Another 30 Day Challenge

   I started another 30 Day Yoga Challenge several weeks ago. This one is a power up challenge meant to building understanding of how yoga works and to build strength. I think it might be meant for those who have been practicing yoga for awhile as it seems to be at an intermediate level. Much of it it includes things that I can't do or can't do well. I could have used this as a reason for not doing this challenge and sticking with the video classes that I know.

   I didn't do it because I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to do something a little bit too hard for me. In that respect this was the perfect challenge. Throughout the class, the teacher constantly says that those of us following along need to do the best we can. Our bodies are not the same and don't have the same strength, flexibility and bone structure. There are some things that will be more difficult for some people to do than others. Some of us may need to use props. Some of us may need to modify poses. All of this is OK. The goal is to do the best that we can, be content with that best and work to improve where we can. She says that two things yoga can teach us are impermanence and contentment. Impermanence means that nothing stays the same. If there is a pose that you cannot do one day, there may be a time when you can or at least come close to being able to do it. Nothing stays the same. The other is to be content with what you can do on that day. If you have rolled out your mat and did the best that you can do today, then be happy about that. 

   This is actually something that I needed to work on. Most of the time I do something and am not happy because I could have done better. I could have played better. I could have said something different. I could have flavored it differently. I should have used different colours, different yarn or a different stitch. Sometimes that happens when I write. I should have chosen another topic. I should have ended it differently. I think you get the picture. It's hard for me to look at something I've done and been satisfied with it.

  I think this has something to being raised Lutheran. If you are happy with something you've done, then you are being prideful which is a grave sin. Better to be self deprecating. Somewhere along the line I developed a do it right/perfectly the first time or don't do it at all. 

  The classes have definitely helped. I have discovered that I don't do balance poses well. I have to use a chair to help me balance especially if it is a one legged pose. I have to use blocks and sometimes a pillow in order to do some of the poses. Some poses, like side crow, I may never be able to do because it requires me to balance on the side of one arm.  (Crow is something that is possible and I'm working toward doing it.) I'm learning to be all right with all of this. 

  I can tell that it is helping my overall fitness. I did a one hour long class, something I've never done before. I didn't have to stop in the middle of it. I kept right on going. At the end I was a bit tired, but not spent. I felt good. I can see little bits of improvement here  and there. It's encouraging.

  I have one class left in the challenge. My plan is to do the challenge again and see how it goes compared to this time. It should be interesting.