60 day yoga challenge

I signed up for the Girl Power Hour 60 day yoga challenge. GPH is a social networking group for women in Seattle that meets once a month to share ideas, build connections and make new friends. I just found out about GPH this week so I have not attended any of the events yet. However, I'm looking forward to meeting some new people and sharing this experience together! The group is committing to practicing yoga every day for 60 days. For the most part I will be attending classes at Urban Yoga Spa. However, there are a few days when I will be out of town so I will practice on my own on those days.

Today is day 4 of 60 and so far I am off to a great start. For the first three days I attended the 6 a.m. class. I know it sounds painfully early, but I find it easiest to attend the morning class so that I am done for the day before I have time to find any excuses for why I can't go. However, this morning I couldn't get my legs to drag me out of bed, so I will attend a class after work.

I have been practicing yoga for just over a year now. I typically go to class 3 or 4 days a week so I am interested to see how my body adjusts to going daily. I have been debating over whether to set any specific goals to achieve during the challenge - like learning to do a head stand. Part of me says that doing 60 days of yoga is enough of a challenge in itself, so I don't need to add more stress. The other part of me says that's just fear talking and making an excuse so I don't have to fail trying. I've always been a perfectionist - I don't like doing things that I'm not good at. While that may keep me safe from failing, it also limits my ability to succeed.

Alright, I've talked myself into it. I am going to learn how to do a head stand in the next 60 days! I know it's not going to be easy, but it's going to be so exciting when I finally do it. I remember when I first tried to do crow pose. I pretty much fell on my face and thought I would never get it. However after patiently practicing, I finally got it and it was the best feeling in the world. So I know that I can do this!

In my first 6 months of yoga, I saw rapid progression as I became stronger, increased my balance, flexibility and endurance. Over the next 6 months, I hit a plateau and I have remained in my comfort zone. In class, I know what I can do and what I can't do and I've been content to stay within that zone. However, yoga is a life-long practice. I know there is always someplace else my body can take me, so I intend to keep pushing my boundaries and discovering new potential.

Alright, so now that I've set my goal it's time to make a game plan. The first step is to make my intention known. This afternoon at class I will talk to the instructor and ask how I should start practicing. Then, each day before or after class, I will spend a few minutes practicing for head stand. Whew! I'm feeling lots of emotions right now - both nervous and excited. It's hard to sit still at my desk thinking about it - I just want to go now and start working!

The other thing I will be doing over the next 60 days is training for a half marathon that I will run on May 9th. This is my second time doing a half marathon - the first was in 2008. I was able to run about half of it, but then my knees started hurting which made me walk a larger portion than I would have liked. Since then I have been going to the chiropractor and I bought insoles for my shoes that seem to be helping my knees. I also think increasing my flexibility through yoga will have a positive impact on running.

So that's the plan...yoga, head stand, half marathon...it's going to be an interesting 60 days to say the least!