Day 30. Yeah. You heard me.

To all you nay-sayers, procrastinators, doubters, negotiators, excuse-makers, and just plain lazy-I-don’t-wanna-do-it-ers… Bring it! Brain - I’m looking at you here. You all tried your best, but I did it anyways!

I woke up smiling, two minutes before my first alarm. My new favorite song came on with my second alarm, and after 20 minutes or so of cleaning out the brain cobwebs, I got out of bed. Texted Kristina, turned on the heater to knock out the chill, unrolled my mat, grabbed a bite of breakfast and coffee and got to the top of my mat. Sharing the same experience Lindsay talked about - there was no negotiation. Yeah, my neck was kinked up pretty bad and my low back was pissed, but much like the notion of fuzzy teeth, the idea of creaky joints all day just wasn’t doing it for me.

I started into my salutations with the same CD I’ve been using for a while - its a “yoga” cd of sounds of the ocean or something of the sort. Its not my usual style, but I found it works better than the usual music I like to bend to when theres so much other activity happening in the house above me. Today, it just wasn’t working, so after my salutations, I switched over to Tool - and rocked my primary. I did a shortened version of the series today, skipping a lot of the lotus and bound postures for the sake of my knees which have been achey lately. I also skipped shoulder and headstand (much to my disappointment - I’m actually quite smitten with them currently) to give my neck a break.

The tooth brushing analogy that started this whole challenge has really stuck with me. Just like brushing my teeth - which ranges anywhere from a quick brush to freshen up to a full on floss, mouthwash, tooth polishing extravaganza - my practice seems to follow a similar flow. Some days, like today, its a short version to get moving, dust off the joints and work out some kinks, and others its a full vinyasa, Swenson channeling, Josh-worshipping fiesta. Regardless, its becoming a non-negotiable part of my day.

The idea came to me today to try a practice without counting breaths - to hold each posture until I was ready to let it go. I have found myself clinging to that 5-breaths guideline as a bit of a crutch and negotiation tool, so I want to try practicing without it, just focusing on being present in the posture and with my breath. Probably won’t happen until Sunday when I have time for a full practice.

Rock on!