200 Days of Yoga: It’s All in My Head
Yoga
(c)Melanie Parish, 2013
I think I just committed to 200 days of yoga. As I wrote the title, it seemed right. I missed my 100 yoga classes in 100 days but I realized that if I extended the time, I could catch up. I am still down 8 classes, but I can make up those classes and still meet the 200 days of yoga goal. I had to really think about why I am doing this yoga challenge. For a while I wondered if I am being obsessive in my daily commitment. I found it incredibly challenging to be with failing to make my 100 day goal. Often in my life, not making a goal would make me quit and wander off–losing the benefit of what I was doing. In this case, I was more interested in digging deep, to keep going, and to try to meet a future goal.
When the people at the studio found out I was doing a 100 day challenge, I noticed a little touch of ego. It got me attention and that worried me. I don’t want my daily practice to be about feeding my ego. I want it to be about the practice–me, my mat, and my breath.
I have wondered if I could trust myself to let go of my daily routine because I am not sure I trust myself to make good decisions about exercise if I don’t have strong boundaries. I didn’t like setting a goal that was about me not being good enough to do it without a daily commitment. It seemed to be coming from fear instead of abundance.
I have been really paying attention to why I love daily yoga so much. There is something I get if I go daily that I wouldn’t get if I went 3 or 4 times a week. It is rest. When I am there daily, it is impossible for me to work out hard every day. I get tired. My feet hurt. I get sore. Going daily necessitates me scanning my body to pay attention to where I am, what I can do, and being humble enough to lay on my mat and rest when I need it. When I do daily yoga, I don’t get sleep deprived. I have set aside 1 hour a day for me and if rest is the thing I need most, then I rest. It seems ironic that the thing I get most by exercising every day is rest but it is the big unintended and life changing benefit.
If I am always well rested, then every other part of my life is different. That is why I am willing to commit to 200 days of yoga. I love that it’s a catalyst in every part of my life.
