Hello! I’m so excited to be able to say that I’ve finally successfully completed one of Yoga with Adriene’s 30 days of yoga challenges (and at the time of posting, I’m actually over halfway through my next one)! I didn’t start on January 1st when the challenge kicked off but instead opted to start on January 22nd once I was starting to get the swing of my new routine and finished prioritizing what I want to focus on this year. I’ve tried to do Adriene’s challenge a couple of times in the past but I always inevitably get sick, lazy or unmotivated because I hate getting out of bed on winter mornings! This year I decided to go in with very low expectations and just see how long I could do it for. Once I hit the 15 day mark, I realized I had a good shot at completing it so I made it a focus!
THE HURDLES: I personally enjoy exercising later in the day but since I’m a commuter, that’s not really an option for me if I want to, you know, eat dinner. I’ve had to shift to doing yoga first thing in the morning, shortly after waking up and I really had to revamp my routine to make it work. I’m talking, waking up at 4:30AM most weekday mornings to get in my yoga practice with enough time to make breakfast, spend 5-10 minutes on my computer, and get dressed and ready for the day all before running out the door to make my train. The first week had me questioning if it was really worth it, and ultimately I decided that it is. After a week or so of maintaining my schedule, it got easier to get up and I’m in the habit of always waking up before my alarm. Another hurdle that I really couldn’t do anything about is that I find my muscles are more stiff in the morning and that I’m more flexible later in the day. But again, no choice here so I just had to power through. My last hurdle was that on days 29-30 we were on vacation at my sister in laws family cabin! But I knew I couldn’t blow it on the last two days and thankfully everyone was really on board with me doing yoga in the morning before starting our days out.
THE GOOD: Whenever I make it a point to do yoga in the morning, It makes a huge difference in my entire day from my physical comfort to my demeanor and even to my mindset. I end up feeling more relaxed throughout the day and I’m able to avoid *some* of the anxiety I experience daily. I also have way less 30-year-old-body aches and pains from sitting at a desk and on a crowded train all day. Since I started practicing, I’ve already made a noticeable improvement in certain areas. For instance, I was only able to plank for about 10 seconds but sometime over the course of the month, I’ve gotten to the point where I can plank for a full minute without any discomfort! Pretty amazing for just 30 days if you ask me!
THE FUTURE: I’ve really enjoyed my 30 day journey! So much so, that after completing the challenge, I decided to start a new 30 day yoga challenge for myself! While we were away, my sister in law told me about another YouTube yogi that she loves named Cat Meffan. Cat tends to do more intense yoga sessions than Adriene (think full body power yoga), but I’ve liked everything I’ve done from her so far. Since my challenge ended, but I want to continue practicing, I put together a playlist of 30 of Cat’s videos to tackle as my next endeavor. I’m currently on day 18 and loving it! Here’s hoping I complete my second challenge of the year with flying colors.
As a note, if you’re new to yoga and looking to start, I highly recommend Yoga with Adriene! If you’re intermediate to advanced, I would recommend checking out Cat Meffan to intensify things! I found it helpful to go into her videos already having an understanding of poses and the combination of spontaneity and individuality that goes into each yoga session! My dream is to be able to transition between poses as seamlessly as Cat does. One day!
One Response to “30 Days of Yoga Challenge Wrap Up”
Woo, congrats! I love doing Adriene’s 30-day challenges. I try and do them a few times a year (usually corresponding with months that have 30 days so I don’t have to remember which video I’m on lol). I’ll have to check out Cat Meffan!
-Heather | Nerdy By Nature Blog