{"id":120,"date":"2019-08-14T08:51:48","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T08:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/?p=120"},"modified":"2019-09-25T07:10:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T07:10:57","slug":"i-did-a-yoga-challenge-heres-what-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/i-did-a-yoga-challenge-heres-what-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"I Tried A Yoga Challenge. Here\u2019s What Happened"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When I heard about the 2018 Wanderlust 21-Day Yoga Challenge, I was going through a difficult time. I had just moved back to Los Angeles from New York and was unemployed, living on my brother\u2019s couch. I figured the Challenge was a way to focus my energies on something other than my resume and job hunting. It was that, and so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are plenty of reasons people are scared to commit to 21 straight days of yoga\u2014and the idea of practicing at home is definitely one of them. While&nbsp;I had a steady studio practice prior to the Challenge, I never really had a consistent home practice. Maybe it was unemployment, maybe it was the teacher,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/artist\/schuyler-grant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Schuyler Grant<\/a>, or maybe it was the great community I found\u2026 Either way, these three weeks changed my life. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Week 1: Willpower<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>During the first week, I felt a surge of energy\u2014kind of like the first-day-of-school feeling, excitement mixed with not knowing what I was really getting myself into. The first classes were very foundational, and made us hone in and find our own alignment in our bodies. Everything Schuyler said, I followed. I had no fear of poses\u2014those I was familiar with or those I wasn\u2019t. I was determined to complete this Challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My willpower to take this seriously outweighed any and all fear I had about trying new things or practicing sequences that were not familiar to me. Doing the inner work inspired me to begin doing the outer work as well; though I\u2019m already a healthy eater, I began thinking even more about nutrition and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ultivite.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">what my body needs<\/a>.&nbsp;Still\u2014and let\u2019s be real\u2014I was pretty darn sore at the end of that first week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Week 2: Overcoming Fear<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>During week two, Schuyler introduced inversions other than Downward-Facing Dog into the practice. Before the 21-Day Yoga Challenge, I had never willingly flipped myself upside down. I was completely nervous about walking my feet up the wall and staying in the \u201cL\u201d shape. Being a plus-sized girl, I hadn\u2019t seen many women my size in headstands or handstands, except for the venerable&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/am-i-too-fat-for-yoga-class\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jessamyn Stanley<\/a>.&nbsp;I knew it was possible, I just didn\u2019t think I could do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a huge amount of fear rushing through my body and mind as I slowly and gradually walked my feet up the wall. I steadily felt my weight being transferred into my arms and down to my hands. As I held this \u2018L\u2019 shape pose, I was overcome with a wave of gratitude and self accomplishment. I was upside down for the first time in 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At this moment in the Challenge, I was juggling back-to-back job interviews, workshops, and basic responsibilities. Through my accomplishments on the mat, I was unknowingly breaking down stereotypes that I had about my own self\u2014a skill that was showing up in other areas of my life as well. The&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/731388130361579\/\" target=\"_blank\">Virtual Yoga Studio<\/a>&nbsp;played a huge role in helping me stay motivated. I am proud to say I\u2019ve made lifelong friendships with people I\u2019ve met through the group.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Week 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Week three brought up a ton of hidden emotions for me. I wasn\u2019t ready for this Challenge to be over. This was more than just 21 days of yoga poses for me. This Challenge was my sanctuary for three weeks, and I wasn\u2019t mentally prepared to let that go. Physically, my body began to get a lot stronger; there were noticeable changes in the definition of my arms, and around my core. I was able to hold a Plank Pose for longer than I had before, and I was now a proud inversion practitioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emotionally, I noticed a huge change in my stress threshold. I became better at the interview process because I wasn\u2019t as nervous, and I was able to remain calm, cool, and collected during meetings. Because of these improved skills, I was able to land a job shortly after the Challenge ended. Though the third week was bittersweet, deep down inside I knew it was exactly what I needed during this period of my life. I was filled with so much gratitude for this outlet when times got sticky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I heard about the 2018 Wanderlust 21-Day Yoga Challenge, I was going through a difficult time. I had just moved back to Los Angeles from New York and was unemployed, living on my brother\u2019s couch. I figured the Challenge was a way to focus my energies on something other than my resume and job hunting. It was that, and so much more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[37],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.nootheme.com\/fitsica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}