It has been roughly a year since I consciously looked at how what I ate affected me, from what I carved and then how my body felt after I indulged.
This year I am going to see how I behave affects how I feel after, by doing a 60-day yoga challenge.
I want to see what happens if I do the action first and then sit in the land of feeling how it affects me.
Last year I allowed myself to eat as much sweets as I wanted, but the rule was I had to be conscious of the feeling after. It took about 30 days for me to fully grasp that it wasn’t what I ate, but how I felt after that mattered. I wanted to be numb, sleepy and shut down, to escape feeling alive.
It made me aware of the feeling I was looking for, not that the food itself was the addiction. I then made choices based upon how I wanted to feel.
To feel awake and alive, I had to eat foods that were whole, to feel numb and a non-participant it was the dead foods.
So I will try for sixty days to be present with this body, to consciously feel what doing yoga each day will do, how it will affect my body, mind and soul, my life.
To see what it feels like to pay attention to the physical body, to be present with it in its present condition.
My knees, hips, elbows and shoulders are stiff and painful. I am not as fluid and flexible as I was when I did lots of yoga. The strength in my legs, back and arms are weak and fatigue quickly or cramp.
The size of myself isn’t really an issue for me, I have gotten used to me this size, and so it will be interesting to see if the size gets smaller.
I am eager to set up a space for my conscious bodywork, to breathe, and bring my mind back to my body, for an hour and a half each day.
Thanks to the Oprah Magazine’s January issue for their article on the 60-day Bikram Yoga Challenge.
How will I feel after 60 days?
What changes will happen inside and outside, emotionally and physically?
I feel empowered to get ahead of the body, to give the body what it needs, instead of waiting for the pain signals.
To live ahead, like sowing good karma, and planting health.
