A new challenge! Day 1

Hello, all! I am back to a dedicated daily practice and I couldn't be happier about it. After my first challenge ended, I felt a pretty big letdown and had to switch my focus from yoga to work in preparation of a two-week vacation to visit my family in Boston. I didn't practice very much in October, admittedly. However, I did manage to get Jason into the hot room! Even more shocking, I got my mom to go with us!

That was a huge moment for me, truly. My mom and I both got into health-related changes at the same time and she's ironically lost pretty much the same exact amount of weight as I have so far. Taking a yoga class was way outside her comfort zone, and I was so unbearably proud of her for going. Since we left town, she's continued going to class! I can't wait for her to get over the initial hump and really feel the benefits. It's also done really great things for our relationship. My mom and I never really called each other before except if it was really important. We email a lot, but calling was reserved mostly for holidays and bad news. Now, we call each other to talk about class, which I love!

Jason did a fantastic job, too. He's already in pretty good shape so he could do a lot of the postures well right off the bat. In nearly every class I've taken with him, the instructor has called him out for having a great rabbit pose! It's really fun to go to class with him, because I get that outlet of talking to someone about class who really understands what it's like to be in the room. Also, it makes me happy to know that we're both doing something healthy. Jason and I are incredibly close (obviously, since we've been together for over three years and lived together for two and a half) and I feel like practicing together brings us even that much closer.

So, since getting back from vacation I've been in crazy prep mode for a craft fair I vended at this past weekend. I only took a couple classes last week and decided that I wanted to really re-dedicate myself to my practice today. I figured there was no better way to advance my practice than to do another 60-day challenge. So, here we are!

Today's class was probably the best one I've ever had. The teacher was one I've never had before and she was excellent. She was constantly reminding us about proper alignment and gave a bunch of awesome "lift the chest!" instructions that completely changed a lot of the postures for me. I felt like today was one of those breakthrough classes where tons of change is happening. The warm-up part of class was notably better. The instructor kept telling us to lock our elbows and lift our chests, which made half moon fantastic for me today.

I pushed myself really, really hard. This meant that I got dizzy quite a bit, but I got up as soon as I possibly could to try again. I was rewarded with a lot of gifts in class as a result. The sensation I get from a lot of the postures has morphed from tingling to a warm glow. It is a weird sensation to try to describe but it is actually kind of spiritual.

Another posture I had great success in today was the stretching part of head to knee. the instructor told us to keep our spine straight and pull forward while pushing the shoulders back. I felt the stretch like never before! In spine twist, I felt the twist go all the way up into the top of my neck! I exhaled harder than ever in kapalabhati breathing and my abs are rather sore now but in that great "I exerted muscles that get little action" kind of way. In fact, my whole body feels like that today. I have grown to like the feeling of sore muscles. That's something I never thought I'd say!

Part of the inspiration behind this new challenge is to make yoga a daily part of my life in an attempt to pursue a career as a teacher. I know that I'm not anywhere near ready to teach this practice but I also know that I will be someday if I push myself and work as hard as possible to get there. I spoke with my friend Liz, who is a Bikram teacher, and she suggested to take my time and practice often. Sound advice indeed. I am pursuing this goal but allowing myself to wait for the exact right time to present itself. And it will. I have faith. :)