Yog-vember : I challenge YOU

 Welcome to the Yog-vember Yoga challenge for November!   Last year I was reading a blog post (I am so sorry, I can't remember who posted it) and I was challenged to complete a 30 day Yoga Challenge!  I did it....against all odds.  And I was super proud of myself.  But somewhere along the way, I fell off track and I stopped doing the yoga.  Over the last year I have told myself over and over again that I was going to get back on the yoga bandwagon.  But it never happened.  Until now.  I am setting a challenge for the whole world to hear! (Ok,  my small world of whomever reads my website and watches my youtube videos)

My Experience with Yoga

Before we get into the Yogvember Yoga challenge let me tell you why I am doing this.  Last year I was really struggling with a pinched nerve in my arm.  It was bad.  My fingers were going numb.  I had no range of motion in my right (my dominant) arm.  The strength was diminished.  It was just bad.  I went to the doctor and they gave me pain meds and muscle relaxers which dropped the pain and lack of motion down to an annoyance. But it was still there.  Quite unrelated I read about this 30 days of yoga playlist.  Something clicked for me and I decided to do it!!!!  

It took a few weeks for me to realize what had happened because there was no grand revelation.  But the arm pain receded.  I could barely feel any pain!  It was the craziest thing!  I had been in pain for months and I started Yoga and within a few weeks the pain had all but disappeared.  I noticed I was riding better on my bike also!  It was just amazing.   But life (vacation) happened and the routine was broken. I always wanted  to restart it, but it just didn't happen.  (yeah, bad me!)  

The Yog-Vember Challenge

So the time has come for me to get back to this yoga stuff!  And what better way than to challenge myself to a month of Yoga....thus....Yog-vember!  And you know I can't challenge myself without challenging you go join me also! 

The challenge is simple!  

1.  Find a yoga program to follow.  If you can go to a yoga class...awesome.  If you do it with a VHS tape or DVD.....awesome.  If you want to do it online through youtube....awesome.   If you don't have a clue where to find yoga to do, I recommend Yoga With Adriene.  She is good...she is easy to follow and she has a dog laying beside her on newer videos!  

2. Commit to a certain number of days each week that you will be doing yoga....chose at least 3.....come on now, it's less than half the week!  If you want to aim bigger, go for 5.  If you are totally committed, by all means do yoga each day of the month!  The trick is to find what works for YOU and your lifestyle!  Furthermore, I'm not even putting a number of how long your yoga session has to be!  I will be doing mostly 15-20 minute yoga sessions....but I love that Yoga with Adriene has playlists that are separated by time!  You can find a yoga session that meets your needs!

3.  Let me know if you are joining me! (if you want to!)

And that is all there is to the Yog-vember challenge!  A month of consistent yoga!  Lets see what a month of yoga does to our bodies!  Lets see our bodies adapt and adjust and get stronger!!!!  Lets rock out this Yog-vember!

Two weeks of yoga

A week ago I started a new chapter in this weight loss journey.  I decided to give yoga a try.  And let me tell you, this yoga thing has been a crazy adventure thus far.  I have already learned to much about my body!  But lets see how the first few yoga sessions have gone!

 

I am doing Yoga With Adriene, which can be found on Youtube.  I like her style. She is laid back and shows modifications for the moves.  She also encourages us and says that it doesn’t matter where you are….just do it.  So it is easy to struggle through the sessions with her because she is so ‘accepting’.  Yeah, I know…it’s crazy because I feel accepted by a youtube video!

I started doing yoga because I know that it is said to really tone and shape the body.  I also know that a lot of the moves would be beneficial to my bike riding...I figured it would be a win win!

The first few days were atrocious!  I was hurting.  I was hurting BAD.  The first day was great….until about 10 minutes in and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.   That this yogo stuff wasn’t for a sissy!  It was hard!

Day two and I was so relieved to see the title of the video was Gentle and soothing.   Let me tell you there was nothing gentle and soothing about that crap!  I was sweating bullets and in misery! 

And it didn’t get better!  My legs shake.  My arms quiver.  My stomach clenches!   I am dripping sweat!  The struggle is real!  I constantly question myself.  Why am I waking up early to torture myself?  Because seriously…that is what this is.  Torture!

And one of my more recent text messages with my accountability buddy.

I did decide to forego yoga on the weekends.  It just seemed wise since the mountain bike rides are already giving me a full body workout!  I may revisit this in the future but for right now I am ok with this decision to step away from the yoga torture for just a day or two each weekend.

But seriously, what lessons have I learned?  Here they are in a bullet point style format.

·          Apparently, I have no balance!   I am in danger of toppling over quite a bit of the time.  In fact one day I was rather close to the TV and I feared that I would fall and break the television! 

·         I am super excited to see how my body changes and becomes stronger.

·         The arm issue that I have struggled with for months is almost totally gone after only two weeks of stretching with yoga.

·         Watching a short video of myself (and actually posting it on Youtube) was a lesson in humility!

·         I have absolutely NO flexibility!  None!  My body just doesn’t bend!

·         Yoga is difficult with a fat flabby belly getting in the way.

·         It’s not so bad to wake up at 4:45 in the morning to do yoga…..it’s kind of relaxing in a sweaty achy sort of way.

·         My muscles in my legs are SUPER tight and not at all stretchy and loose!

·         I’m toying with buying a yoga block for this experiment. 

•.        I realized it is more than ok to do the moves with modifications...I’ll improve the more I do it.

·         I always believed my legs to be strong….WRONG!

·         Downward dog….cobra….warrior……I’m learning all the poses.  It’s not pretty (yet) but I’m attempting them all!

·         This should make me a strong mountain biker

·         You CAN work up a sweat with simple yoga poses.

I don’t see progress yet….but I’m not giving up.  I’ve committed to 30 days of yoga.  It should have been one month…but it will be closer to a month and a half due to my weekends off.  I’m excited to see the changes that may happen.  I’m looking forward to being strong.  I’m tickled to see how this equates to me being a stronger rider on my bike.  This can only be good….right?

 

Oh and check out my latest YouTube video about a bike ride....  (and subscribe to my channel if you already haven’t....)