Bikram yoga studios sponsor 30 day challenges 3 or 4 times a year. You sign up and keep track by putting stars next to your name. The object is to attend thirty classes in thirty days. If you miss a day, then you need to “do a double” and attend two classes in one day. My daughter did this in the fall and completed 30 classes in 28 days. I’m very proud of her effort. Usually there is a small prize, like a little discount on your membership fee, for completing the challenge, but the real prize lies in the 30 days itself. It’s been said/proven, that anything you do for 30 days becomes a life-long habit. ( Very important to examine things we do everyday – this works both ways – we could be reinforcing habits that could harm us)
People ask me all the time why I didn’t sign up for the 30 day challenge, considering I’m in class every morning anyway. My answer is simple. My yoga practice is a personal journey and can’t be marked on a chart with stars. So far it has released me from life’s pressures and I don’t want to use it to create a pressure situation. Going to class every morning has become habit and I look forward to it. I get up, eat, drink my two bottles of water, brush my teeth, dress and leave for class at 9am everyday. Just as I wouldn’t think of leaving the house without brushing my teeth, I can’t think of starting my day without going to class. (Except for last Thursday when the snow and ice froze the electric garage door shut imprisoning my car – my physical and mental exercise that day involved ladders and screwdrivers)
Though I’m not participating in the yoga 30 day challenge, the concept of using 30 days to change something in my life for the better, intrigues me. Being a former teacher, I do so love those progress charts, so I decided to pick something I need to change within myself, something I need to do (or not do) daily, and reward myself with a smiley face each day. My dearest friend gave me the cutest Yoga Puppies calendar for Christmas, making it the perfect progress chart. Now, I do know from the yoga experience that doing (or not doing) some small, physical act can take you on a tremendous emotional journey, teaching you hidden truths about yourself.
I am five days into my challenge now, and, whether it’s a “do” or “not do” thing, it’s a fight everyday to add or remove something to/from your life. You either thought you can’t live without it, or you can’t stand doing it one more time, but there’s that progress chart staring you in the face and there’s no way in hell you’re not going to collect that smiley face at the end of the day. That’s the power of the chart. I’m not a competitive person when it comes to going against others (board games and Monopoly excluded – I had to include this disclaimer in case my children read this. When we play Monopoly, they just automatically hand me Board Walk and Park place or it gets ugly real soon), but when it comes to challenging myself, there are no holds barred. I hate telling myself “no, you can’t” or “yes, you must”.
It doesn’t matter what I picked for my 30 day challenge – it can be something as small as not eating Corn Flakes for breakfast, or something as large as committing to write this blog everyday. What matters is the smiley face at the end of the day. Do you know what it’s like to have 30 smiley faces looking at you? I’m hell-bent to find out.
And so, as another day goes by, day five is in progress, and….I have written.
Wow, to build a routine requires discipline. Brushing our teeth starts out as a chore, but as you form the habit, you start not to think of it so much. In fact, you also come to rely on it in time. Congratulations on your personal journey, and yes, keep writing!