67 Days of Yoga

As I mentioned in my streak post yesterday, I have done yoga every single day since 2021 began.

This is a first for me. I’ve always loved yoga, but when I was teaching, I just always felt harried in the evenings and, even though yoga is SO calming, I couldn’t get consistent.

But that is the case no more! My stress levels are so much lower and I feel much more relaxed in the evenings, so every night around 8pm, I load up Yoga with Adriene on Youtube and go for it.

As Adriene often says, the hardest part is showing up. And she is so right. But now that it has become part of my routine, it is much easier.

Here is a list of things I’ve learned or begun to internalize after 67 days of yoga:

• Keep your shoulders down. I find myself throughout the day tugging my shoulders down after they’ve crept up to ear level. I also do a lot of nose circles to loosen up.
• It’s all about the breath. In January the theme was “Breath” and each session tied into that theme. Adriene often repeated “My breath is my anchor; my anchor is my breath”. I’ve found that mantra really works for me when I’m stressed or frustrated. I find myself stopping to take nice, deep breaths throughout the day just to relax (and help lower my shoulders).
• Showing up is the hardest part. This is true for everything, right? Getting to work is usually the hardest part (ok, not anymore. My “commute” is literally down one flight of stairs, but you know what I mean), but once there, it usually turns out just fine. Showing up to the workout or to the mat is the hardest part. I often remind myself that if I can just get there, wherever “there” might be, it will be fine. Even the nights I don’t feel like doing yoga, I switch out the one on the YWA calendar for a different video that better fits my mood–something shorter, a session on the ground or standing up, a video for headaches or sleepiness.
• Take time for yourself. Self-care, yada, yada. We all know this is important. It’s totally logical, but it’s not always easy to do, right? But I can tell a difference in my state of mind after doing yoga this many days in a row. I’m calmer (my job may also play a role, but whatever, I’m crediting yoga right now), .
• Move your body. I can tell now that my job is basically to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day that if I wasn’t moving through yoga poses every night, my body would be suffering. My chiropractor is glad to hear I’ve stuck with it, too!

I’m sure there are other things, but these are the ones that keep me going.

If you haven’t checked out with Yoga with Adriene on Youtube, I highly recommend you check it out. She shares a calendar each month with a playlist ready to go. She is funny and motivating and encourages everyone to “find what feels good.”

🙂