Embarking on a 30 day challenge

Hi Popcorn (ha, nice name),

Hurray for embarking on the 30-day challenge!! I did one in February and loved, loved, loved it. Wait. Let me rephrase that: I loved, loved, loved how I felt at the end of it. I’ll share a few of my general thoughts/observations about my experience in the hopes it’ll help you or, at the very least, just give you someone else’s perspective.

First 10 Days: Amazing, wonderful, exhilarating. I was so proud of myself for what I was doing and my body felt surprisingly good. I tried to mix up my class times to give my body a rest (ex: Saturday, 9 a.m. class then Sunday 4 p.m. class) and to test my body at different times of day. Some people hate the sunrise classes, but I always enjoy my practice much, much more in the mornings. Less people, more personalized attention, empty stomach, peaceful mind. Plus, the hardest thing about a challenge is how much time it takes up going to yoga everyday, so hitting the studio first thing in the morning at least gives you free nights.

Second 10 Days: Horrible, awful, exhausting. Sounds negative, I know, but it’s the truth. By day 14, I vividly remember breaking down and telling one of my teachers I didn’t think I could finish. I just felt SOOOO tired and icky and wobbly–in and out of class. Maybe it was just me, but keep an eye out for the mid-way-through blues. It was at this point that I realized I needed to do a much better job of drinking more than just water (i.e., coconut water, Smartwater, Emergen-C) after every class (and throughout the day) to get some electrolytes back into my system. This was especially important because I totally and completely lost my appetite, so I wasn’t eating a whole lot either. Bad combo. I made a conscientious effort to eat more protein, too.

Third 10 Days: Back to amazing, wonderful, exhilarating. I fell in love with Bikram in a whole new way toward the end of my challenge. In fact, I felt so great, I continued for another 12 days, so really, I did a 42 day challenge. 🙂

The thing you must remember when you head into each class, though, is that you’re going to feel different. The days you assume you’ll feel amazing, you might feel terrible. And the days you trudge into the studio thinking you want to be anywhere by there, you’ll have a rockstar practice. So it goes. Just try not to anticipate, try not to judge, try to breathe every last drop of extra air into your lungs—those are the little tricks that will give you the most peace and satisfaction in the end.

Keep us posted on your progress! And good luck!

Namaste,
Hannah

p.s. I kept a blog while I did my challenge: http://hannahjustbreathe.wordpress.com. The month of February is my challenge month, but I have some other random yoga posts throughout!

Hello popcorn

I want to congratulate you on embarking on your challenge. I am really looking forward to hearing more distinctions and discoveries from you if you are willing to let us know.

Thank you again Hannah for your compassionate and interesting insights (as always).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

i just completed a 60-day challenge and it was incredible! i truly do have a “new body, new mind and new way of life” as bikram quotes. it was an amazing and challenging journey, and some days i felt like i would have to have someone chain me to my yoga mat, but it was really worth it. and i got a free t-shirt! stick with it, folks on the challenge!!! the proof is in the pudding.

-heidi jo
heidi-jo.blogspot.com