21 Day Challenge: Part 1

2013 began and as the days went on, there was no mention of the 21 Day Challenge at the yoga studio.  I was so looking forward to the jumpstart--especially since I've been needing an extra challenge/motivation/whatever you want to call it to get my clothes fitting the way I like again.

Finally a week or so in, Farah noticed an announcement that the 21 Day Challenge would be in February--which was even better.  January was completely nuts with a mini-vortex in the middle, and by February I knew I'd be ready to focus even deeper on my commitment to exercise and weight loss.

This time around, the challenge falls when I will be away for...eight days.  Between a weekend on Long Island and a long weekend (and much needed) in Mexico, I'll need to make up eight classes.  I decided to make the challenge a special opportunity to take two classes per day--something I really enjoyed in France, did a little over the summer, and now have completely gotten away from.

Of course this means getting up at 6:20am, convincing myself to get out of bed, and heading to the studio.  Friday morning it meant doing that in a swirl of snow.  It was a good practice and afterwards I caught up with the instructor, who wondered where I had been--she was genuinely surprised when I explained that I am not a morning person and so really only come to morning classes when I don't have time to practice in the evening.  Friday evening I went to yoga 2, practicing along side my friend Kali.  It was tough...tough to focus, tough to get through.  I was heading into a much needed weekend off from work and friends and I decided to focus my energy for the yoga practices on releasing left over negative energy from the mini Inaugural vortex, including the wedding of the crazy brides.

I would continue with a practice first thing Saturday morning and then two back to back Sunday--including a restorative class that flew by.  My hip muscles have been yelling at me because I also included some Zumba, kickboxing and a whole lot of walking over the weekend.  Now it's Monday, and I realized with a bit of surprise as I finished yoga 2 this evening--I've completed seven classes, I'm a third of the way through.

I'll try to do a better job of keeping up with the blog posts, at least until I go away.  For the moment, I am awed by how much my practice has changed since I first embarked on the challenge two years ago when the whole thing seemed nearly impossible.  And now the challenge has become even more of a gift to myself than it first was.