I began my yoga journey when my daughter was 2 years old.  It’s funny how when you’re a mom your milestones are measured with your child’s age.  My mother signed my father up for yoga at the ymca.  He liked it so much (or maybe he didn’t want to do it by himself) that he signed my up as well.  Free yoga…why not?  Vinyasa flow.  I’ve never done such a thing before, but it was for beginners, so I should be okay.  My teacher was Eva Rosvold, and even though it was for beginners, she pushed you to the edge.  I fell in love.  I had never felt so strong, so empowered.  I never knew I was capable of doing anything like this!  We practiced every Tuesday and Thursday. 

Eva introduced me to this great studio downtown called Sol Yoga.  She said I should come try the 6 a.m. Wednesday morning Rock and Flow class.  I couldn’t think of a reason not to.  I started going and I was hooked.  I loved starting my day with yoga.  Our class was in studio Sky and we would be able to watch the sun rise as we did our salutations.  It was magic. 

For months it was the only class at the studio I had tried.  I’m the kind of person who likes to stay inside their box.  Eva suggested I try the Monday night Flow 2/3 class.  I thought she would be teaching it so I mustarded up the courage.  To my surprise, she wasn’t.  It was some chick named Erin teaching and I was very nervous.  What the heck is a Flow 2/3 class anyway?  I only know beginners, intermediate,  and Rock and Flow.  I walk upstairs to this very familiar studio named Sky, but do not recognize one face I see.  I paid for my class and found a spot in the furthest back corner of the room I could find.  All I could think is everyone is staring at me.  I don’t belong here.  What am I doing in their yoga class?  Look at all of these yoga bodies.  They’re perfect.  I am not.  I sat quietly on my yoga mat. Staring at my yoga mat.  Hoping no one would notice me.  Class began and I soon forgot all of my fears and insecurities.  I was here for yoga, and I knew yoga.  I had never sweated so much in my life.  This was awesome!  The best yoga class I ever had!

I still attended my Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday classes with such love and dedication.  Yoga is where I belong.  In the course of a year, I was fortunate to start volunteering for the Wednesday morning class.  I was working at Sol Yoga!  How lucky am I?  By my daughter’s third birthday I had dropped 20 pounds, and in my mind, was developing that perfect yoga body.  I started to compare myself to others.  I know it’s a big no-no in the yogi world, but I’m human.  I’m competitive.  I would walk in to class, get on my mat, and think I’m going to hold my down dog much longer than anyone else in this room.  I mean I came to Patty Ivey’s workshop, my first experience with Hot Yoga, and I completed the class.  I didn’t rest in child’s pose even though I should have a few times.  I can even do bird of paradise, stand on my head, recline in hero’s pose.  I must be perfect, right?

My daughter is almost seven now, and I continued to practice regularly for the past few years, but that perfect yogi body with all of the hard core yoga postures seems to be eluding me for the time being.  I’ve turned 30 and my body seems to want to hold on to extra weight.  What can I do?  I can’t seem to bind anymore because my shoulders have tightened up a lot.  Maybe too much flow and not enough gentle.  I’m not perfect anymore. 

I remember a conversation I had with my husband a while ago.  We were talking about perfect babies.  Perfect means complete.  Ten fingers.  Ten toes.   Nothing about being able to reach your toes.  Nothing about being able to do chaturanga push-ups.  Do I feel complete?  If I lay my mat down and think This is exactly where I want to be.  Then, yes I do feel complete.  I am me.  I am perfect.

~ Jaime Russel

When I read the above subject line in an email the other day, I was a bit confused. What could this correspondence possibly be about?

Turns out a fellow Sol Yogi needed assistance and like the props that we all have access to in a yoga class (but don’t always use) she was asking if I could help her with something - if I could literally be her block. 

She realized that one of her work tasks had become very much like Parivrtta Trikonasana otherwise known as Revolved Triangle - a pose that for some yogis can be impossible to perform.  In the email, she shared the following:

It took me years to accept using a block in revolved triangle.  I would do the pose in pain every single time, but I would be damned if I was going to use a block - If I was going to ask for help.  Now, I use that block, and I love revolved triangle.

She turned her pain and annoyance into joy just by placing her hand on a rectangular piece of foam.  Likewise, specific studio duties that once energized her were throwing her weekend off balance and negatively affecting her other job as well as her family.  She could either continue to being in pain, risk pulling a muscle, or falling over…OR….she could grab a prop, AKA, ask me for help.

Turns out the days of the week when she needs help the most, are the days of the week that I’m the most open.  It’s a win, win situation for everyone that only worked because she asked.

This got me thinking.  How many times do you not ask for what you need?  More importantly, does this inability to ask for help in general, show up in your yoga practice specifically?  Do you roll your eyes when the instructor asks if you want a blanket or a strap?  Do you think to yourself, “No way!” when you’re offered a block?   Do you get mad at yourself and consider it negative feedback when the teacher adjusts you? 

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above, then I challenge you to grab a prop the next time you take a yoga class.  Just for fun, try your poses with a block, use a strap when doing a forward fold or place a blanket under your knees when in table.  See what changes when you find comfort in a pose.  Notice if other parts of your body begin to release and open up when you use props to assist with your alignment.

Then take that realization with you off the mat.  Determine in what ways you could use a block at work or a strap at home. 

Then be really brave and ask for it.

I’ve been mulling over the question of what the 21-day challenge means to me almost every day since I started and over time this is what I’ve put together. I started the challenge with a few specific intentions in mind:

Each one of my goals has presented its own set of mini-challenges and I’ve come back to them at different times throughout the 21-day challenge. I thought I’d share some of the feelings I had coming into the challenge, along with some of the experiences I’ve had during the course of the 21-day challenge.

To kick start my practice in a dedicated way.

I really wanted my new approach to my yoga practice to be meaningful. I’ve made a lot of changes in my lifestyle since experiencing a devastating blood clot in my left leg five years ago (and then a second clot one year after the first). I still remember my first workouts on the elliptical after finally walking again. I was winded and in pain after .75 miles walking. I spent hours of meditation every week, working through the mental and emotional challenges connected to rebuilding my physical strength. Years later, I’m in far better shape and making my way into the world of distance running. This change has been a very slow and long process with a number of stumbling points along the way, requiring continued acceptance with myself and my physical limitations. Throughout all of it, I’ve found an inescapable connection between my mind and body and knew that I couldn’t enter into any new venture without giving myself over to it mentally as well as physically.

After completing my first 5k last October, I started dawdling with my fitness and with the holidays nearing, I felt the need to find another goal, FAST. Without any definitive goal and in keeping with holiday chaos my run schedule started thinning and stress just kept piling on. Around the same time, I had been playing with the idea of starting a yoga membership, but felt pretty nervous about starting a new venture with the lingering feeling that I’d have no time to take the classes I wanted/needed. This is when I saw the email that Sol would be hosting the 21-day challenge again this year. I actually followed the Sol blog for a lot of the 21-day challenge last year, since I had a friend who was doing it and I thought it was a great idea. I kept telling myself that next year would be my year, making up all manner of excuses for putting off joining. Feeling grumpy and upset with myself, I stared down the yoga membership one last time, and finally, in a fit of end of the year anxiety, I clicked to purchase and signed up for the 21-day challenge immediately. It really felt like perfect timing.

To find where yoga fits in my life.

This goal felt like the most impossible one at the start of the challenge. My husband works 24-hour shifts two to three days a week, and I don’t have any family in Frederick. This means that a trip to the studio on a day that my husband works carries the additional expense of hiring a babysitter or asking for help from a wonderful, but fairly small base of people who are willing to watch my daughter, Sadie, free of charge. On days that my husband is home, a trip to the studio comes at the expense of the time we get to share together as a couple, and as a family. Not to mention that, except in very rare circumstances, I have been the person at home to put Sadie to sleep every single night for the first two years of her life. It feels foreign to ask someone else to take on this role, and it can be hard on the ego to have to ask for help from others so many times a week. 

Regardless of all the above scheduling anxiety, I’ve been feeling a desire to return to yoga, ever since a semester in college when I was able to practice daily. I know that yoga belongs in my life, as a means to tune in to my body and practice mindfulness. Yoga gives me  space to care for myself in a way that very easily slips through the cracks, especially with a crazy schedule like mine.

So, with the 21-day challenge falling over some especially hard days, including my daughter’s 2nd birthday and some rather long-houred work weeks, I felt a little trapped by my calendar at first. I started by scheduling classes on-line whenever it seemed possible. I actually scheduled the whole way through the 21-day challenge, and included all classes on the family calendar, in order to guarantee the time and space that I needed. Admittedly, it has been a little hairy and I’ve had to adjust based on babysitting changes and overtime, but the task of scheduling yoga into my life actually was easier than I had anticipated. Even easier was scheduling my first week after the 21-days. I took a look at my husband’s schedule during the first week after January 29th and suddenly finding four days to make it to the studio seemed so easy. I say this with a huge sigh of relief. There has always been time for yoga. I just had to let myself identify and embrace it (this includes allowing myself to be vulnerable in the process).

To get the most out of my membership with Sol.

I’d be lying if I said it had nothing to do with the cost of membership; I’m very conscious about how I spend my money and we keep a fairly strict budget in my house. I have previously joined gyms with dreams of fitness vigilance, and every time I’ve stopped attending I turn into one of those cartoons with dollar signs for eyeballs, adding up all money wasted on membership. I have finally learned my lesson that gym memberships are not for me. Naturally, a yoga membership felt a little scary after revealing myself to be a commitmentphobe in the past; however I became a member at Sol because I felt like I needed yoga for reasons that reach beyond my physical fitness. I figured taking the 21-day challenge would allow me to find my stride and provide more opportunity for my membership to reveal its value within its first month, and I have not been disappointed. Sol Yoga’s studio hosts a very beautiful community of people and I’m happy that this challenge has given me the opportunity to practice with many of them with regularity. Every entrance into the studio brings more of a sense of familiarity and peace and that is priceless.

Now, so far into the challenge, I can’t think of a better way to have reestablished a commitment to yoga. It has transformed into a clear commitment to myself. During these past few weeks I’ve allowed myself to be present and let go of a lot of the stress that builds so easily in my body, mind, and relationships. It is very easy to feel small and anxious when faced with a challenge that bears new struggles and lessons in every day. It has also been a beautiful experience, reminding me that each day, each practice, each breath is a new opportunity to rededicate myself to my intentions.

Thank you for this truly amazing experience.
Namaste,
Danielle

I have discovered many things! I have surprisingly fit yoga or meditation into my schedule everyday of the challenge so far and have still managed to keep up with all other tasks too! There have been many times in the last year when I’ve said I want to practice more but I wasn’t making it a priority! It will be easy to continue with this routine now that I’ve realized it is possible!

I felt good with the practice I had before, but I feel GREAT now with 18 straight days of taking time to listen to my body and be mindful!

I set my intention to “practice what I preach” on and off the mat. Since I feel energized mentally and physically, it’s been easier to get through the things that usually set me off. I have never been a morning person and I have a particularly hard time this time of year(SADD)! However, I have been going to bed & getting up earlier(another resolution)…the morning routine with my kids has gone much smoother and I feel better giving them and myself a better start to the day!

I have struggled in the last year with feeling overwhelmed with LIFE in general which lead to internal anger that I wasn’t able to handle it all! I knew that meditating would help but kept making excuses that I didn’t have time! On the days that I’m not able to get to the studio and whenever I can fit it in, I have been practicing a Kundalini meditation for ridding the body of internal anger. WOW, is it a powerful tool…what a release! I feel an amazing sense of peacefulness arise as I let go of the need to be in control!

This has been a GREAT start to a year of GREAT change in how I live my life as I approach the BIG 40…a year to give back to others and myself!

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om!
Heather

The difficult part of a 21 day challenge is obvious - finding the time to get to the studio.  But the amazing part of coming to the studio regularly is that you may discover a class you’ve enjoyed so much that you’d like to add it to your weekly regimen.

What I’ve discovered this year is how much I absolutely love gentle yoga, something that honestly, use to annoy me. Slowing down and being mindful is sometimes the hardest part of a yoga class.  Those first few minutes spent centering, breathing and unplugging from the previous activities of the day used to be torture.  I just wanted to get on with it.  Just wanted to start moving, flowing, pushing and experiencing the fullest expression of a pose so that I could check  off some secret list in my head.  Held down dog for the entire 10 breaths - Check.  Did the crescent lunge without my back knee being down - Check.  Got the sole of my foot higher up my thigh in tree - Check!   Eventually by the end of the practice due to my exhaustion, I could finally check in and check out of the craziness of my day.

By not having to keep up with the flow this year, I’ve been forced to check in, be more mindful and present in my body from the first breath to the last.  I’ve quickly discovered that these quite moments of reflection were exactly what not only my mind but also my body needed.  By being okay with the subtlety of a movement that I linked with breath, I’ve found that I am best able to experience and appreciate the small, victories.

I now experience and better appreciate the structure of a pose and how my body feels in it.  I can more easily re-align, adjust, use a prop and get comfortable in an asana for longer periods of time. Now I actually notice that my left big toe is more active in a crescent lunge, which is allowing my knee to extend toward the front of the room and thus engaging my quadricep more fully.  Yet there’s nothing to check off in my mind as I’ve never had a “use your big toe more” item on my yoga to do list before.  I’m simply noticing and experiencing what’s happening as it’s happening.

Walking down the steps in heels the other day, I notice my big toe again.  It wasn’t pressing down as I walked. I was using only the outside left edge of my foot to bare the burden of each step, which was throwing my knee out of alignment and pulling me off balance, completely.  Not a smart thing to do in a pair of heels.  So I adjusted by walking more slowly and consciously using my entire foot with each step.  How often have I been walking incorrectly, I wonder?    Maybe years.  But at least now I’m conscious and can bring this new awareness and alignment to my day-to-day movements and ultimately my daily life.

Thank you 21 Day Yoga Challenge not only for the gift of yoga, but also for this gift of perspective.  

~Linda Pruce

Thanks to Marge Ely for the photograph for this post.

“We begin where we are, and how we are and whatever happens, happens”
TKV Desikachar
 
It was January 2000 and no the world did not come to an end. And no, all of the computers in the world did not freeze up and stop working at the turn of the century.
However I did crash and burn; hitting a wall so hard it literally stopped me in my tracks.
I suddenly seemed to find myself in a miserable physical, mental and emotional state.
 
Physically I felt as though I was falling apart. I had developed several chronic conditions including carpal tunnel in both of my wrists. The discomfort and limited mobility seemed to restrict most of my physical activities. Until then I had always been a physically active person.

For example I was often outside playing ball with the kids and swam every opportunity I got. Mentally I was depressed and emotionally I felt hopeless. Instead of spending my Saturdays doing activities I enjoyed, I found myself curled up on the couch with my hands in those braces and not feeling well.  I knew then that I needed to do something to change all of this.
 
How would I know at that time that relief and healing would arrive in a simple four letter word; yoga?
 
In hind site, all of this did not come on suddenly. It was the result of some poor lifestyle choices, a typical fast food American diet, working for years in a chemically contaminated environment and several unfortunate traumatic incidents that occurred one on top of the other that brought me to this place of misery. The healing and relief would not occur suddenly either. That would also take time but how fortunate I now feel to have been led to begin this journey twelve years ago.
 
It was my beautiful step-daughter, Jen that asked me to attend a yoga class with her that started it all. I knew nothing about yoga but had decided to put aside any preconceptions so that I could be open to the experience. The yoga teacher, Simone, began the class with a statement that yoga was not about being in pain. It was not a ‘no pain, no gain’ activity. Well that sounded just right for me! However I found it almost impossible to put any weight on my hands at all such as in table and downward facing dog. As a matter of fact I found many of the simple postures very difficult, restrictive and painful but I was sold on Savasana! I fell in love with yoga at that first class. Jen and I would make it a ‘girls night out’ event as yoga became a passion of ours that we continue to share to this day. However she would soon move to DC and then overseas.
 
Over the next decade I would continue my studies with Simone. She really has a wonderful way of gently guiding her students into their own version of a pose with comfort and ease. It was under her tutelage for the next decade that I found yoga slowly weaving its way into my life as she continued to share a wealth of her own experience and knowledge in yoga.  I soon began to bring some of the postures home with me for practice. I started to collect books, magazines and media to enhance my studies. I became more aware of my breath, my body, how I ate, how much I didn’t sleep and the environment I was working and living in.
 
My diet slowly improved, I slept better and I found new ways to deal with stress. In 2003 I finally decided I had to quit smoking; a 28 year addiction I thought I could never break! I used the various breathing techniques I had learned and visual meditation to recover from this habit. Then in 2005 it became apparent I needed to change careers. It was due to this career change that I would meet a co-worker in 2009 who gave me a copy of a flow DVD she had been working out to. Thus began my scheduled ‘home’ class every Saturday morning. I still was not able to go into downward facing dog, plank and upward facing dog and so I modified with a standing wrist free version. One Saturday morning I remembered encouraging words from Simone, “maybe someday you will be able to put weight on your hands.” And so I did. I discovered that although I had discomfort it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been years ago. It started with one down dog for one breath and would conclude a year later with a full sun salute. And then I could do two salutes to the sun. How liberating! I had been thinking of myself as ‘limited’ all of this time and had discovered that I was only limited in my thinking.
 
In the summer of 2010 I decided to join the Chopra online 21 day meditation challenge.
I discovered several new ways to meditate. Yes, sometimes I fell asleep, sometimes I didn’t really feel like turning on the pc and sometimes my mind would just not settle down.

After completing the 21 day challenge I had developed a regular meditation practice. I then rejoined the next challenge that was offered in the fall and then in the winter. It was during this time, in a meditation concerning intentions and desires that thoughts of teaching yoga came to mind. They would resurface again on New Years of 2011 in a dharma meditation.
 
Jen had come home from overseas during Christmas and was staying for a while this time. During her time overseas she had fallen for a great guy and for Ashtanga yoga. 
She called me one sunny Saturday January afternoon asking if I wanted to join her for a flow and go at Sol in Frederick. I had never been to Sol before and now due to my Saturday morning flow class felt confident enough to take class in a public studio. (Most of my classes with Simone had been in a small class setting at her home studio.) And so, Jen, her husband Lee and I went to Sol for a Flow & Go. Our first teacher was Kimberlyn, our second was with Venus. We loved it! It was then that I saw a brochure for the teacher training program. Well that seed sat in the back of my mind; perfect timing, great schedule but I just can’t afford it. Then an unexpected gift came in the mail that would cover most of the cost of training. After some meditation and despite the fact that I wasn’t sure if physically I could complete the training and work a full time job I took the plunge and do not regret it for a minute.
 
In June of 2011 I found myself beginning my training with a wonderful group of people. What I thought I was doing for ME actually turned into WE very quickly. I found encouragement and inspiration watching my fellow trainees develop into awesome teachers. I suddenly found myself part of a yoga community.
 
So in January of 2012 during a beautiful full moon I sat in the earth studio as part of this awesome community of yogi’s excited about where this journey into yoga will take me next.

I found myself reflecting back full with gratitude towards all of the people and places that have influenced and continue to influence me on this wonderful path we simply call ‘Yoga’. My greatest ambition is to find the ability to share a bit of the magic of yoga with others so that they may find their own yoga within themselves.

Yvonne Barnaby - 2011 YTT Graduate

“Practice and all is coming” ~ K. Pattabhi Jois

Heading into Jan’s Gentle class, my body was initially tired and spent from a day of sitting too long and commuting too far to work. About halfway through the class, I began to loosen, soften and easing into my practice. Ahhh! I dove immediately afterward into her Flow 1/2. I would be teaching the last 15 minutes of class (Jan is my mentor). So, I spent the first half of class preoccupied, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my time and then just decided, let it go… It will come to me when it needs to. As a new SYTT starting this new adventure at 55, I still have much to learn, but seems like letting go of expectations and outcomes opens the door to self discovery and confidence. Namaste.

For my 21-Days of Yoga, the challenge has been - dialing it back.  After weeks of Vinyasa & vigorous practices, those little twinges started to speak to me.  “Take it easy on us,”  my joints seemed to be saying.   I have dialed back to Gentle Yoga for a week and I am loving it.  My body feels so good, my mind expanded.  I have also increased the meditation time. One night, I read and did pranayama practice - feeling a surrender to a peaceful mind and gratitude for the softer side of yoga. 
 
At work, I have been trying to spend more time in supportive activities.  One colleague changed jobs recently to a position I used to hold.  I spent a morning with her, just talking about the challenges and how to overcome them.  We talked about when to be firm and when to give in to the demands of others.  She had no idea that I was practicing Yoga, but we both felt so much better afterwards.
 
My boss who didn’t think she needed to listen to anyone just left for another job.  She was very difficult to work with.  I had difficulty practicing Satya, because everyone wanted to gossip about her & complain about her communication & management style.  After a while, I realized that she was extremely insecure & in over her head.  It helped me to 1. Breathe 2. Try to find some compassion for her as she was missing so many of the best things in life.
 
I’m realizing that my yoga practice can help to release the strain of adverse relationships.  If everyone could do that, we would accomplish so much in the workplace and in life!
 
~ Laura Hession