My husband and I have been going to Bikram Yoga since July 1st. During our first month, July, we were practicing about 4 times a week. In August, we bumped up our practice to 5 days a week. Four days a week is reasonable and doable for our family’s busy schedule. Practicing 5 days a week took a bit more scheduling.
At some point my husband and I decided we wanted to do the studio’s 30-day challenge. From Bikram Yoga Tempe’s website: “The challenge requires that you complete 26 classes within a 30 day time frame (one day off per week). All you need to do is commit to the practice and within the scope of 30 days, you will improve your health, change your body–and your mind!”
I’m happy to say this past September I completed the 30 day challenge!
Now, for some people, I’m sure exercising 6+ days a week can be easy peasy. For us what was challenging was carving time to get to class every day. We are a one vehicle family of four with two full-time working parents and two kinda teenager kids who also have their own personal schedules (after school athletics, clubs, and homework). On certain days I would get off work at 7:00pm, drive home (since I work the farthest it’s a 20-30 minute drive), pick up the hubby while spending 20-30 minutes with the kiddos making sure they were completing their homework, then drive to the studio and stumble right into the 8:15pm class. On days like this I usually don’t eat dinner until after 10pm. And classes start right on the dot which means I need to arrive at least 5 minutes early to sign-in and setup my mat. Attending a Bikram Yoga session is easily a 2.5-3 hour commitment for us: .5 hours to drive to class, 1.5 hours for the actual session, and .5 hours showering after and driving home.
Can you see how this is truly a 30 day challenge?
And another aspect of the challenge, other than scheduling issues, has been facing the few occasions when I don’t have the desire to go. I love Bikram Yoga. I love how it has helped me to get and stay on a healthy path. But sometimes, I’ve had a long work day, I’m stressed out and exhausted, and sometimes I’m really sore from the previous day’s session..and I’d rather sit at home with my kids and veg out watching episodes of Bones. On those days, I tell myself today is the day I really need to go to class to help me de-stress and relax, and then after class I’m thankful I went.
In a previous post titled “Community” I write about the Bikram Yoga Tempe studio and the welcoming community of yoga practicing people. I really believe there were many who helped me complete this challenge including fellow students attending a class, supportive office staff, passionate instructors, and my husband.
And since I wrote this blog a few weeks ago but forgot to post it I’ve almost completed the 60 Day Challenge!
What types of goals help you to stay on target?
<3 Nicky
EDIT: Read the follow up post about the Bikram Yoga 60 Day Challenge!
