My January Challenge
Hello all!!! If you have been keeping up with me and my BSY (black swan yoga) 30 day challenge - you would have thought that I completed it… right? Well, it is with some major dissonance that I come to you and confess… I kind of did.
Black Swan Yoga (BSY) is a donated-based HOT yoga studio that originated in Austin, Texas. In January they have a “challenge”. The idea is that you complete 30 classes of yoga before the month ends. Your reward is an entire month of yoga for free! The rules state that you can double up, and do 2 classes (max) per day - and you can only do 10 “two-a-days”. You’re probably thinking who the hell would want to do two a days… Okay so not me. If you’re looking at me I’m raising my hand. I didn’t want to… I had to. see next paragraph.
(Paragraph where I give you excuses why I didn’t complete it)
Okay SO. I began the challenge on January 4th, which means I already missed out on 3 days. Which means I was 3 days behind. Which meant I had to play catch up. No problem! Well I also just started a new job, and I work an in-office 8-5. Okay okay so THEN my parents went out of town, and I had to house/dog sit. Mhm. So THEN - this yoga place is ACROSS town from my parents house. So THEN I also went out of town like 3 weekends of the month. Mhmmm so now you can see how all of my days are jumbled up and I’m playing catch up. Long long long story short I apparently only completed 28 days. Twenty. Eight. Days. You wanna know why this frustrates me so much? Because I’m a “put your shopping cart away” type of person!!! Because I’m a “leave the table cleaner than you found it” type of person!!! I’m competitive, it’s just instilled in me. So this little yoga challenge that I initially did for fun (oh and because if you do it then you got the next month of yoga for free), started to become kind of tedious activity to be honest! Lol. Because at first I was doing it for the free month + to stay fit, right? Now I was like shit I have to complete it otherwise I’ve done all this work for nothing.
(Paragraph where I hold myself accountable)
By the grace of the yoga gods… It was granted an email stating that I “completed” my challenge, since they have a “27 class threshold policy”. When this email came in I was like FUCK YES I DID IT. Then I thought, damn I feel like a cheater to be honest. So I did cheat. I did one “virtual” class (signed up for the class and left my phone open, because I was actually at the airport). And lemme tell you I feel poopy about doing that. That’s like me cutting corners while running sprints in practice. Who wins from that? Not me. In this case, I did “win”. But I feel as though I had lost. Quick example here: in soccer practice, if I were to cut corners my team would probably reap the consequences of that. In yoga, nobody else loses. This is not a team sport. This is a you sport. I was doing this challenge for myself. Nobody else is going to be affected by me not completing 30 days, or by me cheating on one day. In fact somebody gained something from that - lol my donation to the class! So here i am publicly letting you all know - I suck. :( or should I change the narrative and say I’m human? Nah. Moral of the story: if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying! I’M KIDDING. I do not support this behavior. Shame on me. But, that’s ok. Life will sort me out.
(Paragraph where I reflect on my month doing yoga)
So what did a month of yoga teach me?!?!?! It taught me that although I have abs… them things were NOT STRONG LOL. They are now. After sweat, more sweat, and a lot of exhaling “fuck I can’t do this” - then doing it. It taught me discipline. It taught me to be still. It taught me to be on time. It taught me to come prepared. It did make me stronger. It made me more flexible. It humbled me. It frustrated me. Like I said, i’m competitive. When I considered myself a professional athlete and then I’m shaking standing on one leg… very humbling experience y’all. It taught me to focus on my breathing. It taught me to exhale the bullshit. As Natasha would say, “let that shit goooooooo”. As Jose would say, “yoga isn’t supposed to be fun in the moment. It’s the after effect that leaves you feeling exhilarated.” As Inga would say, “ACTIVE listening guys. Active listening.” AKA freaking listen up. As Kristi would say (with a smile) “don’t hesitate - chair pose”. And obviously you have to comply - well because it’s Krisi! The Yoga queen. And lastly, it taught me that alone time doing something you love is necessary.
(Concluding paragraph)
I love yoga because it is such an intimate experience. I love that I can invite a friend or my boyfriend to the class and although we are physically in the same room together, we are not talking or interacting. We are doing our own thing. It’s an independent activity and it’s a community activity. I find beauty in this. I find beauty in all of my teachers being different. Everyone conducts a different practice every single time they teach. No one session is the same. So if you are someone out there considering hot yoga - I say go for it! The workout is hard. But it is so so rewarding. Very few times I have left the studio and felt unrelieved.
(Paragraph where I explain why I even wrote this)
Because it’s FEBRUARY and you know what that means… New instagram handle name!!! And there you have it, Shavasana_Chevs. :)
From the light in my heart to the light in yours,
Namaste.