Day 17 -- Made Up Yoga

I'm late getting this done.  It's practically the middle of the night.

Oh well.

Tonight I made my own routine.  I was jammin' to my own select iTunes playlist and found myself up and jammin' yoga to my own melody.  It counts, right?

Gawd yoga makes my body feel good.  I find myself stretching throughout the day.  Tonight, knowing I had to do it for the challenge, I let myself stretch to my own rhythm not caring much if I were doing a "routine".  It felt good.

I'll go back to doing a structured routine tomorrow, but for tonight I'm happy living in my own La La land of c'est la vie. Screw it. =)

Day 16 - You Guessed It

Ack!  Yep, here I am with another "I did it" report.  Whoopee! 

Today's yoga was infused with a bit of extra energy.  I read an article that INFURIATED me.  I wrote about it, which calmed me down, but I was still mad when I did the yoga.  I'm still mad even now.  But Meghan (the oh so cute, I wanna be a princess just like her when I grow up) yoga chick says in the PM video, "Can't think about anything else (when you're trying to balance)", and ya know, she's right.  I about fell over a couple of times today because I have the balance of a two year old.  Fighting gravity took my mind off the stupid people in the article I read, if only for a moment. 

I'll be back tomorrow with another I did it report-- bet you're on the edge of your seats for that one! ;-)

Day 15 - Dear Yoga, I'm Back

Wow, epic fail.  I knew this challenge would be more difficult than the last one, but I never expected to skip three days in a row.  Or was it four?  I lost count.

I can't say what happened or why.  I don't know.  I think the trouble started when I decided not to post every day that I'd met my challenge.  I mean really, who wants to read, I did it again! every day?  And you know what?  That was the first day I didn't do yoga.  Then two more days followed (or was it three?).

But, I'm back.  This being Monday, and I'm feeling pretty decent, and trying hard again to do what I need to do everyday and not get discouraged (blah, blah, blah), I jumped back on the challenge bandwagon.  I did yoga and I'm here to blog about it. 

Which is your unfortunate fate.  It appears as if an important aspect of this challenge for me is to check in daily and say, I did it again!  Yippee, just what you want to read.

I think I need to go back and watch that TED video again.  I think I need a refresher course on why I'm doing this and to be inspired again.  I'm definitely not tired of the challenge, but maybe I've lost sight of why I wanted so badly to be a part of this.

Ok, hope everyone's challenges are going well.  Happy Monday!

Day 10 - Done Yoga

Today I actually did say to myself, I feel bad, I should do yoga.  And so I did.  I can't say as I necessarily feel better for it, but I'm still glad I did it.  How much worse would I feel if I hadn't done it?

I rested again during the more intense parts, but not as often. 

So, yoga is done for the day.  I never did yoga last night before bed and I don't see myself doing it tonight, but we'll see.

Namaste.

Day 9 - Butt Kicking Yoga

AM Yoga accomplished!  But boy was I low on energy.  I couldn't get through the whole thing without stopping to rest.  There's a whole downward dog into plank into cobra into downward dog segment I can't get through anyway, but today was worse than usual.  Then there was my favorite section that I usually love but today couldn't get through without taking a break.  The nice thing about doing this at home and alone is that no one sees my cheats and rests (but of course I have to out myself here-- geesh, when will I learn? lol) 

Ok, on with the day (with an eye toward PM Yoga before bed, because it's much easier and feels good).

Day 8 - Tight Yoga

Whew.  I didn't realize how tense and tight I was until I did yoga tonight.  My muscles hurt through most of it, until finally I got stretched out and relaxed.  I'm really glad now that I did it.

I have four yoga videos, but only use two of them on a regular basis-- AM and PM.  The AM is supposed to wake you up in the morning.  It's much more vigorous than the PM, which is mostly stretching and relaxing in preparation for sleep.  I'm going to try hard to do AM tomorrow since it seems like I really need to work out the tightness in my muscles more than I am.  Lots of stress and pressure around here, and the yoga helps a lot; but it's funny because I don't notice how tense I am until I'm actually doing yoga.  It's not like I ever say, gee, I'm stressed and tight, I should do yoga.  Frankly, if it weren't for this challenge I probably wouldn't be doing it at all.  Good thing I picked this for the challenge, huh?  Well, that's what I'm thinking anyway.

Ok, all for now. Namaste.

Day 7 - Last Minute Yoga

Getting the yoga in for the day just under the wire once again.  This time it's because I've been working, not because I've been slacking. ;-)

A week in and other than feeling better when I'm done I don't notice any more flexibility or balance.  The feeling better and stress relief is definitely worth the effort, so even though we're only a week into the challenge I can definitely see that I'll be keeping this up well after this current challenge ends. 

Ok, shower time, then I'm off to write the next Great American Novel. (ha ha ha)  Namaste.

Day 6 - Return of the Yoga

I don't know why I didn't do yoga yesterday.  I have no excuses.  I just didn't do it.

However, inspired by dinahmow's most recent post, I got yoga in for the day just under the wire-- with a mere 20 minutes left of the day.  Yes, I feel better.

With all this feeling better stuff when I get done with yoga it's a wonder I'm not doing it all day long.  Well, we're just a week into the challenge so there's time yet for it to become habit.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Namaste.

Day 4 - Yoga, Good Times!

Just finished up yoga and wow do I feel good.  If every day were like this I could see it getting addicting.

I did yoga before bed last night, but even so woke up feeling tense and stiff.  My mattress is crap, which probably helps explain why I feel so rotten in the morning.  All those kinks are worked out now though.  Whoowee.  The crappy mattress could work in my favor for this challenge thing.  If I wake up feeling rotten I'll need yoga, right?

Ok, off to have a great day.  Hope ya'll do too!  Namaste.

Day 3 - 2 Year Old Yoga

The balance was worse than ever tonight.  I have the balance of a 2 year old anyway, but tonight I could barely stand on two feet.  Geesh.

Mission accomplished though.  I'm freshly stretched, freshly showered, and ready for the sleep of the dead. 

Good night all!  Namaste.

Day 2 - Yoga, Blah

I woke up this morning tired and not feeling well so I skipped the non-essentials of my morning routine including yoga.  As the day wore on I began to feel a little better, but still waffled about whether or not to do yoga today or skip it. 

It is night now, nearly time for bed, and I guess my conscience got the better of me because I just finished up with my yoga routine.

I did a different routine than I usually do.  The one I did today is a lot more floor stretching than my morning routine-- a good thing because my balance is especially bad today; I nearly fell over! 

So day two accomplished, though I can't say I feel particularly proud or happy for that fact.  I guess I'm just in a grumpy mood because I don't feel well.  I'm all relaxed now from the stretching so hopefully I'll get a good nights sleep and wake up tomorrow both feeling better and with a better attitude.

Good night all.  Namaste.

Day 1 - Accountable Yoga

I sat recovering from our long morning walk, reading blogs, checking email, that sort of thing, and thought to myself, ok, so yoga is next.  Then I smiled, because there it was: the accountability factor. 

And that's why I'm doing this, right?  The accountability?  Yes, I do believe so.  At least today anyway, because today would've been one of those days I'd have let myself skip it if I weren't doing it as part of this challenge.

So, knees popping, muscles groaning, whole body wobbling against gravity, I did my yoga routine.  And yes, I do feel better for it. 

I do believe this will be a much tougher challenge than the last one.  I abhor exercise, which is why I like yoga.  It's the least horrific of all exercises.  (Although I will begrudgingly admit that when my dog is seized by anxiety and refuses to walk for several days in a row I do miss it and will go without him if he's too stubborn for too long.  That's what walking almost daily-- usually twice a day-- for five years will do to you.)

30 Day Challenge Wrap Up

I'm glad Bob requested a wrap up because I like to blab.  ;-)

Really though I do want to thank each of you for sharing your stories and a bit of your lives over the last 30 days.

I think that's what I enjoyed the most-- getting to see bits of the world through the eyes (words) of others.

As for my challenge, I struggled at points with wanting to carry on, to keep going.  If it weren't for the accountability of this blog I would have quit long ago.  So that's another thing I liked about the challenge-- the accountability. 

Which is why I'm signing up for round 2 beginning August 15.  My dog and I walk anywhere from 2-6 miles a day, but it's not enough exercise.  Or rather, it's not the right kind of exercise.  So I've been doing yoga-- sometimes.  I feel really good when I get done (much better than I do after our walks) but I don't do it consistently.  So, yes, you guessed it, my next 30 day challenge is to do yoga everyday.  I need the accountability and this is a great place to be accountable. 

Again, thank you for the experience.  I hope to see all of you back on the 15th.

--kathi

Day 30 - Silo Heap

By my count, today is the final day of the challenge.  It's been fun, and I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts.  Here's the final photo...

Day 29 - Ladle

Day 28 - Mushroom

Day 27 - Festival

Day 26 - Beetle Leg

I had decided to take a day off from the 30 day challenge because I was visiting with friends and family, and then traveling, but then I saw this beetle (a Japanese beetle?).  Oliver and I were strolling the sidewalk of my mom's neighborhood and came across a beetle working its way through a leaf.  I got close to it to see if I could actually see it eating, and when I did so it stuck its leg up in the air like an antennae.  It was so funny looking sitting there with a leg raised that I wanted a picture.  Unfortunately my cell phone camera doesn't take good close up shots, so you can't see the beetle well, or its leg jutting into the air.  Nonetheless, here's the pic; and at least I met the day's challenge, even if I'd originally decided not to.

Day 25 - Fire Hydrant

Day 23 - Train Bridge

Damn, got my fingertip in the frame.  Sorry about that.