EMOTIONAL – Page 3 – Whole Heartily

30 Day Yoga Challenge Results

The 30 days in my 30 Day Yoga Challenge are up and as you can see, I did not complete the challenge completely. Bummer!

I was able to practice Yoga 26 of the 30 days and I am satisfied with that. I feel more relaxed and more limber than before, but less so than when I’ve practiced yoga in the past. I believe this may be due to cutting down on my sugar intake during these past 30 days too, and the effect that has had on my body as I detox has not been enjoyable. In fact, some of the days I didn’t practice I was feeling extreme fatigue and/or suffering from headaches.

Moving forward, I do feel confident that I’ve broken in a new habit. I fully intend to keep practicing yoga at least 3 to 4 days a week! Who’s with me!?

Yoga Challenge Update

Alright, I am about halfway through my 30 Day Yoga Challenge and I decided to check in and let y’all know how I’m doing…

I missed a day…blargh! It was a Saturday. The day went by and before I knew it I was crawling into bed, dozing off and jolting awake when I realized I’d neglected my yoga! Part of me feels terrible, but I do realize I want to create a lasting habit out of this challenge and some days will be missed. I didn’t use it as an excuse to give up and I won’t give up!

30 Days of Meditation

Yesterday I posted a challenge to myself to complete 30 Days of Yoga; no excuses, no exceptions. Today i’d also like to throw some more fuel on that fire and give myself another challenge to complete 30 days of meditation.

Sometimes I think about things a little too intently and I build up a lot of pent up anxiety about a wide variety of mostly meaningless topics. I think taking the time to clear my head and focusing myself each day will do a lot of good in my life.

To get myself started, I downloaded the Stop, Breathe, and Think app on my iPhone/iPad which provides different focuses of meditation based on how you’re feeling. You can either complete their self assessment exercise and they will recommend meditations for you or you can select your own without the assessment.

30 Day Yoga Challenge

Once, long ago, I was in the habit of practicing yoga every day. During that time, I felt better physically and mentally than I had in a long time prior. I miss that feeling and I want it back. The problem is, I’m lazy. I start again for a few days, then get bored or make excuses and fall off track.

So here it is, I’m going to do 30 days of yoga; no breaks, no excuses.

I use an application on my iPad called Yoga Studio.

Yoga Studio provides several “classes” per competency level, lasting different lengths and focusing on different goals. Just as an example, I can take a class for beginner strength lasting 30 minutes or mix 15 minutes of beginner combination with 15 minutes of beginner flexibility, depending on my attention span and how I feel.

Individually each of these practices are powerful in their own right and each serves a particular purpose. When practiced with intention and consistency, they develop stamina, strength, energy, flexibility and inner peace. Yoga has numerous health benefits including improvements in cardiovascular, musculo–skeletal and mental health.

At the end of my 30 day challenge, I will have (hopefully) created a good habit and continue practicing yoga without the need to create a challenge like this.

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