30 Day Yoga Challenge Reflection: Week 1

I wrote this reflection after the first week of the Essential Yoga Space 30 day Yoga Challenge. I never posted this reflection. I wanted to share it now, because we are near the end of the challenge. My level of enthusiasm for the challenge has only increased.

It is Saturday morning and I am awake at 5 am. So, I thought I would take this time to write my reflection of this past week, since the launch of Essential Yoga Space 30 Day Yoga Challenge. We completed our first week of the challenge yesterday. Before I give you my reflection, let me backup and tell you more about the challenge. 

We began a 30 day yoga challenge on October 1. In the challenge, we meet every weekday morning on Zoom, to have a 30 minute at home yoga class. The goal is to help us all develop a habit around waking up early and practicing yoga at home. 

When I first thought of the idea, I doubted my own ability/willingness to actually get up early every morning. I had visions of me oversleeping and missing the challenge completely.  I am grateful for the women who said yes to themselves and who joined the challenge with me. Every morning when I sign-on, it feels so good to have other challengers waiting on Zoom to begin our yoga practice. 

This week, I shared with the 30 day Yoga Challengers, how I have created a corner in my living room, that I call my yoga corner. It is just a corner with blank walls and an open floor. This is the space that I have negotiated with my family to keep clear so I have a space to do yoga no matter the condition of the rest of the living room.  

See, I have endeavored to remove the excuses/ obstacles to practicing yoga from my path. One of the excuses I hear regularly (and one I used to use often) is “I don’t have a place to practice yoga in my home”. I also hear, “when I sit down to practice yoga, I get distracted by all the things that are left undone in my home”.  So this is the first tip that we discussed in our first session of the challenge. Set up a corner or a space in your room, living room, spare closet, wherever works for you, and keep that space clear for yoga. Even if every other space in your house is cluttered, just clear this one space and get on your mat everyday. 

“Even if every other space in your house is cluttered, just clear this one space and get on your mat everyday. ”

So now back to my reflections for this first week of the challenge. 

I am definitely waking up earlier. Remember, it is Saturday morning. I have no reason to be up at 5:30 am. But my body has already made the shift to my new wake up time. Wow, I never thought it would happen this fast. I gave myself the weekend to not wake up so early, thinking that I would want to sleep in. I guess not. 

It helps that all this week, when I lay down to go to sleep, I hit the pillow like a rock and I am out. Last night though, I fell asleep way too early. It was around 7 pm when I laid down on my bed to talk to my husband who was working at his desk in our room. Next thing I know, I am waking up at 5 am on Saturday.  

Another thing I have noticed, I have been more productive and ready to seize the day. Each day after the challenge, I receive a spark of creativity or an impulse to create something right after we sign off from our practice. You can check my time stamp on my Facebook and Instagram posts. Mostly, I have been doing Facebook Lives right after since my camera is already set up. I now have content on my YouTube page that I can use for my clients to give them homework by using the videos I have created in this challenge.

I am way nicer to my family members. My normal routine was that everyone woke up before me, and then they would trickle into my room and start conversations with me before I have had a sip of coffee. I, much like a cat, open one eye and kind of peer out at them, but my brain is still very much asleep. My spirit animal is a cat. I believe.

Now, when my family wakes up, I am alert and joyful and ready to engage with them. 

This 30 day Challenge has already made some positive shifts in my life. I can’t wait for our session on Monday.