one-on-one with students, progression looks different for every person.

One student may want to build strength and confidence. Another may be working with an old injury or managing limitations. Someone else may be seeking more ease in their body, less tension, improved balance, or a stronger connection to themselves.

The same movement may represent something completely different from one person to the next.

For one student, progression may be finding a deeper range of motion. For another, it may be making a smaller movement with greater awareness. One person may progress by adding challenge, while another progresses by learning how to modify or pause.

I have come to see that the most valuable progression is not always the most advanced-looking version of a movement. It is the version that is appropriate, purposeful, and supportive for that individual.

Progression may mean moving from effort into ease. It may mean replacing judgment with curiosity. It may mean learning to trust your body’s communication rather than forcing it to meet an external expectation.

PROGRESSION IN COMMUNITY CLASSES

As I prepare our community classes, I often think about what progression means for the people who will arrive in the room.

A community class brings together people with different bodies, experiences, abilities, ages, intentions, and energy levels. Some may be looking for strength. Some may need mobility. Some may want to feel grounded after a stressful day. Some may simply want to move, breathe, and spend time in a supportive space.

Because of this, progression cannot be one single path that everyone is expected to follow.

A class may offer options, layers, and invitations. You might choose to stay with the foundational version of a movement, explore a variation, or rest completely. All of these choices can be part of progression.

The practice is not asking, “Can you do the most advanced option?”

Perhaps it is asking:

·      Can you notice what you need today?

·      Can you stay connected to your breath?

·      Can you move without abandoning yourself?

·      Can you choose an option that supports your purpose?

·      Can you leave feeling more at home in your body?

These questions create space for progression to be inclusive rather than prescriptive.

PROGRESSION IS PERSONAL

Progression will look different in every life moment.

There may be seasons when progression feels expansive and energizing. You may feel ready to grow, explore, build, and take on new challenges.

There may also be seasons when progression feels like maintaining what you have, recovering from something difficult, or creating enough space to breathe. In those moments, staying steady can be a profound form of progress.

YOUR PURPOSE MATTERS, TOO.

If your purpose is to become stronger, your progression may involve gradually increasing physical challenge. If your purpose is to feel calmer, progression may look like developing a consistent breath or meditation practice. If your purpose is to heal, progression may involve patience, support, and listening. If your purpose is connection, progression may be showing up honestly and allowing yourself to be witnessed.

There is no universal definition of what progress should look like.

There is only the question of whether the path you are on is helping you move toward what matters to you.

COMING BACK TO THE BREATH

In the end, I find that coming back to the breath is what progression stands on.

Not what progression looks like, but how it makes you feel mentally and emotionally first.

The breath can help us recognize whether we are moving from connection or from pressure. It can remind us to soften when we are forcing. It can help us stay present when we want to rush toward an outcome.

When the breath becomes restricted, hurried, or absent, it may be a sign that we have moved away from ourselves. When the breath feels more spacious and steady, we may begin to feel supported, even if the movement itself is challenging.

Progression does not always make us feel more accomplished. Sometimes it makes us feel more aware. More accepting. More resilient. More trusting. More capable of meeting ourselves exactly where we are.

That, to me, is a powerful form of growth.

So perhaps progression is not a straight line or a ladder we continually climb. Perhaps it is a relationship with our bodies, our breath, our experiences, and our purpose.

Some days, progression may be reaching further.

Some days, it may be resting.

Some days, it may be beginning again.

And some days, it may simply be taking one conscious breath and allowing that to

XO Jan