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Tag: 30 Day Challenge

Why 30 Days of Yoga?

Posted on by hamiltonadmin

Most people think, “Why would I do a 30-day challenge?  I’ve got a pretty good thing going and I am in a good groove, so why would I mess with that?”

The reason is, a 30 day challenge is the perfect way to reset your mind, body and practice!  It is a way to shake it up and change your system.

A lot of us are afraid of change, but it is the best thing we can do.  Change is so good for the body, soul and mind.  It is kind of like a forced re-boot.  A start over to re-examine why you practice, what it means to you and what you are hoping to get out of it.

Martha Triangle
A lot of people also struggle with the thought of not participating in case they fail, remember, what would happen, darlin, if you never jumped?  How would you ever fly?

This challenge can mean so much to so many different people.  Maybe you had a busy time and your practice has fallen off, maybe you just know that you need to create an hour just for you every day.  Maybe, you know that you want to challenge yourself with barre, yoga with weights or a flow class more often.  Whatever your reason, someone else feels the same and we are here to encourage you!

This 30-day challenge doesn’t necessarily have to mean that you are going to hit your mat every day for 30 days.  It means that you are going to try, you are going to put yourself first.  Even if that means you can only do 3 or 4 days a week.  Just a little more than you are doing now 🙂

The best part?  COMMUNITY!  We stand and support each other united through the challenge!  We show up for each other and hold each other accountable.  When we see you starting to get tired in week three, we encourage you by giving you exactly what you need!

Perhaps the VERY BEST part is the joint commitment to the environment.  We are coming together, not just as a studio, but as a collection of studios to embark on this amazing challenge to leave the earth a better place than how we found it!  This challenge is an on-and-off the mat challenge meaning that together we work on the pillars that connect us:

  • Be Green
  • Be Health
  • Be community
  • Be accessible
  • Live to Learn
  • Be Peace

This year, the proceeds from this Challenge go to Jungle Keepers, a foundation dedicated to helping to create a conservation area in the vitally important Las Piedras River region of the Peruvian Amazon.

So now, let us ask you, why WOULDN’T you do a 30 Day Challenge?

Sign up here!

 

 

 

How The 30 Day Challenge Can Change Everything

Posted on by hamiltonadmin

My first challenge was unintentional. My brother in law bought me the sneaky and completely ‘jam-packed-with-ulterior-motives’ and just ‘give it a try’ famous introductory month at MYH. I was finally in a position to drive the distance and commit.

Martha and EldaThis is more the story around my first challenge. I was starting from scratch, brand new to yoga let alone hot yoga. The first few classes were more stressful than relaxing overall and I’ll never forget my sister plopping my mat right beside the teacher and I hated her for that😉. I remember trying SO hard and being really self conscious, totally distracted and completely sure everyone in the room was secretly shaking their heads at my lack of coordination and balance. My complete lack of yoga-ness. All of the gentle guidance to make this a breath centred and internally focused experience bounced off of me like a ping pong ball or maybe better said bounced IN my brain like that hollow sound that felt like everyone around could hear too. I had never experienced this kind of feeling and the triggers that would pop up seemingly out of nowhere. It seemed as though every button was being pushed and holding those poses HOLY HELL. My reflex was to try to escape that feeling of running away.

But I stayed.

Something also started to rise up that felt SO good…a little like freedom. There was a relief that would float up. A relief from something I couldn’t really pin point. I started to notice the other side of the work felt really really good. Really good.

So I stayed.

I kept showing up. Over and over again. I kept getting braver. I learned to breathe, I learned to stay with the burn and embrace the effing uncomfortable – sometimes. Sometimes I gave up. Sometimes I was a mess. Sometimes I felt puffy, grumpy, and agitated. Sometimes I felt solid and strong. Sometimes I couldn’t focus on a thing that was being said. Sometimes I bawled quietly because something touched my cracked open heart to invite me to let the pain go, to rest, truly rest.

So I kept coming.

I wrestled with thinking I should be improving faster. I thought I should be progressing according to some sort of self created measurement that was a yoga unspoken ‘expectation.

So I kept coming.

I kept coming because I was also realizing things that quietly revealed themselves especially when I was too tired to wrestle anymore. I was starting to see what emerges when my thoughts became quieter. It felt SO good. It felt like years of rest in a few peaceful breaths sometimes.
I was learning rest is underneath all of the resistance and inner turmoil. I was learning suffering is something we endure we we run away from the pain, freedom and peace is discovered when we breathe through the pain. Little by little. Breath by breath. I was breaking down the dark walls of my mind and the prison self made based on comparison, worry, distortied self perception, worth, and that constant feeling of never good enough. I was learning to trust instead of fear to let go and began realizing that on the other side was relief, rest, space, and freedom for a really tired and deficient soul. I started to feel the freedom to start to be me…whoever that was…a bit of a stranger that I hadn’t really known for years and years. I was softening, strengthening, breathing, and getting unstuck.

I kept coming. I kept coming. I kept coming.

Little by little and also all at once this changed my entire existence. I’m not exaggerating.

The transformation never ever ends. EVER.

I will keep coming. For the rest of my life.

That first yoga challenge opened up a door that led me to a brand new life experience and embrace. I’m forever changed and grateful. I continue to evolve and grow peace, little by little, breath by breath, moment by moment. I’m so thankful.

Martha Atkins
Moksha Teacher

(Originally published October 18, 2018)

One Student’s Journey Through the 30 Day Challenge

Posted on by hamiltonadmin

I’ll be honest, after my first Challenge in November 2015, I felt like I’d been mixed up in a blender along with lots of sweaty yoga pants and towels. On November 30th, 2015, I didn’t think I’d ever do another Challenge because, geez, it’s hard for so many reasons!

Yogi with dog.I’ll admit, I’m an introvert by nature. I’m happy to show up, do my thing, and then go home.  Social situations like the end of challenge potluck we had that year are overwhelming for me sometimes. So as we got into October 2016 and the buzz began about November’s challenge, I had firmly decided that I wouldn’t be participating.

But then, as is often the case in life, something unexpected happened. A photo of my dog taken during the 2015 Challenge was used for the November 2016 Challenge. Dexter was the ‘I’m down, dog’ dog in the newsletter and on posters in the studio (ok, I was in the photo too). Suddenly thrust into the glow of the Modo Yoga Hamilton spotlight, people recognized me and started talking to me at the studios, and I was gently? nudged into having conversations with people I wouldn’t have talked to before due to my introverted-ness.

My plan to never do another challenge went out the window when I signed up to be part of a group of people doing a common activity with a common focus. It gave me the opening to chat with others as we compared notes on fitting in classes and how to survive 30 days of laundry (sweaty laundry is the real challenge if you want to know the truth!). So I successfully completed my 30-Day Challenge, which, for me was attending 30 classes. For others, it was increasing their overall attendance, or trying each type of class at least once; and when we got to the end, I went willingly to the end of challenge party and I chatted and laughed and felt invigorated.

The funny thing is, I only brought Dexter that day as a means of diverting attention from me in the photo. I don’t know if, when Amy decided to use that photo, she had any idea of the change in direction she would send me in.

Now I look forward to the next class and the next event, and yes, the next 30-Day Challenge…. with my friends.

(Originally published October 4, 2017)