Last month I completed the #15for30 Yoga Challenge presented by Health Warrior. Fifteen minutes a day with weekly poses sent to my email seemed easy enough. For me, the challenge was a way to step outside the realm of the beginner yoga I've been stuck in for years and give a go to some new, intermediate poses. However, after a few days of doing camels (or ustrasana, for you yoga aficionados), I realized I was learning less about these new, interesting poses and more about my same-old, usual body.
Personally, this past year was stressful. Transitioning from high school to college was an exhausting, overwhelming experience for me especially in terms of athletics. My personal running records became few and far between, when a mere six months prior I was winning races every Saturday afternoon. Instead of looking at the scenario and pinpointing the changes I could have made to ease the transition, I blamed myself. For years I was lucky enough to have received from my body nearly all I desired, and the moment I wasn't getting the results I wanted, I questioned everything, and I let others question me as well. Their negativity seeped into me, and I had myself convinced something was wrong, a major affront to my customarily confident ways, yet I was so persuaded, I did not even realize.
So where does yoga fit into my story of self-image and doubt? At first, it didn't. At first, I looked at photos of poses I wanted to tackle and thought, I'm not flexible enough for that. Instead of encouraging myself to try it out, and work at things along the way, I immediately knocked myself down. Reluctantly, I made myself try and was instantly impressed with all I began to realize.
The free-form nature of yoga allows you to become one with your body. The kind of one-on-one I really needed, just to remember all that our bodies are capable of. Yoga made me regain the strong resolve I once held. I again began to see how merely attempting something, like a difficult pose, is an accomplishment in itself. Instead of viewing my inflexibility as a defect, I saw how these quirks were just new things I could improve upon.
Yoga teaches you that not every day will be great, some day your muscles are tighter than others. Some days, one side of your body may be as pliable as Play-Doh, and the opposite side feels like brick. Poses can be challenging and make you feel vulnerable. Yoga exposes you to the raw truth — we have imperfections. They come and go, they differ from person to person, but regardless, they exist. By listening to your body, you get to know your own intimate details and embrace them.
Yoga teaches you how important it is just to relax and take a moment of your day to unwind, even if it is only for 15 minutes. In this day and age multitasking should be a major league sport. We are constantly on the go, pushing our bodies and minds to the limit. The sheer notion of just sitting down to meditate may seem pointless, because what's there to gain? But, you'd be surprised how beneficial a few minutes of deep breathing can be.
I'd be remiss to paint the picture of my challenge as all oms and sunsets. There were days when I did not want to sit down and relax, days when I did not want a reminder of how inflexible I am and days when I simply did not even try. But that's when we learn the most, because challenges are not easy for a reason.
For 15 minutes a day, I challenge you to find something, yoga or not, that reconnects you with yourself. It's surprising the things you will realize about the person you think you know best.
