Halfway There - Challenge Update

Now that we're halfway through the 30 day challenge, it's a good time to check in. With each other and with ourselves. How's your practice coming along? What are some obstacles you've encountered and what are you doing about them? Feeling any different? Are you doing it alone or with support? Are you enjoying it? If you're not having any fun - you may be too serious. Now lighten up and do something silly. Sometimes a buddy and some partnered balance poses are all you need to associate yoga with giggle fits.

My home practice right now is:
I'm doing the detox this week so its very small. The practices YJ provides are like 30 minutes long, which is a huge drop back from my usual 2-3 hour thing. I think it's good for me though. As someone with a dominant vata dosha I tend to be on overdrive as much as possible. I need to sometimes focus on doing less and doing it slower. This week is definitely accomplishing that. I'm still doing my hour long morning session, but to have such calm afternoons is sweet.

My favorite part may be the self-abhyanga that I've been doing daily as part of my slow-down detox. It truly makes me feel luxurious and clean and pampered. What is abhyanga you ask? It's a self-massage with warm organic sesame oil that is done pre-shower. I coat myself in warm oil literally from head to toe - then I sit and meditate to let it soak in. Then I shower. Try it! Quality instructions here.

Other things I've been doing as part of my practice and detox week: Reading books all day long, going to bed earlier, getting up earlier (like when it's still dark), and abstaining from killing things. This sounds like a no-brainer, but I didn't realize how hard it is to NOT kill spiders and flies. I accidentally killed a mosquito Tuesday night.