I’ve been a member of the YogaDownload.com website for several years now. It’s nice because there is a huge variety of classes available on there in different styles and lengths. I don’t have time to get to a yoga studio much, and this is always a nice option to find something whenever I want to do some yoga.

That said… since having a kid I haven’t done yoga as regularly as I used to. I just find it a lot harder to fit it into my schedule. Back in the day when I thought I was busy… yet still had time to do a 60-minute run and 60-minute yoga practice all in the same day, while still working 9-10 hours. HA! I still squish in 9ish hours of work, 30-60 minutes of exercise but now I have a lot of parenting to do too. Life isn’t as flexible, so driving to a studio is pretty much out of the question most of the time… especially in the months of January-May when my CPA husband works long hours and I’m pretty solo in this gig.

Anyway…. all that rambling, to say: I like YogaDownload!

And when I saw they had a 21-day yoga challenge that started on January 2 I decided to give it a go. My kid will play in the room while I do yoga and attempt to do yoga poses with me (hence the need for two mats rolled out.) I do end up having a kid show playing at the same time on the TV when I do yoga with my kid at home, so I don’t get the whole zen-like focus on the practice every time, but I’m okay with that.

To everything there is a season… Turn, turn, turn.

The way the challenge works: there are two suggested classes (out of the huge catalog) to complete. You pick one, comment on the post on the YogaDownload challenge post for that specific day. There are prizes awarded, but I didn’t realize that when I signed up. I just wanted to get back on track with doing yoga regularly and seeing how that makes me feel.

I haven’t slept well for a year (well… over 4 years, but that’s the mom stuff) after I woke up a year ago with a terrible crick in my neck. I wake up with a terrible pain in my neck several times a week, some days it’s so bad I can’t even turn my head in one direction. Part of this could be due to my mattress or my pillow or my snoring husband, but I figure if I get some more flexibility and mobility training in my life to go along with my running it might help loosen those knots up some?

And I just miss yoga. I fell in love with that before I fell in love with running.

I’m three days into the challenge… and today I did have one of the rare yoga experiences I didn’t enjoy much. (The first was about 5 years ago.) I think maybe I’m not a fan of kundalini yoga… or maybe not a fan of the instructor.

The class started with the instructor (in her dress/robes/whatever) sitting there chanting. I’m not much for chanting during yoga. And I found it weird that she didn’t do any yoga at all, just told the students what to do. And there were lots of strange moves where I felt like we were just moving strangely. And in this photo I took of the screen, which was probably my favorite part of the class, we had to stick our hands in our armpits. I’m not sure why, but that struck me as strange.

But here’s the great part… I probably would have never tried this without the challenge prompt; but I did it, I completed it and learned that this class isn’t for me. That’s the cool thing… there’s something for everyone.

Wish me luck in completing it! And that my next class is more to my liking! (I think you can still sign up for the YogaDownload 21-day challenge… I know they’re offering some discounts on memberships in conjunction with the challenge as well!)

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