Today is the final day of my yoga challenge! Honestly, I’m glad to be done with it — on a daily basis — but will be adding more yoga into my regular workouts. I love projects like this because I love learning and I love fitness projects because it’s simply amazing how quickly the human body can change and adapt in such a short period of time. My goal was to do yoga everyday for a month, but adapted slightly to do six days a week for a month to have a rest day.
<<< Funniest yoga ad. Ever.
I ended up going to yoga classes at my regular gym, taking free classes at Lululemon, buying a $30 for 30 days of Bikram deal (which I didn’t use enough), and trying out a few yoga podcasts (which was really hit or miss). I won’t be continuing daily yoga, but will definitely be going 1-3 times a week instead of 0-1 times a month.
Things I learned, liked, disliked etc:
- Bikram yoga is hot yoga, but hot yoga isn’t necessarily Bikram yoga. Verdict: Bikram isn’t really for me.
- You can overstretch in hot yoga, especially 90 min yoga. Hello, hammies.
- Free yoga classes at Lululemon – thumbs up!
- Time-wise, I ended up replacing most of my regular cardio with yoga, which left me with cardio 1x/week for the past month, and a hell of a lot of yoga.
- Noticeable difference: arms and upper abs are more toned (apparently I look “leaner”, but I don’t feel as fit since I’ve been slacking on the cardio). :P
- I love the spiritual aspect of yoga. When I first started yoga a few years ago, it took me a few tries to get the giggles out. I still don’t like super-meditative yoga, but I’ve found that I feel a lot more ‘meditative’ when I’m moving. I love the mind-clearing peacefulness of yoga. Zzzzen!
Have you tried doing yoga everyday for a month?
Congrats on completing your challenge. I agree with the hot yoga – seems to take away from the relaxing side of yoga when you are that hot and sweaty.
Just wondering which Yoga Podcasts you tried and liked. I’ve had a few hits and a few misses. Just curious. Thanks.
Just found your blog & wanted to say hello, as this looks like a pretty awesome site!! I’m a huge fan of 30 challenges and recently just did one without alcohol. Now I’m currently doing one with a simple premise of simply being active for at least 30 minutes a day. Day 1 was yesterday, and I did Budokan Yoga and it felt amazing.
Definitely a fan! I usually do 90 minutes of hot on Sunday mornings after my Saturday morning long runs. It’s a great way to stretch those muscles back out–though I do sometimes seem to feel more sore from the yoga than from the running…
Yoga is hit or miss with me as well…I’m not very good at stopping and centering myself (mayhaps that’s why I should do it more. Hmmm)
I for one LOVE hot yoga. I feel like I’m working hard, all the toxins are leaving my body, and it’s still yoga!