Breath is the only thing of which you have control

Crystal likes to blame me for things!! Ha ha!! Its true, I am always coming up with ways to make grandiose sweeping changes to my life in the hopes that it will help me loose a few pounds (try 25!) or help me sleep better or make my skin nicer or keep my mind and hands occupied. But rarely do I ever follow that idea through to the end. In fact, the only time I can think that I actually did was when I finished the Portland Marathon in 2003. Holy crap - that was 7 years ago! So, that fated email I sent about the 60 day yoga challenge was really just one of many great ideas that never really come to fruition. When Crystal came back with “I have thought about and decided that I want to do the 60 day Yoga Challenge” I was all “OH – YEAH, I had kind of forgotten about that”!! You see, I usually don’t really tell anyone about my schemes, because that way if I don’t end up accomplishing it – no one asks me about it later! Of course, that makes it all too easy for me put it off, or make excuses or just stop completely! But, we have made this one public – so there is no escaping it now.

So- we are exactly one week into the 8 week yoga challenge and we’re doing really well! Looks like Crystal has shared some of her accomplishments this last week – way to go!!! I went to 5 different 60min+ yoga classes last week and did one 15 min practice on my own with a DVD and then a 50min. practice at home with a DVD as well. Last Monday I was kind of freaking out about this challenge . . How could I keep this up for 60 days- How was I going to make it to a class every day, how was I going to pay for it all, how would we jockey the dog so he wouldn't be alone for too long, what was I going to wear everyday, what if I couldn't make it through a class, what if I wasn't strong enough to do the positions, would I be the biggest person in class, won't other people be judging me, I've never blogged before, I don't know that I want to tell the world what I am doing . . . and I hadn’t even made it through one day! But now, its feeling more manageable. I have a tendency to become paralyzed by thinking about all the things that could get in the way of making it to my goal, so this has been an exercise in dealing with that negative self talk as well. Every day that I do what I set out to do- the more empowered I feel that , indeed, I can do it. It’s a vicious circle, but in a good way!

Here are a few of my experiences/observations from this past 7 days . . .

· Don’t eat Thai food for lunch and attend a hot class 5 hrs later
· Kitties and puppies are NOT good yoga partners – although they are VERY curious about it
· I thought I would do the Hot classes 4 days a week – but its looking more like 2 days
a week – hopefully as I get stronger I can increase that
· Don’t stand next to the thermostat – at one point in my Hot Flow class it was 107
degrees!
· During practice - it can suck, royally . . . bu I soon forget about that afterwards and
am just proud I made it through another day
- Sometimes downward facing dog is a rest position
- I gotta get my mind off the clock DURING practice . . . Suggestions?

Oh and to set the record straight . . . I don't watch Oprah either, but I sought out the article about one women's 60 day Bikram yoga challenge after my yoga instructor asked if we had read it. Not that I have a problem with Oprah, I have far far far worse TV addictions than that . . . but that is another story.

namaste