And just like that, today is Day 21 of this challenge and I am done, finishing up, as planned with a yoga 1, a yin class and and a restorative class this weekend. You know how I kept saying that I was surprised that I was not yet sore, especially since the first time I did such a 21 day challenge last June, I was basically sore from Day 6 on? Well, yesterday feeling sore hit, and hit hard. Sometime within an hour after taking a Yoga 1 class, I felt immensely sore, and the deep holds of yin yoga later that afternoon (yoga class two of the day) were excruciating. I ended up retreating to child’s pose instead of doing yin dragon lunges and generally took more restorative versions of many of the poses later in that class.
I have to admit that finishing up felt a bit anti-climactic, and I think part of the issue is that while I did do all 21 classes of the challenge, it was more a physical and scheduling exercise than anything else. I definitely derived the benefits of meditation and yoga during the class (and between practices), but when I was not at yoga this month, I was never thinking about yoga (to say it has been busy this month is an understatement). If I ever do a challenge like this again, I am going to want to pair it with some sort of journal exercise, because I think I could definitely have gotten more out of the challenge had I actually thought about it. That said, I am so, so, so pleased that I did it, mainly because it was the momentum I needed to keep exercising in January, a month where I traditionally avoid movement in favor of sleep. I knew the only way to make the challenge was to focus on 7am classes, and in three weeks, I took 12 7am classes which, considering how new my morning movement routine still feels to me, makes me really happy.
As for yoga this coming week – I am taking tomorrow off from all forms of exercise. Today I walked a couple of miles, which I really felt (see, yesterday, immensely sore) so I definitely enjoyed tonight’s restorative yoga class. After taking tomorrow off, I plan to go to the gym a couple of times this week before I return to yoga, just for variety’s sake.
Photo courtesy of Tranquilspace.
General Disclosures & Disclaimers
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yay!! you did it!! SOOOO proud of you!
I enjoyed following along on your journey! I need to prioritize yoga in my life!
Wow, you are so good with the Yoga challenge – I really admire you! I can’t seem to get more than one class a week. it was really inspiring to follow your challenge journey!
Congrats! I agree, I started out journaling but then got busy and did not stick with it. I read one of the books on Kimberly Wilson’s online bookclub for January, which I thought provided some sort of compliment to the challenge.
I’m glad to hear (or not glad, but somewhat relieved to know I’m not the only one) that other people have trouble with the dragon lunges. Those absolutely KILL me, as in I can’t even fully bend my elbows on a block. Enjoy your day off!
Congratulations on the finish! I hate when workout time becomes a scheduling burden, but it sounds like you managed to resist feeling too much of that, and instead focused on the benefits of your challenge. As someone who has never been able to do that much yoga that consistently, I’m impressed!
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