10/26/2010

My first 30 day challenge

Lots of news.

First, class was so crowded last night and really humid. That isn't the news. THREE people wore hats. Two ladies who seem to know each-other and sported knitted bands about 5-6 inches thick. Another seemingly unrelated woman wore a full on black fleece beanie. I have been practicing for almost a year and have never seen this.. is it a new trend? Why three people in one class? Was I so hot that I was hallucinating?

The thought has crossed my mind that perhaps the black fleece beauty is struggling with some type of alopecia (hair loss). If so, more power to her in coming to Bikram class and sorting it out! But for the other two ladies... I don't get it. AND they both left early. My ballsy instructor shouted, 'Where are you going, sit down, that is not cool."

My studio does not push the whole 30 or 60 day challenge regime that Bikram encourages. That means no calendar with special star stickers for days you go. I was surprised to learn that the reason for this is that they actually lost students who felt daunted by the expectations. Understandable.

However, I would like to camaraderie and support that comes from the community while doing a challenge. So I spoke with my favorite receptionist and Hatha yoga extraordinaire who said that I should definitely do it and that she would be my cheerleader. Word spread. I made it into the locker room where one of the teachers had overheard my conversation. She too said I should.

Yesterday was October 25 and day 1. One month, 30 days will be my birthday exactly. Kismet?

Did I just commit to a 30 day challenge? Aren't I supposed to mentally prepare for this type of thing? How can I just dive in?

I am. What a better time than now?

Come December, snowboarding season will be upon me and I will be shredding the gnar gnar with less time for sweat sweat.

For those of you who stumble on my blog and need a little background.. and for my family that doesn't practice yoga, a 30 day challenge is:
-30 days in a row of Bikram yoga
-You MAY skip only two days out of the 30, but must make up for those to days by going twice in one day (yikes).
-Bikram recommends 60 days in a row of yoga to start out with then reducing your practice to 3 days a week to maintain what you build.


By publishing this post... the challenge becomes real to me. I am terrified.

4 comments:

Alive in the Fire said...

Dude I am super proud of you for taking this on! As you've read, I've now stopped two 30-day challenges in the middle. They can be quite...well, challenging! But so, so rewarding. Your practice improves greatly and really settles into a great consistent strength & flexibility that you can't get any other way. I'll be thinking of you and looking forward to more updates!

As for hats in Bikram class, people are CRAZY!!! That's just super silly ha.

yogeekirsten said...

Thank you for your support!

Catherine said...

"Shredding the gnar gnar" — you kill me. Takes me back to my days living in the mountains... :)

Congrats for posting this, for making the challenge real!

As far as going to the chiropractor... I went back for the first time in years while I attempted a 30-day challenge last month, and she was doing such intensive (painful!!) work on me that I couldn't keep up the challenge, too. I've backed off a little on both the yoga and the chiro, and it's been a challenge all its own to get used to how my body is re-aligning.

So - your practice might change with the chiropractor, but hopefully it's a "two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward" situation. It's so great that you're taking care of YOU for the long run! :)

yogeekirsten said...

Well it looks like you were right Catherine. My practice is already changing. Eek!

Post a Comment