30 Day Yoga Challenge experience

I did start my 30 day Yoga Challenge at Feb 12  ( related post here) ;which was doing one session everyday, my whole challenge sums about 35h and 20 min of Yoga in 30 days.I also kept my regular workout sessions. 
The heart of the my challenge ( or any other one as a matter of fact) were commitment and focus. it means making a promise to yourself, and follow it without any excuse for failure. and that was my goal; I personally enjoy doing Yoga ( I've been doing it about 4 times a week for more than 2 years). Yoga for me was more than a physical practice from the beginning and it had incredible effects on  my life. this is my personal experience and as I said before it won't be the same for everyone. if you started Yoga and you did not feel anything else other that its physical effects it's ok, maybe it is not the right time for you or not the right instructor and many other reasons.   
Before I started my challenge I sat and analysed my personal schedule and figured out a perfect program for 30 days that could work for me and highlighted the classes that I could take or the ones that came as back-ups in case some emergency came up. few months I received an offer from a Yoga studio which was one month of unlimited yoga classes for 18$, it was pretty good deal ( the studio was close to my work place so I took some sessions there during my lunch breaks). there they had Yoga-Wall studio which I never tried before, superb opportunity for me. 

Here is the picture that I took with my cell. in most of the poses the wall used in the place of floor, poses like hanging downward dog , back stretching, hanging back bends, flying. I loved it , at first it takes time, because it is important to gain trust on the straps, there are poses that sole of the feet are on the wall and body is completely is parallel with the floor and the only thing is keeping you up there are the straps. I fell down once from straps when I was going for the twist pose because I was kind of afraid that straps would fall of the hooks. but trying Yoga wall was a nice experience. 

I am not those people who suffer doing Yoga I always make sure I am breathing comfortably; from the start, I never pushed myself in any pose, if my body wasn't ready to do it I didn't care;and since I started Yoga from beginner's level I know the levels of most poses, so sometimes I do the advance version sometimes I do the most basic one. as one of my Yoga instructors says all time, being advance in Yoga does not mean do the poses in extreme it means knowing your options. I did get better in some postures, the ones that I never expected from myself , like; 

Bakasana, Crane pose; for me happened out of the blue. from the first sessions I always practiced by alternating my feet, and suddenly that day both of them were up and I really did not need to bring it down, this is where I can go so far comfortably.one of the important points of this pose is to have a Drishti in front of you, because we all go where we look, so look front :)

I can do a full Chaturanga now and go deeper in so many other postures. Practicing Yoga help to be more flexible and also helps to get stronger muscles. it  also let us practice patience and helps  to know our body, our limits better. 

Some poses looks very simple but all Yoga postures are about details, like the way body is facing, position and direction of the knees, position of toes, neck , shoulders, even our gaze; paying attention to them is necessary to avoid any pain or injuries. All I can say that the challenge was hard but very effective and I am happy I did it. after I finished my challenge I am back to my 4 times a week yoga routine.


Final Note: 
Challenges of these kinds also could help to create a habit. habits are powerful, and once they formed they play a great role in influencing the direction of our life. Habits could be both bad and good, and it is intresting to know that creating a good habit has the the same procedure as creating a bad one. I am sure you all heard this quote by Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."


But don't set or have unrealistic goals or expectations. whatever you commit yourself to, do it for 30 days and you will improve your chances of turning it to a habit. It does not guarantee that you keep that habit for life, but it will be a step in a good direction. so take the leap, and make sure you enjoy your journey throughout of your challenge.


Wish you all a great day,
Mania