{"id":371,"date":"2010-02-02T13:49:32","date_gmt":"2010-02-02T13:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lauramgardner.com\/?p=240"},"modified":"2019-06-28T05:21:45","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T05:21:45","slug":"new-years-resolution-yoga-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/?p=371","title":{"rendered":"New Year’s Resolution: Yoga Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"yoga\"
Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My 2010 New Year’s resolution was to practice yoga 5-7 times a week for the month of January. I have been practicing yoga for ten or so years, and there was a time in my life where I was practicing about 5 times a week. Then through three years of graduate school, and three years of 3+ jobs at a time, my practice waned to two times, sometimes even once, a week.<\/em><\/p>\n

I wanted to amp it up, so that by the time February came, 5 weekly practices would seem do-able. To keep track of my progress, I kept a log on Facebook. <\/em><\/p>\n

Although I fell short of the 5-7 practices per week, I did average about 6 a week overall – I did 25 practices in 31 days. Below you’ll find my day-to-day snapshots of my practice.<\/em><\/p>\n

Day: 1
\nTeacher: Ambika
\nLocation: Oakland
\nSummary: Deceptively sweaty vinyasa class where I strategically placed myself away from the mirror, which meant I was in full focus by the window.
\nLesson: Sometime’s you’re just trapped between Scylla and Charibdis.<\/p>\n

Day: 2
\nTeacher: Charles
\nLocation: Oakland
\nSummary: Charles’ New-Year-new-slate attitude made him quite vinyasa-happy, and I kept up the best I could.
\nLesson: My “good student” persona is tenacious, even if someone tells me to do the impossible.<\/p>\n

Day: 3
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: The grounded home base of Jonothon’s class… I went in sore and achy, but class felt so surprisingly good. Jonothon was on fire and so are my arms.
\nLesson: Sometimes repetitive discomfort becomes comfortable.<\/p>\n

Day: 4
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: Today’s class was pretty much an encore presentation of last night’s class, except it was after I spent a whole day with 7-year-olds… running on empty. If I thought I couldn’t be more sore than I was this morning, I didn’t give much consideration to tomorrow morning’s experience.
\nLesson: It’s all a matter of perspective. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Day: 5
\nTeacher: Ashley
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: 35 students in class, packed like sardines! I felt inferior to everyone in the class, until I realized I was resting in dolphin pose.
\nLesson: My mind says things that come easily don’t count, and things that are difficult count for twice as much. Fuzzy math.<\/p>\n

Day: 6 Rest
\nSummary: As Jonothon says, “Even a train must come to a\u00a0 stop.”<\/p>\n

Day: 7
\nTeacher: Sam
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a traditional Ashtanga class. It seemed Spartan – no music, going through the regimen pose by pose\u2026 Sam, shirtless and ponytailed, was iffy, but he did massage my butt, so ultimately got my thumbs up.
\nLesson: If someone’s willing to massage your butt, let them. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Day: 8
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: My muscles were like Jell-o from yesterday’s Ashtanga class, so my anger at my weakness came to the surface.
\nLesson: Being in class felt hard, but the fact that I went feels great.<\/p>\n

Day: 9
\nTeacher: Charles
\nLocation: Oakland
\nSummary: Still feeling weak, but the group energy of class was propelling.
\nLesson: Nothing beats the encouragement of others.<\/p>\n

Day: 10
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: A large chorus of “halleluyahs” rang through my head after class. I made it through another one.
\nLesson: The anticipation of class is way worse than the actual class, except in the case of Jonothon’s.<\/p>\n

Day: 11
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: I reluctantly went to class (thanks to Pica for the encouragement), and actually experienced some delicious poses.
\nLesson: Things are not always as you imagine them to be.<\/p>\n

Day: 12 Rest
\nSummary: My yoga day off, as I had my first Foundations class at the spiritual center. I suppose that’s a form of mental\/spiritual yoga!<\/p>\n

Day: 13
\nTeacher: Bryan Kest
\nLocation: Home
\nSummary: I arrived at Namaste for Naushon’s 11 am class, but found out they started at 10 am – the nerve! Came home and did the yoga video.
\nLesson: Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons\u2026 or whatever that expression is.<\/p>\n

Day: 14
\nTeacher: Bryan Kest
\nLocation: Home
\nSummary: I couldn’t find a class I really wanted to go to tonight, so I did Bryan’s video again, which, FYI, is a good sweat!
\nLesson: The yoga wardrobe malfunctions are a non-issue at home. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Day: 15
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: A really different class tonight – long holds and a lesson on hamstrings. I’m halfway through and starting to feel stronger.
\nLesson: Practice is another word for perseverance.<\/p>\n

Day: 16
\nTeacher: Charles
\nLocation: Oakland
\nSummary: Lots ofenergy released.
\nLesson: It’s compelling to see what others are doing, but the real lesson comes from inside.<\/p>\n

Day: 17
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: I’m over half way through my New Year’s resolution (5-7 yoga classes a week) – still on track.
\nLesson: The journey might not be pretty, but it’s okay to pat yourself on the back.<\/p>\n

Day: 18
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: Jonothon’s mid-class thought summed it all up, “This pose should get better the longer you hold it\u2026 unless it gets worse.”
\nLesson: I’m mindful that we each experience the same thing in different ways.<\/p>\n

Day: 19 REST<\/p>\n

Day: 20
\nTeacher: Bryan Kest
\nLocation: Home
\nSummary: I didn’t feel like going out in the storm this morning, so I did yoga at home. Sometimes yoga has a tendency to expose our weaknesses.
\nLesson: Practice being calm in the face of discomfort.<\/p>\n

Day: 21
\nTeacher: Bryan Kest
\nLocation: Home
\nSummary: I did my practice at home again today, and felt that it wasn’t “enough.” A familiar feeling.
\nLesson: Something is better than nothing.<\/p>\n

Day: 22
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: Pica’s birthday class – she wanted lots of abs work. I didn’t. Ow.
\nLesson: Sometimes you have to indulge someone else’s wishes… and then just fake participation. \ud83d\ude42 Just kidding – my abs are now “officially” sore.<\/p>\n

Day: 23
\nTeacher: Charles
\nLocation: Oakland
\nSummary: 20 classes in 23 days – feeling better, a little stronger, a little crazy. Laundry is piling up.
\nLesson: Doing yoga 6 times a week is like a 4th job!<\/p>\n

Day: 24
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: The woman next to me was driving me NUTS – she’d move her mat back, her body forward, her mat forward her body back – she kept getting in my way. My impatience was not very yogic.
\nLesson: It’s easy to be calm in a calm enviroment. REALLY hard to stay calm when you’re irritated and annoyed.<\/p>\n

Day: 25 Rest
\nSummary: I didn’t make it to yoga tonight – and feel horribly guilty. A bad night of insomnia and a full day with kids left my eyelids super heavy. Instead, I took a nap.<\/p>\n

Day: 26 Rest<\/p>\n

Day: 27
\nTeacher: Bryan Kest
\nLocation: Home
\nSummary: Did an abridged home practice after 2 days off – it felt great! And to think I had insomnia last night about when\/where I would practice yoga today.
\nLesson: The most important thing is to get back on the mat – no matter how much time and energy you can put in.<\/p>\n

Day: 28 Rest<\/p>\n

Day: 29
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: I had such a great, strong and flow-like class. Reward was dinner with Cara and Pica.
\nLesson: Perseverance has its rewards.<\/p>\n

Day: 30
\nTeacher: Charles
\nLocation: Oakland
\nSummary: Charles is jealous that I’m always writing about Jonothon’s class… must be a guy thing. \ud83d\ude42 Just kidding Charles, you’re a great yoga teacher.
\nLesson: Give credit where credit’s due.<\/p>\n

Day: 31
\nTeacher: Jonothon
\nLocation: Berkeley
\nSummary: I did it! 25 yoga practices in 31 days. \ud83d\ude42 I don’t feel any more enlightened than I did when I started, but I do feel more grounded and centered overall.
\nLesson: Faith is about taking the baby steps and knowing that over time, they’ll add up. My journey has just begun…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My 2010 New Year’s resolution was to practice yoga 5-7 times a week for the month of January. I have been practicing yoga for ten or so years, and there was a time in my life where I was practicing about 5 times a week. Then through three years of graduate school, and three years of 3+ jobs at a time, my practice waned to two times, sometimes even once, a week. I wanted to amp it up, so that by the time February came, 5 weekly practices would seem do-able. To keep track of my progress, I kept a log on Facebook. Although I fell short of the 5-7 practices per week, I did average about 6 a week overall – I did 25 practices in 31 days. Below you’ll find my day-to-day snapshots of my practice. Day: 1 Teacher: Ambika Location: Oakland Summary: Deceptively sweaty vinyasa class where I strategically placed myself away from the mirror, which meant I was in full focus by the window. Lesson: Sometime’s you’re just trapped between Scylla and Charibdis. Day: 2 Teacher: Charles Location: Oakland Summary: Charles’ New-Year-new-slate attitude made him quite vinyasa-happy, and I kept up the best I could. Lesson: My “good student” persona is tenacious, even if someone tells me to do the impossible. Day: 3 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: The grounded home base of Jonothon’s class… I went in sore and achy, but class felt so surprisingly good. Jonothon was on fire and so are my arms. Lesson: Sometimes repetitive discomfort becomes comfortable. Day: 4 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: Today’s class was pretty much an encore presentation of last night’s class, except it was after I spent a whole day with 7-year-olds… running on empty. If I thought I couldn’t be more sore than I was this morning, I didn’t give much consideration to tomorrow morning’s experience. Lesson: It’s all a matter of perspective. \ud83d\ude42 Day: 5 Teacher: Ashley Location: Berkeley Summary: 35 students in class, packed like sardines! I felt inferior to everyone in the class, until I realized I was resting in dolphin pose. Lesson: My mind says things that come easily don’t count, and things that are difficult count for twice as much. Fuzzy math. Day: 6 Rest Summary: As Jonothon says, “Even a train must come to a\u00a0 stop.” Day: 7 Teacher: Sam Location: Berkeley Summary: It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a traditional Ashtanga class. It seemed Spartan – no music, going through the regimen pose by pose\u2026 Sam, shirtless and ponytailed, was iffy, but he did massage my butt, so ultimately got my thumbs up. Lesson: If someone’s willing to massage your butt, let them. \ud83d\ude42 Day: 8 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: My muscles were like Jell-o from yesterday’s Ashtanga class, so my anger at my weakness came to the surface. Lesson: Being in class felt hard, but the fact that I went feels great. Day: 9 Teacher: Charles Location: Oakland Summary: Still feeling weak, but the group energy of class was propelling. Lesson: Nothing beats the encouragement of others. Day: 10 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: A large chorus of “halleluyahs” rang through my head after class. I made it through another one. Lesson: The anticipation of class is way worse than the actual class, except in the case of Jonothon’s. Day: 11 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: I reluctantly went to class (thanks to Pica for the encouragement), and actually experienced some delicious poses. Lesson: Things are not always as you imagine them to be. Day: 12 Rest Summary: My yoga day off, as I had my first Foundations class at the spiritual center. I suppose that’s a form of mental\/spiritual yoga! Day: 13 Teacher: Bryan Kest Location: Home Summary: I arrived at Namaste for Naushon’s 11 am class, but found out they started at 10 am – the nerve! Came home and did the yoga video. Lesson: Sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons\u2026 or whatever that expression is. Day: 14 Teacher: Bryan Kest Location: Home Summary: I couldn’t find a class I really wanted to go to tonight, so I did Bryan’s video again, which, FYI, is a good sweat! Lesson: The yoga wardrobe malfunctions are a non-issue at home. \ud83d\ude09 Day: 15 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: A really different class tonight – long holds and a lesson on hamstrings. I’m halfway through and starting to feel stronger. Lesson: Practice is another word for perseverance. Day: 16 Teacher: Charles Location: Oakland Summary: Lots ofenergy released. Lesson: It’s compelling to see what others are doing, but the real lesson comes from inside. Day: 17 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: I’m over half way through my New Year’s resolution (5-7 yoga classes a week) – still on track. Lesson: The journey might not be pretty, but it’s okay to pat yourself on the back. Day: 18 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: Jonothon’s mid-class thought summed it all up, “This pose should get better the longer you hold it\u2026 unless it gets worse.” Lesson: I’m mindful that we each experience the same thing in different ways. Day: 19 REST Day: 20 Teacher: Bryan Kest Location: Home Summary: I didn’t feel like going out in the storm this morning, so I did yoga at home. Sometimes yoga has a tendency to expose our weaknesses. Lesson: Practice being calm in the face of discomfort. Day: 21 Teacher: Bryan Kest Location: Home Summary: I did my practice at home again today, and felt that it wasn’t “enough.” A familiar feeling. Lesson: Something is better than nothing. Day: 22 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: Pica’s birthday class – she wanted lots of abs work. I didn’t. Ow. Lesson: Sometimes you have to indulge someone else’s wishes… and then just fake participation. \ud83d\ude42 Just kidding – my abs are now “officially” sore. Day: 23 Teacher: Charles Location: Oakland Summary: 20 classes in 23 days – feeling better, a little stronger, a little crazy. Laundry is piling up. Lesson: Doing yoga 6 times a week is like a 4th job! Day: 24 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: The woman next to me was driving me NUTS – she’d move her mat back, her body forward, her mat forward her body back – she kept getting in my way. My impatience was not very yogic. Lesson: It’s easy to be calm in a calm enviroment. REALLY hard to stay calm when you’re irritated and annoyed. Day: 25 Rest Summary: I didn’t make it to yoga tonight – and feel horribly guilty. A bad night of insomnia and a full day with kids left my eyelids super heavy. Instead, I took a nap. Day: 26 Rest Day: 27 Teacher: Bryan Kest Location: Home Summary: Did an abridged home practice after 2 days off – it felt great! And to think I had insomnia last night about when\/where I would practice yoga today. Lesson: The most important thing is to get back on the mat – no matter how much time and energy you can put in. Day: 28 Rest Day: 29 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: I had such a great, strong and flow-like class. Reward was dinner with Cara and Pica. Lesson: Perseverance has its rewards. Day: 30 Teacher: Charles Location: Oakland Summary: Charles is jealous that I’m always writing about Jonothon’s class… must be a guy thing. \ud83d\ude42 Just kidding Charles, you’re a great yoga teacher. Lesson: Give credit where credit’s due. Day: 31 Teacher: Jonothon Location: Berkeley Summary: I did it! 25 yoga practices in 31 days. \ud83d\ude42 I don’t feel any more enlightened than I did when I started, but I do feel more grounded and centered overall. Lesson: Faith is about taking the baby steps and knowing that over time, they’ll add up. My journey has just begun…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-yoga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=371"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1355,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions\/1355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheatrium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}