I have done yoga now and then, but never really managed to make it a part of my daily life. I’d get into it and enjoy it for a time, but then lose interest or focus on other things. Usually, my issue was boredom – how many sun salutations can you do before you’re well and truly sick of it? Of course yoga is more than that, but I’d usually find myself doing a set yoga routine for a short while before becoming bored and moving on to other exercise, which is why I’m so surprised that I’ve stuck with the daily yoga and really found myself enjoying it.

As I mentioned in my New Year’s goal post (heh, goal post), Cassey invited me and some awesome mommy bloggers to join her in a #YogaRevolution. It’s quite a cool concept; the woman organizing it has a yoga YouTube channel and this year for January she is doing 31 days of yoga. But it’s not just about the yoga, it’s also about boosting a mind-body connection. She sends daily emails to explain the videos as they come up, and each movement is beyond the pose, beyond replicating what we think it should look like, but really finding what feels good and works for ourselves and moving from there. It’s more introspective and enjoyable, while still obviously helping to tone, stretch and feel good.

So far, it has been a fabulous experience. I am feeling so much more aware of my body. Yes, there are days when my back still hurts, or my arms are sore, or my hips are bothering me. However, I feel myself moving in new ways, sitting up straighter, carrying myself better. I’m cognizant of when I do something that will hurt my body, and I try to adjust and fix that. I am also trying to see myself in a new way – perhaps my stomach is softer at the moment because I need to trust my guts more. My intuition, my gut feeling has to be strong right now so that I can take care of Harley who can’t always communicate her needs or wants. Instead, I need to trust my maternal instinct, and maybe that instinct is taking up physical space inside me for now.

I think I’m even looking a bit better already. No, I don’t think I’ve lost weight or anything so quickly – that would just be silly. However, I am aware of how I stand, how I sit, and how that makes my body feel. I’m holding myself straighter, relaxing my shoulders more. It’s had the effect of making my neck look longer and leaner, my stomach look flatter – just some basic, everyday posture and awareness is making me appear healthier and more fit… I think. Sort of like those bad infomercials where the person has obviously just smiled instead of frowned and gone from black and white to color – the actual change isn’t that significant but it looks totally different.

Meanwhile, I’m also becoming more aware of my time. This is also because of other factors and I want to write about it soon, but I’ve remembered that I choose how I spend my time each day, and I can choose to spend some of that time on yoga. It’s a nice way to work on my fitness while also spending some time in the day focused on my breathing, focused on introspection and meditation. It’s half an hour of my day that then sets me up for feeling strong and positive and powerful for the rest of the day.

So far, I think I can stick with the program. It’s 31 days of yoga. My question is just if I will be so hooked by the end of the it that I will continue with daily yoga afterwards, or if I will switch to other exercise thereafter. Will I become one of those yoga junkies, finding new videos every day? Or will it be awesome in January but less fun when I need to figure out how I’m going to approach it every day? Will I want to switch to 30 Day Shred for February as I originally thought, or will yoga be my new go to fitness after 31 days of it? Mostly, I’m curious if I will be able to continue to keep it feeling fresh and fun when I’m not doing a coordinated 31 day program. I suppose I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I’m really pleased to be doing yoga every day. I suppose that’s all I need to think about for now.

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