Hello, Everyone! Welcome to 2020 and with that I know that we all have our new goals for the New Year. Well, I wanted to share my journey of my new goals and hey, maybe it’ll help me stick to it! My goal for 2020 is to do yoga at least three to five days a week. In the past, I used to create unreachable goals and I would always give up right away. So that is why I set a reachable amount of days per week to do yoga instead of saying, “I’m going to do yoga every day for a year!” because we all know that things happen and some days you just really aren’t feeling it. Understandable! But, the way I am getting started with yoga in the New Year is by doing Yoga with Adriene’s new 30-day yoga journey called HOME. And the best part about this is that it is on YouTube for free AND it’s an at-home experience meaning that no one has to see you make mistakes and fall every once in a while. It is at your own pace with no judgment, a safe place.

My Past With Yoga

I really started enjoying the idea of doing yoga when I was a Sophomore in High School. That was the first time I found out who Adriene was and started watching a couple of her amazing videos on YouTube. But when I was a Junior in High School was the first time I completed one of her 30-day yoga challenges and I absolutely loved it. It was such a great experience. I physically felt myself getting stronger and I was able to ease into some poses that made me shake a little before. It wasn’t just good for my physical well-being but my mental state as well. I was overall calmer and more aware of how I felt from day-to-day. I also started paying attention to my posture because let me tell you, I was always slouching.

What I Am Starting This Journey With

I have scoliosis, not a high percentage, but enough for me to be able to feel the aches of good posture. I will say I am quite flexible but I give the credit to my 5’0″ body since I don’t really have a great deal of distance to go to touch my toes. Lastly, I am starting this journey very sore and very tense. I have huge knots in my shoulders from the tension I carry and my body, overall, is very tight. As far as mentally, I am in a pretty happy place right now but I am very scatter-brained and don’t feel as creative and focused as I normally do. I am always feeling tired from a mixture of how much I do in college and how little I am doing over break in comparison.

My Goals For This Journey

Physically, I would like to get more toned but I do know that that won’t come in just one month and also, looks are not my number one focus for doing this. I would love to see myself become more flexible, to carry less tension throughout my day-to-day living, and to help the aches in my back that come from scoliosis.

Mentally, I would like to become more aware of who I am and my goals for my life, to stay in touch with myself healthily, let my creativity set out instead of restricting it behind tension and to be one step closer to loving myself to the absolute fullest.

Week One So Far 

So, yes, I have already started this yoga journey and am about a week into it now. The 30-day challenges always start with an introduction video on January 1 and begin the actual yoga on January 2 since there are 31 days in January. With that, these are all of the things that I have noticed throughout week one:

1. Very fidgety and unfocused: Sometimes when I get on my mat to begin my daily practice I get very distracted. It is really hard for me to be 100% invested in the practice without letting my mind wander about what I’m doing after this session or thinking about other things that I have to do that day. The distractions don’t just come throughout thoughts but even if we are doing a still pose, such as Mountain Pose, I will want to move or sway. Being still and present in the moment is truly something you have to practice especially if you are someone who likes to stay busy, like me. 
2. Sore and not really as flexible as I thought: Pain! From doing a forward fold or a downward-facing dog, my legs hurt and sometimes I have to bend my knees in order to continue in the pose. I know that this will get better over time and it is a good stretch but sometimes you wish the pain would disappear quicker!
3. Not “buying in” to the practice yet: This kind of goes along with being unfocused but   I am not to the point in practice where I feel that this has become life-changing and that is okay! I just have to keep remembering the way it made me feel in the past and remember that I’m doing something nice for myself. (:
4. My breathing: This is kind of funny, but sometimes I will be in a pose and I will be so focused on carrying out the pose that I forget to focus on my breathing and to breathe in a continuous flow. I have always been told that breathing is one of the most important parts of yoga and I will now say that it doesn’t come as naturally as you would think. Yes, we all breathe normally every day but! taking deeper breaths while in unusual poses can be difficult.
5. A trembling Sensation: Some poses make me tremble and shake! But, hey, Yoga With Adriene says, “It’s the sensation of being alive,” so I guess it’s great!

Be Apart of the Journey!

It is never too late to start a goal of yours! Whatever your New Year’s Resolution is, believe in yourself! Take it step by step and don’t expect yourself to be perfect at it right away. It takes time to build new habits or to become good at new hobbies. Also, it is totally okay to mess up but just because you mess up once and forget to do your day of yoga or you took a bite of that cake doesn’t mean that you failed your goal already. It’s not about being perfect, it is about the effort and the care that you put towards a goal of yours! Whatever you’ve been wanting to do, do it! And stick with it.

If you are interested in doing this yoga journey with me here is the link to Yoga With Adriene’s channel: https://youtu.be/-rfdpf3aeGM

I will be posting every Friday to update all of you lovelies on my Yoga Journey until the end of January!

Lots of love and Namaste,

Laurel ❤

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