We are wrapping up our July Accountability Challenge!  Unlike specific, workout challenges this one was self-administered.  Set a goal for yourself and track your results and let me know how you did at the end of the month. Easy peasy.  It’s summer after all so simple is sometimes better.

Don’t forget to share your accomplishments with me once the challenge is over!

My Accountability Challenge was to do yoga every day in July.  I run and do boot-camp so I couldn’t drop anything to add the yoga into my schedule so I just made room for a 15-45 minute practice.  Some days it was easier than others, for sure.

Today is July 27th and once I knock out my practice for the day I’ll have completed 27 out of 27 days.  Three more to go.

On vacation I was able to follow along to videos on my iPad and a few days I relied on memory and created my own 10-15 minute flow.  I am sure the true Yogis out there would be mortified at what I cobbled together but I figured something is better than nothing, even if it was 10 minutes of sun salutations.

Worth noting –  instead of going to classes at a studio I  hit the Internet and OnDemand by Xfinity as my resources.  I knew I couldn’t commit to a set class schedule so I had to be a DIYer 🙂

Online I found classes from Yoga Journal,  Do Yoga with Me, Cody Online Workouts (I purchased a workout bundle about a year ago that included yoga classes), and Yoga with Adriene  on YouTube.  She’s quirky and I like her.  The Internet is a treasure trove of workouts, you can do single poses and even find a stretching routine you can do in bed.

OnDemand has a ton of workouts.  Julie Montagu (I first saw her on Bravo’s Ladies of London) is a yoga teacher who is working with Grokker and MindBodyGreen and I enjoyed her free class through OnDemand.  Caveat – this class is the last class of her 30 day series and she moves quickly and has some advanced moves.

You can also  subscribe to yoga channels via OnDemand for about $7 to $9 per month but there are a variety of free classes you can try.

I experimented and checked out different  classes; yoga classes for runners, some for twists and bends and some restorative practices.  I also did one class with a teacher who was very flowy with his arms and moved like a bird.  I surmised that if I was standing next to him I’d have smelled patchouli oil, pot and a touch of burning sage.  But no judgement.

The reason I decided to do yoga is that while my running and boot-camp classes are great for fitness and strength I was starting to feel the effects of the pounding and intensity of my workouts.  I needed something to unwind me, for lack of a better description.

And what I’ve found is that taking time to building my foundation through various poses; making sure the heels are grounded, using all four corners of the feet, stretching through the index and second finger, reaching through the crown of my head, extending and connecting with my breath,etc. is the most important part of the practice.  In a nutshell, if your foundation is shit your body won’t be able to properly perform the poses.

Throughout the process this past month I’ve learned more about my body and what it can do. And can’t do.  But it’s (deep breath) ok.

Overall I am more flexible and stronger and have been able to go deeper into poses.  Most days. Some days not so much.   I have also discovered that my right side, tip to tail, is way more locked up than my left.  This would be a good time to meet with Dr. Ron for his magical chiropractic touch!

So once the challenge is over I plan to continue with my yoga practice.  Hot yoga is out of the question (I hate the heat) but I may venture into a studio a few times to check it out and see what I’ve been missing.   Namaste.

Now go run!

Keli 🙂