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Here is a list of the things I had done for more than 108 days in a row:
1. Smoke
2. Quit smoking
3. Breathe
4. Eat
5. Sleep
It’s not a very impressive list.
I didn’t intend to do 108 days of yoga. It was something that I had planned for later in the year. But we never get to plan our greatest lessons.
After doing 45 days of hot and vinyasa I decided to keep going. So overwhelming was the thought, I wasn’t ready to get into the details. It was more personal than I anticipated.
Now that I’m done and have taken some time to reflect, I may have learned a little somethin’.
1. Flexibility
I’m a reformed partially reformed control freak. When things go as I plan, I’m okay. When I expect things to go awry, I’m also okay. But when things go okay and I expect awry, I’ve been known to fuck bring unnecessary chaos where it wasn’t needed. When things go awry and I expect okay I can also get a bit stubborn. While my body is flexy, not all of me is always so willing to stretch.
Work in progress…
I got sick during my 108 days. Panic set in- all I could think of was missing a practice. Fortunately, I’m not all crazy, so there was a side of me that said chill out.
What is yoga anyway? It’s a uniting of body and breath. Maybe your yoga is to do a few restorative poses that foster healing instead of going balls to the wall in 105° heat. This thought didn’t come until after I had practiced two days with no voice in the heat, but like I said I’m a work on progress.
Change happens- it’s the one thing I can count on. 108 days taught me that I can always breathe through it.
Learning to breathe cultivated my flexibility more than any asana.
2. Commitment/Trust
I may or may not be known to twitch just a smidge when it comes to commitment. We all have out shit. This is mine.
But when you show up every single day for 108 days, you learn to trust the process. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen at the end.
Maybe nothing.
Maybe everything.
Regardless, I wanted to see it through. On the days that I really didn’t want to go, I learned the most. There were also days that when I hit my mat and felt like a rock star, only to be humbled, a crumbled sweaty mess.
But fall down seven times, stand up 8.
3. Peace
I realize that while coming to my mat each day is pretty much given- what will happen in that moment is unknown. That is a little scary. And a lot of fun. But no matter what, I can be with whatever happens.
This is yoga for 108 days and beyond.
Namaste y’all.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
