Sweat Once A Day UPDATE

Well, I'm a week and a half away from completing my challenge and the results are awesome!

I have greatly improved my upper-body strength
My abs are (slightly) more defined
My flexibility is better
I'm in a better mood
I've been drinking more water
I am more comfortable in inversions

The best improvement I have noticed, however, is that I can now get up into headstand and hold it for one minute without using the wall. Spending a little time upside-down each day has been great and I'm seeing improved confidence and risk-taking in all my acrobatic skills.

I was expecting that it would be difficult for me to stick to a schedule of yoga/yoga & running 5 days a week. I found, much to my pleasure, that I counted that time as my "me time" every day. On days when I worked later, it got me moving first thing in the morning so that my day was productive. On days when I worked early, I had a yoga session that I knew would work out all my aches and pains at the end of the day. I ended my days feeling better and more productive. Not even my insanely erratic schedule could throw me off. In fact, the only week that I had trouble sticking to my yoga practice was the week that I focused on restorative and relaxing poses. In all honesty, that was the only week where I got lazy. I only did yoga 2 days that week.

What does this teach me about myself? Nothing I didn't already know. I don't like to take time to slow down. If I'm going to carve time out of my schedule I want to be doing fun things like handstands, backbends, and poses that make me sweat. Knowing this, I'm going to make certain that I include restorative poses in my daily practice once I start making my own series. I may not want to, but I do have to relax. I think that for me, the important thing is to relax in a way that I find engaging. Reclined Hero, Child's Pose, or even Supported Corpse are good options for me.

All in all, I couldn't be happier that I decided to do this. It was the easiest habit I've ever picked up and I don't see myself stopping any time soon. I'm looking forward to the freedom of creating my own series and mixing in more running and maybe even swimming now that summer's almost here. Now if only I could pick up better eating habits...