End of 30 Days

 

   Today was the last practice in the 30 day yoga journey. Earlier this month I had decided I was going each practice every day. I've never done that many days of yoga that many days in a row. This year I wanted to try it.

   It wasn't as hard as I thought to fit them in on the days that I usually don't work out. On the days that I worked a morning shift, I did the practice after dinner or before bedtime. On Thursdays I did the practice before my Toastmaster's meeting. The fact that the practices were 20-25 minutes long helped a lot. 

   Some of the practices were pretty challenging and I learned to modify things to make them work for me. I think that they are set up for people with some experience and who are more flexible and in some ways stronger than I am. The leader uses very non judgmental language which helps me to feel better. I look more like Hilda the Dancing Hippo than a lithe and graceful yogi, my tree poses are more like shaking tree or crashing tree. Still, I think the important part is to not hurt myself and to enjoy it. It really doesn't matter what I look like. (Hence the reason I don't do group fitness classes.)

    The last day of the journey is different than all the other days, normally the leader gives cues and says what to do next. The final practice of the journey she removes her microphone and just does yoga. You can follow her if you like or you can do your own thing. This is the hardest day of the practice for me. I'm used to following directions when it comes to yoga. What if I take too long and was still moving when everyone else is stretching and winding down? What would I even do?  How do I transition from one thing to another?

   On other 30 day yoga journeys I've done I've followed the teacher as best I could on the last day. It's hard to do without the verbal cues, but I did it. This year I decided I was not going to do that. I was going to move however I wanted and would peek at the screen only to check the time and do the final stretches with the leader.

   It went better than I expected. One of the challenges I have during the scripted yoga practices is that my wrists get sore and one shoulder feels a little wonky. I simply did moves that didn't put too much pressure on my wrists. Maybe my transitions weren't graceful, but they felt good to me and no one is watching anyway. I did some stretching, a little balance work and some ab work on the floor. I worked around Willow and Barnaby who were running and playing sometimes pausing on my mat. 

   At the end I followed the teacher as she did a few final twists and stretches. As I rolled over and came to a seated position at the end of the practice, I was a bit proud of myself. I got through the entire 30 days and successfully did some freestyle yoga.

   It's a satisfyingly way to start the year.