To say I haven't been taking care of myself recently would be the largest understatement of the century. Between finishing my last year of graduate school, completing a full time internship, finishing my Master's thesis, and somehow also getting married time has not been on my side. And in the tradition of "something's gotta give" that something has, recently, been my health. Whether it be eating easily accessible crap, not sleeping enough (or sleeping too much...), or not working out at all it's been a maelstrom of unhealthiness. So, when one of my oldest friends, my sister, and I decided to run a triathlon together this upcoming summer I knew my body was in no way prepared to handle the training that would start come May. I knew something had to change -- and fast.
What does any of this have to do with a 30-day Bikram Challenge?
Around the same time I realized I had to get my butt in gear, Lent was fast approaching and I was trying to decide what to give up this year for my Lenten sacrifice and (with some prayer) everything sort of clicked. You see, in my line of work I encounter so many wonderful clients who would give anything to do simple things we take for granted -- like walking. So this year, instead of sacrificing coffee, chocolate, or some other random vice in order to honor God, I decided to give up taking my body for granted. Instead, I was going to add in healthy habits for the entire 40 days. I wasn't 100% sure HOW I was going to accomplish this, it was still too cold to run outside, my bike was still broken, and I had given up my gym membership, so one day a few weeks before Lent officially started I wandered into a Bikram yoga studio. I was hooked. Instantly. And I knew this would be it.
I had been doing well - managing to get to the studio every other day and not shoveling crap into my body. And then last night I had (another) epiphany. A friend and I were discussing some mutual acquaintances in our lives who had recently posted a pictures of themselves on Facebook rocking a brand new bikinis. I jokingly made a comment that I was about to go kill myself in Bikram for 90 minutes to look never look like her. My friend's response stopped me in my tracks. She said to me: "Don't look like them. That's all they have. Look like Jules." It was such a simple statement, but it cleared my whole outlook. I went into class last night -which happened to be the last day of my prepaid classes- enlightened and decided that I wanted to commit to a 30-day challenge; not to look like anyone else, but to look like me and thank God for blessing me with my health.
So I'm starting today. At 4:30pm to be exact. And my challenge will wrap up on Good Friday. I know what to expect from a Bikram class by now, but I have no idea what to expect from practicing for 30 straight days. I've been scouring the web and reading every similar blog of people who have done challenges themselves - for tips, suggestions warnings, but what I've found is the same message over and over again. Expect the unexpected.
Holding Myself Accountable (Please help!)
For those of you who don't know - Bikram yoga is a series of 2 breathing exercises and 26 postures practiced for 90 minutes in a room heated to 105 degrees at 40% humidity... and now for 30 straight days. That's a lot of numbers. A lot of scary numbers. So I am planning on blogging my experience everyday because 1) I've always been better at sorting through and expressing my feelings through writing and 2) because I hope it will hold me accountable - or that you, whoever you are, will hold me accountable when my persistence starts to waver. So, it's time to grab some water and dive in.
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