January Yoga Challenge Recap

For those of you that follow me on instagram, you know that I have been faithfully hitting the mat for every day of January. I am not going to lie- it has not always been easy. During the week it was generally easy to get done because I would practice at my lunch break. The weekends got tricky with long runs and other obligations. Most importantly, even when it got hard to, I showed up for myself.

With the exception of Day 1, I completed each day on the assigned day and I am so proud of that. Last year I doubled up quite a few times. January 1st I worked all day then we went to visit family and we actually got home after midnight so I decided I would just get a good night's rest then hit it the next day.

Each week day I would anxiously await my lunch break from work so that I could hit the mat. I loved that this series had practices that were generally 30 minutes or less. It made it so much easier for me to make the time for it and my brain and body were so grateful. Practicing on my lunch break allowed me to recenter and focus before I had to face the second half of my day. I get a bit anxious and stressed some mornings depending on what is going on, so being in the routine of yoga-ing was perfect!

Each day came with a new theme, and I swear Adriene knew exactly what I needed that day even before I did. Most days the practices flew by. I looked forward to the daily practice and the changes going on in my body and brain.

There were a few days that my arms were sore and achy from all the down dogs and chatarangas. Don't forget the days I would have to shake my arms out while running because they were more tired than my legs!! Can you imagine?

Some days, my balance was challenged and I fell on my face. Adriene has taught me to laugh it off, brush it off, whatever.. and just keep going. No judgments. She is a great advocate for doing what you can where you are and using that to grow. In fact, her slogan "find what feels good" is so powerful that I often think about it during life off that mat. Something doesn't feel right? Find what does and go from there. 

Other days it was more about stretching, meditating or just remaining present. It is such a challenge for me, sometimes, to remain present. With all of the pushes and pulls of life, it is so easy to get distracted. Taking daily time to do yoga really just helped me stay present even if just for that 30 minutes. I don't mean to say that my mind never wandered. It did. A lot. But sometimes the whole point of yoga, for me, is to let myself be a little scattered and refocus so that I can return to being present. 

By the end of the 31 days, I felt stronger and had the courage to try things that I definitely couldn't do before. It has been very empowering. I felt like my mind was calmer, my body got stronger, and I was more at ease. Of course now that it is over, I need to return to a schedule of at least doing yoga once per week. For the larger part of 2016 I was able to stick to this goal and I hope to do the same for 2017. This yoga revolution challenge has been a great way to start the year off on a good note. 

I did also do the #newyearmoreyoga challenge which was just that. A challenge. Some of the poses were way out of my league. If I had to choose which I liked best, I would say the full practices. The poses are great for a challenge, but I feel like these types of challenges miss the point of yoga. The practice and flow that provide me time to relax, unwind and process things is missing from these challenges. That's not to say I won't do others, I just prefer the whole practice. 

Thanks to Yoga with Adriene for yet another amazing January of yoga. 

Have you ever done a yoga challenge? What did you learn? Would you consider it?