Better in 30 days

A personal blog about goals and challenges I try every month. Twitter: @Better_In_30

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 16, Satisfying Stretch

Today I had a really enjoyable workout. It felt so good to get on the mat and stretch my spine, stretch from side to side and stretch where ever else I could! I think it was due to the fact that I was trying to catch my bus earlier and was running for a fairly long time, well at least it felt long, it was maybe about 10 minutes. Fun discovery! I learned that running outside when it is -14 degrees Celsius is not a very smart idea. Because the air is so cold it becomes painful to take big gulps of air when you get winded. It seriously felt like I am going to loose my lungs or something. Anyhow, I really enjoyed the exercise today, I even felt stretchier, cheers to more sessions like this one!

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 15, Lacking Flexibility

I am half way done with this challenge. While I was practicing today I thought about my progress thus far and to be honest I can’t say that physically I feel much different. I might be a bit more mindful of the poses I do and I probably can hold them for a bit longer, but there is no astounding difference comparing it to Day 1. I guess like with anything I was expecting too much in too little time. And to be fair I was not doing it in the most honest way, I am adding some rest days in between. In any case, I am sure yoga is impacting my life for the better, I am happy that I started this journey and will continue until I finish.

The lady that does the yoga workouts never ceases to amaze me. She doesn’t look it, but she is crazy strong, she can do all kinds of funky moves that requires so much strength and flexibility, I do get a bit angry at her when I can’t do them. Whenever you try to mimic it you really get some perspective how little of your body you know, how inflexible you are and how proportionately stronger she is comparing to you. 

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 14, Distracted

I took another long break between sessions, I guess that this thing I am writing is slowly becoming a semi-frequent blog rather than a challenge blog. However, the way I decided to structure it works a bit better for me. I decided that I will do 30 days of one challenge no matter what, however I will space out those days if needs be. I decided to do this because life happens, you get overwhelmed with other stuff or you just want to take a break. This way I don’t get burned out and stick to it longer.

Anyway, I today’s session was not too bad, same old, breathing, balance and posture. I was, however, really distracted so the session went by quick. I kept thinking of business ideas I could do. Recently I’ve been feeling that I want to have a business of my own. Since I work in marketing I keep feeling that I don’t create anything of substance, I rarely can point to something and say - look I made this! I think my profession lacks tangibility. I have been thinking of learning a craft I could do, set up a website and sell the stuff that I make. I think that would be a pretty cool life, you have your orders rolling in, you head out to your little workshop, create things that you actually like and no boss can tell you otherwise.

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 13, What is This Head Rush?

Had a weird workout today.Today was all about balancing yourself and maintaining proper form rather than building strength. So there is this one move where you go from where you have your knees bent, arms touching the floor to where you slowly roll up to stand up straight and that transition gave the the biggest head rush I have ever experienced in my life. It felt like I am going to faint, I was having trouble keeping my balance and my whole skin felt like TV static. I was so surprised by that feeling, even now I feel a bit lightheaded and a bit nauseous. I mean it could be the fact that it has been a while since I had a meal, but I specifically made it a point to have a bit of a snack before yoga to prevent things like this happening. Anyway, I got through it and that’s all that matters, the head rush felt really strange because it was so unexpectedly powerful, the tingling throughout the skin almost felt enjoyable.

Exercise is helping me to deal with my personal life. That mental fog goes away for a little bit. I would urge anyone who is feeling down, or worried, or stressed or anything else unpleasant to do a bit of exercise. It’s not going to solve your problem, but I think you will have a bit of a different outlook and maybe have different ideas how to tackle your problems.

[diedhigh]

HERVE RICHAUD

[betterin30]

Look mum, no hands!

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 12, Had The Weekend Off...

He has no will-power I hear you say while you cringe at the title of this post. Yeah I took the weekend off and it was amazing! I ate junk food, hanged out with some cool people, spent some quality time with my girlfriend and played video games, all I can say if I had the choice I would do it again! 

In hindsight I think I overstretched myself too much, doing yoga every day for 30 days seems a bit excessive when the last time I properly exercised was probably 2 months ago. I started feeling a bit burned out because I was doing it with no days off and I think the break really helped. I think I will continue taking the weekends off and just extend my challenge. I will do 30 sessions of yoga with a break every weekend, this way I still get to exercise and not feel that it is a complete pain to do it.

Anyway, after a bit of a hiatus I was full of energy and completed the session with no problems what so ever. It felt good to stretch out after so many meetings I had today. It felt like a burden was lifted off my head, I can think much more clearly now. 

On a side note, I kept having this feeling that I really want to have my own business. While I was getting ready in the morning I was feeling so anxious about the day to come, I had butterflies in my stomach the whole morning. My body reacts really weirdly when it comes to dealing with authority, I feel so anxious like the work I’ve done is never good enough, it just feels like a ball of stress in my stomach. I think being my own boss would really help reducing that feeling of worry. Maybe these challenges will help me figure out what I want to do with myself and help achieve it.

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 11, Kind Of Missed One...

Technically today should be day 12, but I’ve been a bit naughty. The evening started out innocently enough. We decided to go to a taping of a talk show that is pretty popular here in Lithuania. The taping was interesting and really funny, we had a really great time and I hope I can go to one again. The shit part of it was, that it was a Tuesday night we had a few drinks and were craving more. We hit another two bars and got pretty drunk, at least we had the insight to grab some fast food and call it a night. The morning that followed pretty dreadful. After sleeping less than 5 hours I was not feeling great. I was tired, my head was pounding and my stomach was turning. I decided to count my losses, call in sick and recover. That day I did not move much...

Today I thought I would not let this little setback to bring me down too much, it could have been much worse and after all I did spend the day in a very enjoyable way. I did feel the dread of exercising creeping back on me, but I buckled down and did it anyway. I wasn’t too hard and I felt so much better afterwards, it felt like a small victory after a lot of failure.

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 10, Morning Yoga

Today was the second time I did my yoga routine in the early hours of the morning. Once again I failed to wake up early enough to do the full, half an hour routine. However, I got pretty close and did about 23 minutes. It used to be so much easier to get up early when I was living with a room mate. Sharing space with another person made me so much more responsible. I used to wake up on time, clean the room every week and just be a tidier and a more together kind of person in every way. I think empathy played a big role in that, I tried my best not to annoy the person, waking up after the first alarm ring and picking up after myself when I could. Now it takes me on about 45 minutes and three alarms to get out of bed, my sink is no stranger to dirty dishes and I’ve pretty much given up on making the bed.

Laziness aside it was a nice and relaxing session with a lot of heavy breathing, being still and meditating. I did feel a bit disappointed in myself for not finishing, maybe that will be a good motivator to get me out of bed next time.

[nakedly]

lakes in -20 // instagram @annikabansal

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 9, Good Posture Hurts!

Day 9, almost double digits! My abdominal muscles were hurting all day today, yesterday’s workout really made me work for it. Today’s session focused on stability and posture. Basically I had to sit or stand in what would looked like fairly easy poses, but when you needed to hold them for a while it got tricky. I am pretty sure I have a weak back and that is why they were so challenging. I really need to work on strengthening my back if I want to improve in these kinds of exercises. To be fair I never had very good posture, so sitting with your legs crossed, your chest out and your back straight really starts hurting quickly. With any luck my posture will improve after the 30 days.

I think doing yoga is slowly becoming a habit. It did not feel so mentally painful today, there was no dread before taking out my mat today, it was just a thing I needed to do after work. I am starting to think that a lot to do with achieving your goals is sticking to it until it becomes second nature to you, then you don’t mind doing it anymore. I would be really happy if I pick up one or two healthy habits along the way.

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 8 A Bit Of Reflection

Today is Sunday, last Sunday I started this ordeal so I thought it’s a good time to do a status check. Physically I think my body got a bit more toned, I’m a bit more flexible and maybe a tiny bit stronger. The poses are getting easier, but the yoga instructor is bumping up the difficulty as we progress as well, so I think there will be a fairly significant difference at the end of the month comparing it to my physical fitness when I started. However, I am starting to think that I will see the most growth not in my muscles or my flexibility, but in my discipline. Taking the time and working out every single day is by far the toughest part. There are many valid reasons why you could skip working out on that day. Some days you are away from home, some days you have plans with friends or family and some days you just don’t feel like doing it, but this challenge is in part about being flexible and tying yoga into your day one way or another. I feel really proud that I have accomplished 8 days of this so far and I feel confident that I can go the entire month without missing a workout.

Today’s workout was one of the hardest one’s yet. I came back from my family’s quite late it was almost my bed time, but I was still determined to workout. Secondly, today’s session focused on core strength and that proved really challenging, it really burned and felt much longer than any other session thus far. However, I got through it and I do feel quite proud I got this far and I am happy with my progress. Days like these, where it is late you are tired, but you still keep going shows you that you can achieve more than you thought, you can push yourself further and achieve great things some day!

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 7 Doing Yoga With My Mom!

Today is the first time I am doing yoga away from home. I went to visit my family over the weekend and since I made up this rule of doing it every day I had to do it outside the comfort of my home. I was a bit nervous I have to admit, but when I mentioned it to my mom she was so supportive, she even asked me if I could show her what I was kind of poses I was doing. In a way it turned out to be a group session of me and my mom! It was a fun bonding experience for us I think. I got to show off what poses I’ve learned and see if my mom could do them. To be fair my mom was actually really good considering it was her first time doing the poses. She is almost as flexible as I am and she is twice my age! Although, she does have a child that she has to take care of and she works at a kinder-garden so as you can imagine she is always on her feet. 

The workout wasn’t very standard today, since I was talking I didn’t focus on my breathing as much and I am not sure if I did it for the usual half an hour I normally do it for. In terms of poses I just did some poses I could remember, I didn’t actually watch a video since I didn’t bring my laptop with me. All in all I worked up a bit of a sweat, so I think it qualifies as a successful workout, hope I got my mom into yoga at least a little bit!

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 6 I Just Want To Be Lazy!

Today is Friday. A day when your weekend starts and pleasurable things happen. Today was extra hard to motivate myself to exercise. When I came back home I felt so tired I nearly fell asleep on my couch just browsing my phone. About an hour into zoning out looking at my phone I realised it’s freezing in my flat and that I should get on with it. I thought to myself it’s only half an hour once you are done you just need to type it up for another 20 minutes... The typing is becoming a challenge as well, although as it is with yoga, once you start it’s not too bad, you can keep going until you are done, but the starting part is difficult. It almost feels painful, I wonder if there is a scientific reason why it feels this way. Anyway, my energy was a bit low when I started today, however maybe 10 minutes in I got a spring in my step and was feeling pretty good about my decision to get on the mat. So far none of the workouts felt long and arduous, it’s always quite pleasurable and I do start to notice that some poses are getting easier, I am a bit more flexible and the transitions from one pose to the next are becoming smoother. I really hope I can keep this momentum going!

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 5, Morning yoga

Today I was determined to do my yoga routine in the morning, due to the fact that I had plans in the evening and would not have had time or energy to do it then. I was feeling conflicted while laying in my bed 45 minutes before I usually wake up. On one hand I decided to go through this challenge and the other the bed is so warm and inviting it’s almost rude to get up. I did managed to get up, not exactly when I wanted, but I had a solid 20 minutes to do my yoga. Instead of doing the longer session that I usually do I did 2 ten minute one’s. I see a trend emerging I feel miserable just before I do it and I feel pretty great after it’s over. Got through those two videos pretty easily and was feeling pretty damn well for the rest of the time I was getting ready for work. My energy level did slump a bit late morning, but that happens anyway. Overall, I wasn’t as stretchy in the morning but some light exercise really gave me a good head start for the day.   

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 4, I Guess It’s Not Too Bad

The dread of exercising came to me today on the bus journey back home, I was fantasizing of pizza, a tub of ice-cream and a stupid movie, but all I had was yoga, a chicken breast and some salad...

When I came back home I procrastinated some, like that is going to make me want to do it more for some reason, but I guess it kind of did, my flat is fairly cold, and one surefire way of getting warm is to move your butt around!

I did feel I bit more flexible today, I needed to repeat some poses I did yesterday and they did feel marginally easier. Also, I think I am getting used to sitting, laying and kneeling on the hard floor only cushioned by a thin exercise mat, sometimes it even feels nice, a bit like a massage when you rock your spine up and down on the floor. The breathing is one of the best parts of it, I still can’t get over how good the deep breathing feels. It’s like something is melting away in you when you fully exhale. After the work-out I flet more mellow and more sharp at the same time, but I suppose that’s the case with any moderate exercise. The session went by quick today, though some poses really made my muscles burn.

Tomorrow I get to have even more fun, doing yoga before work! Hope I manage to roll out of bed on time, better have an early night and hope for the best.

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 3, It’s Getting Harder...

The muscle ache was gone from the first day, but I caught myself dreading to exercise at the end of the work day. It could have been because I think I am developing a bit of a cold or just my lazy side saying enough is enough, you did two whole consecutive days of exercise, you deserve a break, chill and watch that stupid TV show you know by heart. However, I can proudly say that I did it! Three days down and 28 days to go. 

The third day’s work-out got a lot more difficult, I struggled to control my breathing, I didn’t manage to stay in all of the poses as long as required and I do feel some muscle fatigue while I am writing this. I am hoping that this is just the dreaded three day hump I hear people talking about whether it’s to do with quitting bad habits or starting positive ones. I still find that being in the moment, focusing on your breathing and how your body is positioned is really useful to forget about your day-to-day worries even if it is just for 30 minutes.

[betterin30]

Yoga Challenge - Day 2, I Got This!

On Monday, after the first work-out I felt some slight muscle pain in my chest I guess even the light exercise was out of the norm for my body. Though the pain was nothing that I could not handle, very manageable, barely noticeable. The second work-out I did after work, since I already get up pretty early for work as it is, I thought getting up an extra 30-40 minutes earlier to do yoga is pretty much impossible. The second work-out was a bit harder, the poses were a bit more demanding, some of them I had to stop mid way and rest for a few seconds. Don’t get me wrong nothing too bad, but a slight bump in the difficulty level comparing it to the first day. I did have a thought that all the deep breathing you are supposed to do during the session really eases the stress of the day, has a meditative quality to it. Overall, got through the work-out fairly easy, it helped me unwind after the day.