Zero to Yogi in 30 Days, Week 1 is Complete!

The first week of Zero to Yogi in 30 Days is complete.. and I’m not dead yet! Here’s a quick overview of what went down during the first week of my 30 day yoga challenge.

Day 1: I eschewed my usual at-home video yoga practice and just stepped on the mat for some freeform poses. I ended up practicing for about forty minutes, starting with a variation on sun salutation. Yes! I’m a badass! Watch as I slowly lower my body down to the floor with control. I moved into some deep stretches, and ending with a really freakin’ long savasana.

Day 2: Ow. I may have overdone it with the chaturanga dandasanas, the otherwise sexy yoga pushup I was bragging about yesterday. Having done little exercise aside from running around in the last month, I’m hurting. I looked forward to stretching and found that, once I started with a simple sun salutation, the practice was helping the feeling. I avoided chaturanga but felt like it’d be a good time to start handstands again. On the upside, I didn’t collapse. O came back from his walk with Magnolia while I was in wheel. I think he’s glad to be a runner.

Day 3: Still sore but encouraged enough to get back into my super sexy chaturangas. Maybe not the right time, universe? I only practiced for about fifteen minutes, having a totally packed day, but I talked about yoga a lot at girls’ night that night. I think that counts. They convinced me to go to aerial yoga on Day 6. I still have time to back out.

Day 4: Ah! I completely forgot about yoga until it was almost too late. Near the end of the workday, I broke out my mat for a super short practice before I had to pick up some prints. I started noticing how much more flexible my hamstrings are, even after such a short time. I’m a decently flexible person, but hamstring stretches have always been my nemesis.. so I’m not expecting miracles. Chaturangas back to normal, but now I’m confused as to how straight my hip is supposed to be in triangle pose, trikonasana? I think I’ve been cheating a bit by letting it sink back a little. Damn. Whoever advertises on the Pandora yoga channel is getting their money’s worth from me. I end up eschewing any esoteric benefit from yoga for the promise that, if I complete the challenge without missing a day, I’ll “totally buy myself some Lululemon Wunder Unders and a super thick mat.” Buddha frowns at me from underneath the bodhi tree.

Day 5: Dun, dun, dun. Today was the day I thought would be my “long yoga” day, complete with 10 minute meditation and luxuriously long savasana. Unfortunately, life happens, and life happened. I managed to make it home with only a few minutes before going out to dinner, so I did a quick sequence–just about 10 minutes long–which helped clear my mind. If my mind had been cleared prior, I would have done more twists–killer for twisting out “negativity and doubt”, but alas. I no longer have time to back out of aerial yoga. I start getting terrifically nervous, making a massive master list of all the stuff I have to do this week that’s outside of my comfort zone, starting with hanging upside down in bound ankle pose.

Day 6: To take aerial yoga at our local studio, you have to complete a 6 week course in preparation. Conveniently, one of my newest friends vouched for me and my “body awareness” from years of dancing, and I was invited to come along anyway. The class started with a flip into the silk, and I felt remarkably like a new age carnie. Which I remarkably liked. The silks took a little getting used to, knowing where the edges were, what to pull on to release this or that, etc. Yet the airborne nature of the poses provided a deeper stretch, which I loved. As in every yoga class, I seemed to find myself at the “front”, no matter which way we faced, which prevented me from kidding anyone that I wasn’t just constantly “following along” and playing Simon Says. We did aerial pull-ups, hanging down dogs, hip flips, and ended with a full-sling savasana. We all looked like lavender cocoons, which I found silently hilarious (no laughing in yoga). My silk floated back and forth throughout the entire savasana, which I found to be remarkably like being in the bottom of a boat, and felt like puking the entire time. Next time I’ll savasana on ground. Otherwise, this is the yoga for me.

Day 7: Ow. I’m not as sore as I thought I would be; I can still walk [somewhat]. Getting up from the couch last night, my legs would shake, a sure sign that you just engaged in something you were not strong enough for. That being said, I’m sold. I’ll fake it until I’m an aerial yoga star; the Dalai Lama will tweet me for tips. Another big day at work, so while dinner was simmering, and before the BCS National slaughter championship, I did a short hatha practice focusing on stretching out the muscles that have tensed up from being so dang sore. Savasana was the biggest challenge, constantly thinking “Stop thinking, this is savasana. Corpse pose. Corpses don’t have thoughts. But wouldn’t it be cool if we integrated a Twitter strategy for the… No! Stop! Be a corpse!” Either way, I rejoice that I’ve completed an entire week of yoga. Everyday. Whether it was 20 minutes or an hour and a half, I did yoga every single day.

Here’s to 23 more.