100 Days of Yoga: COMPLETED

WELL. I DID IT. I completed the 100 Days of Yoga Challenge. I’m kinda sitting over here waiting for someone to show up with a medal for me. Yes, a real medal that I can wear basically everyday of my life because that challenge was hard! I’d like it to be me in lotus pose looking all zen, with my cutest yoga pants on and my hair all jacked-up to Jesus. I’ll walk down the street and people will be like “Woah, she has a medal” and I’ll just wink and casually say “100 Days of Yoga, Bruh.” That may or may not be a fantasy… don’t judge me… whatever.

To bring you up to speed, 100 Days of Yoga started out as a conversation over a tea latte (made with almond milk) that you can read about HERE. The journey offered amazing lessons along the way and I attempted to capture them on the fly (HERE)… except life got in the way so that was the last of them. Now that it’s completed (and I wait for someone to award me with a medal) I can share the wit and wisdom from the mat.

100 days + 71 days = 100 Days of Yoga

Lesson One: Sometimes the best laid plans get derailed and set on fire by life.

On May 17th, I started… on November 3rd, I finished… do the math (or maybe, don’t.) Sometimes it takes more than 100 days to accomplish 100 Days of Yoga. Sometimes your time frame gets adjusted because #Life. There were times I forgot, times I was too tired, times I was just having more fun doing something else. There were times I got sick of it, times I had more important things to do. Times I wanted to sit on the couch, eat a Reese’s peanut butter cup and watch a DVR. I learned recently that given the choice between my mat or poolside with a Bloody Mary I will choose the latter 100% of the time. I started off getting mad at myself for these life choices. Why couldn’t I just freaking make this a priority and finish in 100 Days!? About Day 37 I was on a bridge in Chicago far past my bedtime with entirely too much wine making me feel all zen. Standing in tree pose with three of my favorite humans waiting on me take this photo, it dawned on me… I realized I wasn’t finishing in 100 days because I was having too much dang fun doing life off the mat. I decided to quit berating myself and lean into the process. Lean into the journey and just enjoy it, no matter how long it takes.

Yoga Makes Fat Rolls Pop Out

Lesson 2: There are times when fat rolls are just a part of life.

Sometimes I had to video my practice, other times, I had people capture photos for me. Lord have mercy on all the footage that died on the cutting room floor because I was not letting it see the light of day. There is nothing that makes you want to schedule liposuction tomorrow like seeing yourself, post-baby do yoga. In my head I felt lean and strong and flexible, on camera, it looked like a whale was trying to fold itself into a pretzel. Ever seen that in real life? I hadn’t either till it was time to post my yoga poses to Instagram… there aren’t enough filters for that. Clarendon? Juno? Perpetua? Lark? DELETE. Just delete, walk away and let’s pretend like that never happened… except it had, and it needed to, so I put the best filter on it and posted it anyway. While I work on boosting my self-talk and accepting a little back fat and lack of a thigh gap, I cling to the idea that with enough workouts, the right amount of macros and high quality H2O, I will have my body back. In the meantime, I’ve gotten pretty damn strong and my flexibility is off the charts. While transparency is something I strive for in life, #LAWD sometimes it just ain’t pretty.

Headstands are a stupid thing to do

Lesson 3: Standing is for your feet, not your cabeza.

I love inversions. I love being upside down and what that does to my body. I love the feeling of my legs getting a break and the stretch my body feels. I love balancing. The way my muscles feel as they are locked and engaged steadying my body upside down and holding it in the moment. That being said, sometimes you start off on your head but end up flat on your back… with an ice pack… after 7 different trips to the chiropractor. #truestory It was my idea to do a headstand on an adirondack chair, but, Newsflash: It was a dumb idea. We didn’t see that one coming now did we!? #WhatCouldGoWrong

Yoga is more fun with other humans
Lesson 4: Sometimes you rope in the people you love and IT. IS. GLORIOUS.
Some of my best moments on the mat are with the village that surrounds my life. My sister is the one who didn’t let me off the hook in doing this challenge and I am a better human for that. The time I can spend on the mat with her, breathing, focusing, pushing my body to the limit is such an incredible blessing. The moments I begged Hubbz to join me were never dull. While I tried to always be all serious and zen, we usually ended up laughing so hard that tears happened in the eye holes. Hubbz is hilarious and he has this uncanny ability to never under any circumstance allow me to take myself or life too serious.

100 Days of Yoga offered so many deep notions about life. The four that stuck out the most for me are to enjoy life outside your best laid timeframes, accept your body exactly where it is – and then you have space to transform it, keep your feet firmly rooted on the ground and enjoy the people around you. It is my hope that you think about something you would like to do for 100 Days… and then GO DO IT! You only get one shot at this wild and fancy life and I pray that you make the most of it.

Namaste,

Dez