Meet Jim and Angela and follow their journey on this page as they keep us posted on their progress and thoughts!
As a newly married couple, we (Jim and Angela) are constantly trying to find activities they can pursue together while remaining active and healthy. We jokingly refer to ourselves as age-challenged (there’s a 20+ age difference) and fully embrace our modern family. We have a love for all things music, travel, and outdoors. Both of us wish to remain healthy and happy for as long as possible, and yoga is the first activity we thought of when trying to find something that could keep us fit and anxiety-free. It’s always been hard for us to stay with yoga, even though we love it, because we come up with excuses. Working too late, too stressed, not enough time. The 30-day yoga challenge is the perfect opportunity for us to commit to something together that will enrich our healthy and our lives.
Day 1 From Jim:
Angela and I walk into the studio smiling. We are happy to be at Uptown Yoga. We have learned the etiquette of Yoga; No shoes in class, not optional. Clothing, not optional. No Talking, not optional. Sweating, not optional. Staying focused with our minds and bodies to get the most out of class, not optional. After the toot ledge of Jennifer we walk out smiling and holding hands. We are excited about the potential for 30 days of Yoga knowing we are going to be a faster, smarter, healthier, stronger, and a more loving couple.
Day 1: A challenge worth the excitement, from Angela:
When you look up challenge in the dictionary, you read it means to take part in a contest or competition; a duel; a situation to test someone’s abilities. When you look up yoga, you read it means a spiritual or ascetic discipline; simple meditation and the adoption of specific bodily postures practiced for health and relaxation. When you put the two together, it actually sounds like a nice if not slightly oxymoronic mixture. My husband and I agreed to present agreed to the 30-day challenge, which began yesterday. So how was day one? Hard (well, we did go to Strictly Core and haven’t practiced in a bit), exhilarating (we both had the instant gratification of the accomplishment of showing up after months of making excuses), and promising (we left talking about what we hoped to accomplish by the end of this challenge).
What I really hope to tell you in 30 days:
–If daily practice yields the physical results we want: (After a hip injury playing basketball in high school, I look forward to conquering the more simple poses like pigeon as well as the arm balances and core work my husband wants to master). I also want to conquer breathing and meditation–will that take longer? I can’t tell how far-fetched my goals are just yet.
–If the yogi promises of releasing stress and anxiety will truly make themselves known after daily practice.
–If we practice yoga daily (we intend to practice a full hour), will we still have time for our walks and talks? Will something so focused on our individual needs make us stronger together? We think so, and I look forward to telling you.
As we say in class,
Namaste
Day 2 from Jim:
I am no different that other people to whom innately and always want more. Â A perfect example is a Thanksgiving Dinner. Â Looking at that tasty spread I know I am going to want more, and to my delight there is always a second helping to enjoy. Â It’s the same with Yoga, it’s a feast of good health for my body and there is always “more” to be had; a little more effort, deeper breathing, a deeper pose. Â I am trying not to leave anything on the table, after all, nobody is watching.
Day 2: Advanced Yoga for Beginners, from Angela:
It is day three of the challenge, and I am looking forward to tonight’s All Levels yoga class. Last night, my husband and I decided to take an Advanced Yoga class because it fit our schedule best. Um, we are definitely not advanced. We’re hardly more than beginners. As tough as the class was, I did enjoy it. One of the main reasons we love Uptown Yoga is because the instructors do such an awesome job of explaining the variations of a pose and what how you get yourself there–Oh, so that’s the muscle I’m supposed to feel contracting, and that’s where I will eventually get with this beginner pose!–rather than just saying the name of the pose and letting you jump your way there.
I also enjoyed watching Jim fall over (is that mean or what? But hey, at least we have a sense of humor with each other–Love you, Jim!) because it didn’t matter. He was finally getting that. Yoga isn’t about sticking the best position or being the strongest. You fall, and you get back up. Yoga is probably the only sport (maybe activity is a better word?) where the art of falling is celebrated by everyone around you. What a great learning process. In our relationship, we are perfect. Just kidding. We fall short sometimes, but we get back up and work at it like everyone else. It is so true what they say about yoga–it teaches you a discipline you can apply to every aspect of your life. If we ever fall, we’ll get back up.
Other thoughts from class? Surrender.
Jen always says “surrender” to the position you’re trying so hard to perfect. We were in chair pose, when she says, “How awesome would it be if you did this every day for thirty days?” My mind wandered. Instead of surrendering, I was hearing Cheap Trick in my head. (It kind of helped ignore the burn.) Then, it happened. I surrendered, if just a little bit. I was breathing right, and arching and squatting properly (I think). I’m sure no one else could tell, but I could feel the slightest difference. So that is now one of my goals, to practice chair every single day for the rest of this 30-day challenge, and surrender to the point that my position is actually correct, and I completely enjoy it. I am far from that point at the moment, and my legs are on fire just thinking about it. Fun!
Day 3 from Jim:
What is the closest thing to the fountain of youth?  Is it prevention, living a triadic balance of diet and physical and mental exercise?  Surely.  The latest notion is that physically we become like those we spend our time around and have a direct influence on each other. So sitting in a room of my fellow Yogis I see what I want to become, a health enthusiast.  I am intent on working harder in the area of what I see is the “physical†leg of the triad of the Fountain of Youth; to increase my flexibility and core strength.
My feet are a little sore, and I get frustrated trying to do my poses.(I would come in last place if I were graded, but don’t worry, grading does not happen, only encouragement)  That’s OK, any little pain or the time Yoga takes out of my day is small potatoes because every day I show up to Yoga is a day that I have scored a little victory, and it’s stringing together little victories that give us long term success.  It’s only Day 3, but already the days are gone of easily yielding to unhealthy temptations toward sugar, French fries, and fat burgers.  I don’t snack as much, and over all I am eating healthier.  I am not going to over-think Yoga, I am simply going to show up for my Yoga class or do it at home every day.
Peace.
Day 4: Learning to love, from Angela:
This is day four of the 30-day yoga challenge. My husband and I had a great class last night (we practiced pigeon and chair–a lot–which are my personal pose goals. Yay!) and intend to go through the sequences at home this evening (tonight is date night). After our class, we ate a healthy dinner and talked about how different we feel when doing yoga as opposed to other physical activities. It is the perfect compliment to our walks. To be completely honest, we are better at being healthy, better about patience, and better at falling asleep–and this is only after day three!
To be further transparent with readers, yoga is the one activity where I don’t think about calories I will be burning, although by my welcomed soreness today, I know the physical effort is certainly burning and building within. As someone who experienced anorexia in youth, it was always hard to enjoy anything–running, walking, aerobics–without wondering what I could or could not put in my mouth that day. That was years ago, and although healthy and happy now, working out has always been a happy break from the day. But it still has, at times, Â further extended that ticker tape that seemed to run from my mouth with a list of all I had eaten that day. Working out for an hour canceled out this or that, etc., etc. Even now, I feel way better about enjoying my Taco Diner burger if I have had a hard aerobic workout.
Yoga really does change this. I noticed it when I took my first class a couple of years ago, but I didn’t stick with the practice. Doing yoga this week has made me feel strong and whole, inside and out. I thought about each pose and truly respected the way it made me feel–good and bad. I knew when to back off and when to go forward with a pose. I took chances on new poses. The bonus? I never once thought about my hour on the mat as just a way to burn calories. If you have ever counted calories, you know what a relief it is to break from that mindset. It’s like having a physical and mental makeover. Plus, it makes me want to be healthier. Eating less of the things that really aren’t good for my body–processed foods, sugar, etc.–and putting in whole foods that are good for me, not just because they are less caloric, but because I finally respect my body enough to take proper care of it.
Jim and I are taking care to let our yoga challenge actually challenge us beyond the mat, individually and together, which, in fact, is the point. Real peace.
Today we kick off the 30-day yoga challenge! Here are the details:
