If something is a priority, you’ll make time for it. It’s as simple as that. If you think you can’t fit yoga into a busy schedule, notice how much time you spend on social media or watching TV. I bet you could find even just 15 minutes to devote to some yoga. Here’s how my first week of my November Yoga Challenge went:
Day 1: 1.3-mile run and 25 minutes of free flow yoga. I worked on splits, pigeon, plank to chaturanga, handstand, forearm balance (pincha mayurasana) and yogi squat (malasana), among other poses.Day 2: 30 minutes. I free flowed again. I worked on splits, pigeon, handstand, chaturanga, warriors 1 and 2, malasana, crunches and more. I also ran a mile.Day 3: 3 minutes of meditation upon waking up and I took Yoga International’s 43-minute Twist and Flow class. Yoga International lets you take seven classes per month for free. Subscribers can get unlimited access to classes. At one point in this particular class the instructor cues what she says is called Gecko pose on the East Coast. You learn something new every day, and yoga is not exception. I am always learning about poses I have not tried yet or variations I didn’t even know about. Yoga teacher training is just a drop in a bucket of what yoga to offer. I like the way she instructs fierce/chair pose (utkatasana) at about the 16 minute mark of the class. I also like that she reminds the class to keep their shoulders above the elbows in chaturanga. I need to hear this cue often. Another pose she cues is what she calls Bridget’s Cross. I’ve seen only a couple of teachers do this in class, and they have never used this name. (We come down into the pose from a side plank variation.) She didn’t instruct Pigeon pose, but I did it anyway.Day 4: 6 minutes of meditation to start the day. 34 minutes of free flow yoga.Day 5: 5 minutes of meditation. 35 minutes of free flow yoga plus a 0.9-mile run. I felt so meh all day long. I blame the fact that I didn’t go outside until 4:30 when the sun was setting. Day 6: 20 minutes of yoga after a day at the Adler Planetarium. I didn’t do any warriors but instead did low and high lunges; crunches; child’s pose; and malasana.Day 7: 20 minutes of yoga that included high lunges, low lunges (anjaneyasana), seated wide legged fold, child’s pose, downward-facing dog, chaturanga, upward-facing dog, crunches, pigeon and half splits.
Totals
Yoga Minutes: 207.Meditation Minutes: 14. Miles: 3.2.
Reflections
I should have meditated more in addition to the moving meditation of yoga. I was surprised to have been in such a melancholy state this past week (during the workweek) despite focusing more on yoga. By the weekend though, I was in a much better place mentally, and I had much more energy than usual, though not enough to get myself on the trail for a run. I keep telling myself this next week will be different and that’s it’s difficult to focus on more than one fitness goal at a time in addition to every else I have going on. I can only take baby steps. I hope to do more running in the second week. Maybe Graham will join me (hint, hint). 
