What is this blog all about? -- Part Two

As discussed in Part One of "What is this blog all about," the potential changes and benefits I might experience over the course of 360 days are infinite. Not all of them are positive, of course. I might tear a muscle or dislocate my shoulder. I might become stressed out about squeezing in my yoga practice and behave in some less than calm, peaceful, kind ways. AND what will I do if I become very sick, break a bone, am in a serious accident, suffer a serious head injury, get imprisoned (not likely, but you never know!), become pregnant? There are deal breakers, so it is important to set out the conditions of my year of yoga.


1. First, what defines a daily yoga practice, i.e. for how long will I do yoga each day? I am committing to spending a minimum of 30 minutes doing yoga every day.

2. Does lying in Savasana for 30 minutes equate to a day's yoga practice? No. It does not. Nor does sitting cross-legged in meditation or resting in Balasana (Child's Pose) for 30 minutes. However, I will likely spend a few minutes in seated meditation at the beginning of my practice, a few minutes lying in Savasana at the end of my practice, and pause for a breath in Child's Pose pretty much every day--these three aspects of yoga practice are actually challenging for me, believe it or not! I get impatient, I want to take action, move to the next pose or the next activity. I've skipped Savasana in my home practice many, many times and rushed through meditation (which means I really didn't meditate at all). As meditation, rest, and the breath are very important parts of yoga, I am committing to practice these quieter poses with equal attention to the more active ones.

3. So aside from the passive parts of yoga, what else will go into a day's practice? I think the only pose that I can all but guarantee will be in every day's practice (notwithstanding injury or any unforeseen physical limitation) is Downward-Facing Dog. I really can't think of the last time I practiced yoga without doing this pose at some point, thus "360 days of Adho Mukha Svanasana" is the perfect title for this blog about my undertaking. Other than Downward Dog, I expect the asanas in my practice will vary day to day, especially when I get my day's practice in a yoga class. Different yoga teachers, class locales, and difficulty levels lend themselves to different poses. Likewise, when I practice at home, my body and mind often dictate the poses I do or don't do. Forward bends and inversions can be helpful in alleviating general anxiety, but they can agitate a migraine or headache. Likewise, back bends are good for opening the heart and elevating one's mood, but if my lower back is bothering me, I might not want to do either of these!

4. How will I track my yoga practice? How will I hold myself accountable? I'm tracking how long I've practiced yoga each day by writing the minute amount for each day. I don't know how to absolutely prove to the world that I do yoga everyday--without filming my practice with a live feed to the Internet and that is NOT going to happen. But I will write about my practice here every ~10 days or so. I will post the minutes for each day since my last post, and I'll write a little about how I am practicing and where, limitations and ideas that may be guiding my practice that week, poses I'm struggling with or loving, and so on. This way I not only hold myself accountable, but I am accountable to the Internet, whatever that is worth! Also, if you live in Seattle, or I'm visiting your region, you can help facilitate my practice by inviting me to your favorite yoga class or studio and witness my 360 in action.

5. What if I get the flu, food poisoning, pregnant, or cancer, or what if I break a bone, sprain my ankle, suffer a concussion or spinal injury, am in a coma, am imprisoned, on a 20-hour flight, or have some other impeding physical condition/limitation? First, for long days of travel and vacation: I will find a way to practice somehow, though it may be a lot more pranayama (breathing) and meditation if I am sandwiched in the middle seat of a flight across the world. Should I decide to go somewhere like Thailand, which requires a very long airplane ride or two and puts me on the ground a day and a half after my departure time due to the time change--I will either do yoga twice that day, or I will make it up when I come home and go through the reverse time shift (living through the same day twice pretty much). Also, there are still ways to practice yoga if I break my leg or arm, become pregnant, or have the flu, food poisoning, or even cancer some times. All such conditions will limit the range of my practice, but should one of these physical issues arise, I will adjust my yoga practice accordingly. More breath work, restorative poses, gentle stretches to uninjured regions. BUT if I suffer a spinal injury, or be hospitalized and completely immobilized, or chained up in prison (I really don't expect this to happen!), such conditions are clearly deal breakers. Right now, these types of serious life events are my 360-days of yoga's only deal breakers.

Voila! If anyone in the Internet world can think of some other important issue I need to address to lay out my year of yoga, please comment away!

I had planned to go into why, aside from any of the potential positive benefits listed above, I want to do yoga for 360 days, but this post is rather LONG already and I still need to do my daily yoga practice! So I will write about some other reasons next time! For now, here's my log for the first 10 days of my yoga 360:

Day 1, 1/6: 90 minutes
Day 2, 1/7: 30 minutes
Day 3, 1/8: 60 minutes
Day 4, 1/9: 60 minutes
Day 5, 1/10: 40 minutes
Day 6, 1/11: 90 minutes
Day 7, 1/12: 60 minutes
Day 8, 1/13: 90 minutes
Day 9, 1/14: 75 minutes
Day 10, 1/15: 30 minutes

One pose I'm hating on: Baddha Utthita Parsvakonasana or Bound Side-Angle Pose

Clearly, this SMILING woman is not me.

One pose I'm loving: Utthita Parsvakonasana or Side Angle Pose (Doing lots of side angle poses lately!)

This also is not me. FYI.

Namaste!