Class #58!

I'm over half way there! It hardly seems like it's been 60 days since I've started this challenge...time has flown by. my 50th class was on a relaxing Saturday afternoon and I was excited the entire time! When I was reading about the 100 day challenge and considering doing it, I heard that days 1-30 were the hardest physically and 30-60 were the toughest mentally and emotionally. I've heard that after your body is accustomed to a daily practice, the emotional and mental cleansing process begins. Many people reported feeling intense emotions throughout class during this period on a regular basis. More or less my practice has been stable and emotion free- I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. I have always been someone to bury emotions deep within so maybe they'll take a little more time to shake free.

I love practicing bikram during the winter time, and especially the holiday season. There is something so special about waking up on a cold winter day when you don't have work/school and knowing that your only plan for the day is to go to yoga. My family basically all got me gifts related to yoga which I LOVE! I'm wearing my lululemon jacket right now as I sip on my new obsession- kombucha. I also got a pair of zebra print sidestring shatki shorts, mat strap, yoga bag, and Bikram's book! The book has been a pretty interesting read and is making me understand a lot more about Bikram as a person and where his outlook stems from. He started practicing as a very young boy in what sounds like a live in school/temple where they studied academics, philosophy, asanas, and did a lot of hard work for their 'guru'. Bikram's mantra that was given to him is "Serve your Self: you are here to give, not to receive". Self with a capital S refers to his karma yoga- ie his greater purpose in life. I wish I had a guru to give me a mantra but I may try to pick one for the upcoming year!

The only bad side effect of this challenge so far is that I've gotten a skin fungus called ringworm. Yuuuuup, pretty damn disgusting. There is one bad splotch on my left calf and a couple of smaller ones on my arms. Mom and I had to laugh when reading the wiki page about it because its causes pretty much exactly described the conditions of a bikram room- hot, wet, humid places with dirty carpets/mats. Hopefully the cream I got will cure it pretty soon, but it's certainly not stopping me!

Today my sister in-law came with me to not only her first bikram class, but her first yoga class ever. She stuck it out and had a great attitude, but I don't think she'll be rushing to come back anytime soon. Coming with a first timer is always a fun experience and really puts how far I've come with my practice into perspective. I have ALOT more improvements to make, but when I think back to how much I struggled during my first class i feel pretty accomplished for sticking with it so long. Now if only I could apply those gains to other areas of my life...