Bikram Yoga 60 -Day Challenge - Mission accomplished!!

If you go back to my first post, you will notice that this was going to be a 30-day challenge. Copying and pasting a little “fragment”

Day 1
So this is where I stand. I am starting my challenge today and I am committed to complete at least 30-days and revisit, on day 29, the possibility of completing an additional 30 days. We'll see. BTW, the class today was hard (…) but I finished. 29 classes to go!! Or maybe 59 <-- this number scares me.

I am glad I went for the 60 days. Did I “revisit” my options on day 29? Absolutely NO, I kept going. The fact that the studio did a 30-day challenge the month of November really helped too.

I didn’t set up too many goals from day one. I just wanted to practice continuously for 60 days, non-stop. However, as the days went by, I started noticing changes (physically and mentally). I noticed that I was giving up too easily on some of the poses and I was not 100% focused. Mentally, all kinds of things went through my head during the challenge. There were days I felt tired, sore, and sleepy. There were days I had fever (x3) or a cold (x7). I even went to the class with a torn ligament in a finger. But there was not 1 single time when I wanted to quit the challenge. Only towards the end, the last week, I started questioning what the heck I was doing, dragging a little bit. When this happened, I acknowledged it and moved on.

Half way through this challenge, I put together a summary of what I was experiencing. Here you go:

- I have more energy at all levels. I feel good!!!
- My body is getting toned (especially arms and thighs)
- I am no longer an emotional eater. I only eat when I am truly hungry.
- My posture has improved tremendously.
- I am getting more flexible each day.
- Greater focus, control and determination on and off the mat.
- It supplements my running too
- I feel very creative and alive.

At day 61, I still feel the same way but multiplied by 4. Or shall I say 3? click here to read about my mild case of OCD since I started Bikram :)

I am also grateful for finding this great community of Bikram bloggers that share my same passion. It’s awesome.

On the physical side, here are some of my major improvements over the last 60 days:

- Ardha Chandrasana (back bend compression of spine, 2nd part of half moom) – My back bend is deeper.

- Utkatasana (Awkward pose, 2nd part) – I can sit lower now and with a mona lisa smile too. I removed the painful expression from my face.

- Garurasana (Eagle pose) – During this pose, the teacher always says “imagine that you are the shortest person in the room”. I always laugh because I am probably one the shortest person in the room regardless. I am 5”1. Anyway, before I was sitting in the bar stool and now I manage to go very very low. Well, occasionally I get reminded to go down lower but I can see major improvements here.

-Dandayamana Janushirasana (standing head to knee pose) – I kick out (during both sets) even if its only for few seconds. Before the challenge, I always gave up. I didn’t even try to lock the knees during the entire 60 or 30 seconds. I would just stand there watching everyone thinking “am I going to do this one day?”

- Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimottanasana (Standing separate leg stretching pose) It was a disaster in the past. I blogged about it and with the help of some new blogger friends ( ;)wink wink) and some determination I fixed the slipping issues. I was excited I was able to touch the floor with my forehead but then the instructor pointed out that my spine was not that straight so I am still working on this.

- Bhujangasana (Cobra pose) – Before the challenge, I used to do it wrong, like a mini push up. My cobra is looking much better nowadays.

Someone asked me a couple of days ago if I would consider extending the challenge to 90 days. Of course I would love to but I can’t. Too many things going on in my life right now. Plus, in 11 days, I am going on vacation to a city that doesn’t have a Bikram studio. I am writing this with sadness, really. Gosh, this should have been part of Obama’s health reform (a Bikram studio in every major city in the US). Anyways, I am going to squeeze as many classes as possible before the holidays and see where this practice takes me.

Yes, Bikram cures it all!!!!

Love to everyone
Ciry