Yoga holds a special place in my heart. It helps clear my mind of any negativity and it challenges me both physically and mentally. My journey with yoga has evolved over time. When I was first starting out, I remember focusing on nailing down the poses, completely ignoring the moments in between them. I was always in a rush to get to the next pose, curious to know if there were any major improvements since the last time I practiced. But the more I practiced yoga, the more my energy shifted away from being able to perfect a pose, towards trying to master a smooth and controlled transition between poses. Doing so has made each yoga class that much more enjoyable. I am no longer in a never-ending loop of enjoying a pose and then going through the motions until the next pose. Instead, I am able to find meaning in every movement, from beginning to end.
Yoga poses are no easy feat, and the transitions are just as difficult, if not more intense at times. Typically, a yoga pose will test your strength, balance and flexibility in one static position, while a smooth and controlled transition tests your muscle and joint strength when in motion.
This parallels my experience with coding. When I was first starting out, I wanted to be able to learn new ways to improve the content I was delivering, but as time passed, I started to truly understand the importance of a seamless transition when the values of an element changes, and the difficulty in getting it just right. (Is it too much? Or not enough?)
Just like the transitions in yoga, transitions in websites are much simpler to code than the content itself, but it helps enrich users’ experiences, making them just as meaningful. It allows all the little moments in between to be as equally enjoyable as the main attraction. It is also a great indicator for users that a change is about to happen.
There are many different routes one can take when implementing a transition into their project. CSS transitions is a great starting point for your foray into animations. It allows you to create animations between the start and end state of a value change. Another way to inject a smooth transition between values is through CSS animations. This method allows for more control, as you can create multiple key-frames in which the animations occur and has the ability to change the actual values, rather than control only the in-between state. Lastly, you can select one of several JavaScript animation libraries that exist online, the most popular being J Query, to create your desired effect. With JavaScript, the options are endless, and this would be the ideal choice for websites where animations and transitions are crucial.
"The journey is the destination." - Dan Eldon
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