13 in 13 Yoga Challenge

By |February 11th, 2013|13 in 13, exercise, Us|

Yoga Challenge-2

As our first “physical challenge” we decided to do seven straight days of yoga. You can read about it here. I am happy to report that this challenge was a big success! Not only did we complete it, but we had a lot of fun doing it. Challenging? YES. Rewarding? YES. Steve was sweet enough to write about the experience from his perspective as well!

Yoga Challenge

Steve’s Perspective:

I am a guy. I like eating steak, I like drinking beer, I like playing contact sports. That’s what guys do. So when Lindsay proposed a full week of yoga, she got about 30 “no’s” in a row before I (reluctantly) agreed.

Regardless, I am glad we did it! Like anything else in life, you tend to like things as you get better at them. I definitely got better, past the perpetual newbie level I was at before. Having a week of straight yoga with no excuses got me enough exposure. I was able to quit thinking about how to do the routines and just focus on breathing.
It wasn’t easy, but Lindsay was a great motivator. Whenever I said “no mas”, all she had to say was “na mas te” and we were back at it. The week went something like this:
Day 1: Let’s do this!
Day 2: We didn’t know that could hurt because we didn’t know we had muscles there
Day 3: Survive, Survive, Survive
Day 4: Second wind
Day 5: Morning of martial arts led to low energy…only to stumble into a free private lesson of yoga!
Day 6: Finally starting to feel adjusted
Day 7: Work crunch forced a late night and a missed class. We couldn’t give up, though, and did a streaming yoga video. Doable, but nothing like going to class.
Overall, this challenge was great for both of us. Short enough to be realistic, and long enough to require an effort. Highly recommended.

Lindsay’s perspective

Just like the start of most challenges, I was excited to get started. We showed up, had an awesome workout, and left feeling good. The class was definitely physically challenging and we were a little wary about repeating 6 more times. After a few days my muscles were so sore that I had to start taking “modifications” that I usually wouldn’t take. It’s embarrassing to admit but it was difficult for me at first. I was used to being able to do something and it hurt my pride that I couldn’t. They always say in class to not worry about what other people are doing- to focus on you and your practice and do what is right for your body at that time. It finally sank in that I could push myself and risk injury, or just allow myself to do what was right for me, that day, there on the mat. Definitely a lesson in humility that was unexpected but welcomed. After I accepted this and started listening to my body, the rest of the week went great.

Then came Saturday. Day 5. Dun Dun duuun. Steve had obligations in the morning and the studio we were going to didn’t offer an afternoon class. I was deflated. It would have been easy to give in. Instead, we looked around the neighborhood and found another studio. We were tired, sore, and not looking forward to paying $16 each when we already had an unlimited pass elsewhere; but we did it and ended up with a private class! Yup. Looks like no one else was on a yoga challenge and we were the only ones there. It was great to have a teacher give you individual attention and help you improve your form, and we learned headstands! Awesome. The last challenge came on Monday, the last day (of course!). Steve was stuck at work and absolutely could not leave in time for class. I was pretty bummed out but we decided to download a power yoga class on Amazon, hooked it up to our TV, and turned our living room into our own yoga studio. Not the vision I had in mind, but I was glad we stuck to it and completed the challenge.

All in all it was a great experience and it got me re-hooked on yoga. After a few days off I am excited to get back on the mat. Maybe not 7 days a week, but a few for sure!

love and candy

lindsay