im new too

Hello Chani

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations on embarking on your yoga journey.

As for your question about 30 day challenge: Bikram Choudhury has often said, has written and continues to say that if you do this yoga for 2 months then your life will change and you will be a new person! He challenges people to attend class 6 days a week over 2 months with a day off for rest and recovery.

Over recent years (and I mean over the last 2 perhaps) students for some reason have changed the basic premise of the challenge and have often made it 60 days straight. And also from this emerged another new challenge called the 30 day challenge.

Students will either launch into their own personal challenge or they respond to the challenge of their studio.

So the ‘rules’ between studios (and I use that term lightly) change. Some do 60 in 60 days. Some do 54 or so in 60 days. Some people do 30 classes in 30 days. Some people do 6 classes per week.

If you read other threads which talk of the challenges then you will notice that something comes up quite often. And that is the physical need for the body to recover. Although there are many people who are able to do a class a day for extended period of time without a break, the mere imposition of such a constraint can often mean that students ignore the voice of their body and soldier on despite the risk of causing damage.

It is one of the wonderful lessons that one learns in attending yoga. That is to listen to one’s body and honor it.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Chani

(thanks for following me on Twitter btw)

You know the challenge is about your own personal commitment. You can only do what you can. Yoga is about finding balance – physically and metaphorically. You already have a very heavy work schedule. Something would have have to change if you really want to do 6 or 7 classes a week. You are already carving out a new path going to 4 classes per week at the studio. So I wonder what you could come up with to do something on the other 2 or 3 days.

It doesn’t have to be everyday at the studio. You could do something at home. It doesn’t have to be yoga in the heat. Maybe your own personal challenge is about committing to some home practice. If you want some ideas then I will be happy to provide some. At this early stage even though you would get a TON out of going 6-7 or even more times a week, if you can’t manage that with your work and life commitments then that’s OK. Remember that you should provide the opportunity for recovery in your routine.

Right now, you have the choice to make changes or go with the current flow. In my experience 4 times per week gives fantastic results. So Chani what are you thinking and feeling when I say all this? Assuming that you keep your work hours and you have no other possible classes you can attend at your local studio, would you like some ideas?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Chani

I am happy to be able to support and be here for you. You have a great and inspiring attitude.

I have a hunch that next week with 8 classes may just be the wonderful experience you envisage. As you say you have this window of opportunity next week, so grab it and enjoy it.

For the moment I would love to encourage you to “BE” with this mini-challenge. By all means, go for the 8 days in a row. Some people get invigorated and buzz around with renewed and clear energy while others need tons of sleep. Come back and tell us how you are going.

I would like to leave any advice for a little while and let you luxuriate in the sensations of your new experience.

Until soon
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂