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#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 9: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

Today was my first “failure.” I had a full day of hiking and working on projects and I planned on doing my #CheckedOffChallenge late last night. Somehow, I forgot all about it!

At about 20 minutes to midnight, I remembered and I promptly started my Day 9 yoga practice. BUT… it was around 25 minutes long so I didn’t finish until a few minutes after midnight.

Some people may say that I didn’t finish my Day 9: #CheckedOffChallenge because it went a few minutes into the next day. I am a perfectionist and I wanted to say it myself!

However… part of yoga is learning to be kind to yourself. Therefore, I am going to view it as a learning experience and say that I did do yoga on my Day 9, whatever the clock may say.

I started before midnight anyhow! lol

#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 8: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

I had a crazy busy (but fun!) weekend so I am still playing catch up on my posts. Day 8 was the most crazy, busy, fun day!

On Saturday morning, I woke up to a reminder about an outdoor yoga event I had wanted to attend. On a whim, I clicked on the link and found that the event had two available tickets! I assume that someone cancelled last minute and I scooped them up.

As I rushed to get ready, I realized that I would probably be doing my #CheckedOffChallenge yoga late that night. I will admit, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be up to TWO yoga challenges in a day, but I couldn’t pass up the outdoor yoga experience.

It was a beautiful, sunshiney day outside and I loved every minute of it. The sun shone warmly on me as we went through a gentle yoga exercise. We were then encouraged to hike the property and I came across a rainbow in the mist of a waterfall. The colors billowed across the rocks as the mist hit the water below. As a result, I was lucky to see a rainbow in motion and it was an absolutely gorgeous sight!

After spending the rest of the day visiting a local barn, family, and friends, I was absolutely exhausted and tempted to count my earlier yoga experience as my #CheckedOffChallenge. Luckily for me, I stuck to my promise because Day 8 was a wonderful short meditation-based exercise. It was a perfect way to end an already perfect day!

#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 7: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

Day 7 was a wonderful workout. I was initially very nervous because I wasn’t sure what was involved with the workout. As many of you know, I am doing the Dedicate series on YouTube by @YogawithAdriene.

The theme of Day 7 was Surya. I didn’t know what that meant so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Oh, well, I reasoned, it’s a short workout so I should be fine.

It turns out that I really enjoyed this workout. The flow was so amazing and fluid, I was surprised when it was over. Overall, really enjoyable!

#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 6: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

This morning’s workout was the closest in time to my previous workout so far. I did Day 5 late last night and I completed Day 6 as soon as I woke up this morning. I discovered that I definitely prefer completing my #CheckedOffChallenge in the morning.

However, I think that I would love doing a more relaxing yoga practice at night. As far as health goes, I’m feeling:

  • Stronger. My muscles are already beginning to feel stronger.
  • More flexible. I just feel looser and more relaxed throughout the day.
  • Tons more energy. I didn’t go to sleep till late last night and I usually struggle with waking up in the morning, but I was ready to get up and go today!
  • Better breathing. I was shocked at how tight my chest muscles were when I first started.

Today’s workout seemed to concentrate on abs. I much prefer ab work because it’s a) not TOO difficult for me and b) I can really feel it. Ab-focused exercises are easier for me in some ways, but I always get sore neck muscles when I do ab work so I think I must be doing something wrong. Any tips would be much appreciated!

#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 5: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

Today was one of the most challenging for me thus far. I had a pretty packed calendar and I planned to do Day 5 tonight, which may have been my first mistake.

So far in this challenge, I have done every day of yoga first thing in the morning. I’m not sure if it was the change in routine, muscle fatigue, or just general fatigue, but I wasn’t able to hold a couple of the last poses for the full duration. I had to modify and I hated that I had to do that.

This taught me that:

  • I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I’ve done my best and I need to be happy with that!
  • I can try returning to morning yoga and see if that helps.
  • Some poses are going to be hard for me AT FIRST because I need to build muscle. But that doesn’t mean they will be difficult forever. Just for right now.
  • Yoga at night is extremely relaxing.

On some of the early poses, I felt amazing. And, even though I can already tell I’m going to be sore tomorrow, I can’t wait to get back to the mat!

#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 4: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

As you might have noticed, I did not post my usual blog yesterday. I DID do my #CheckedOffChallenge, though.

My #CheckedOffChallenge was done at 5 a.m. and I didn’t get back home until very late in the evening. I LOVED Day 4. It was an awesome workout and something I really needed. It was all about hips, etc. and just really wonderful overall. Such a nice way to wake up in the morning!

Something interesting that I noticed was that I was able to easily walk up hills and stairs without getting out of breath. Since I’d only returned to Yoga for about 4 days at that point, I don’t think I can say this was entirely due to yoga, BUT I feel like it has helped a lot!

My extra challenge is that I haven’t done my #CheckedOffChallenge today. I have about 4 hours to complete it so wish me luck!

#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 3: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

Today was both really good and really challenging. It was really good because I enjoyed the yoga practice this morning. It felt different than it had been and I felt challenged in new ways. I really loved the balance aspect of it and the lack of planks! lol

On the other hand, today was really challenging. I ended up doing yoga around 5:45 this morning because I had to leave the house early. However, it was much easier to actually get up and do it because:

  • I have accountability
  • I am already making this a habit

If it had been my first day, I doubt I would have been strong enough to do it. Saying all this, tomorrow I’ll need to do yoga early again and I just hope that I will be strong enough!

#CheckedOffChallenge, Uncategorized

Day 2: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

Okay, I’ll admit it again. It was still hard to get up this morning and do yoga. BUT… knowing that I would feel as good as I did yesterday afterwards made it a lot easier.

I like to go ahead and get it done first thing so I do it as soon as I get up in the morning. It really is a nice way to stretch and really wake up.

Easier this morning:

  • Motivation: It really wasn’t that hard to motivate myself because I felt so good yesterday.
  • Breakfast: I felt so positive after I finished my yoga that I cooked a big breakfast and got a lot of things done on my to-do list.
  • Deep breathing: Taking big, deep breaths had been bothering my back, but I think it’s loosened up and it was easier to breathe.
  • Positivity: For me, doing Yoga in the morning is helping me to start my day off on a positive note.
  • Health benefits: I already feel stronger!

Challenging this morning:

  • Muscle fatigue: I was a little sore this morning, but nothing too bad.
  • Allergies: I love deep breathing, but it always ends up with me sneezing, etc. in allergy season. It interrupts my flow! lol

I’ve been mentally preparing myself for tomorrow. It’s going to be extra challenging because I have a very early morning tomorrow and my goal is to make time to get my yoga in before I leave for the day. I’m so glad I have all of you to keep me accountable. Till tomorrow!

#CheckedOffChallenge

Day 1: #CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites

Okay. I’m going to be honest here. When I first woke up this morning, I dreaded doing my #CheckedOffChallenge. And it was the first day!!! Don’t get me wrong. I’ve loved doing Yoga in the past and even did a class that met at dawn for awhile.

But between moving, writing, etc. I got out of practice and that was the key. Yoga used to be a habit for me and once I broke that habit by not dedicating time to myself and my own health, I didn’t want to do it anymore.

However, this morning was different. I knew I was going to do it because…

  • I had mentally prepared myself to complete the 30 day challenge
  • I have accountability now (from all of you through the #CheckedOffChallenge. Thank you!!!)
  • I know that, like anything we do, it will soon become a habit for me

So I rolled out of bed and denied myself my usual excuses (I’ll just have breakfast first or just coffee, etc.) and I got started. And, after it was all said and done….

I feel great! It was a wonderful way to start my day and I am SO happy I did it because…

  • I took time for myself to center and focus
  • I feel alive
  • Is there anything better than getting something checked off your list FIRST thing in the morning?
  • I’m ready to face the day

If you’re not familiar with the #CheckedOffChallenge, check out my blog post. I am doing Dedicate: A 30 day Yoga Journey through Yoga with Adriene, but the challenge is a personal challenge so you can do anything you want, including challenging yourself to make time for reading each day… 😉

Make sure that you share your journey on Twitter with the hashtag #CheckedOffChallenge. I hope you have a wonderful day!

#CheckedOffChallenge

#CheckedOffChallenge

BelleBaileyWrites
These past few weeks, I’ve been hard at work writing the next full-length novel in the Sugar Maple Romance series. I spend so much time hunched over my laptop that I’ve decided to add another challenge to the mix. I’m going to challenge myself to complete the Dedicate: A 30 day Yoga Journey videos on YouTube starting this Saturday, March 16th.

This means that I’m going to be doing Yoga (to the best of my ability! Lol) every day for the next month. I’m not worried about doing the Yoga exercises since I only do what I’m comfortable with. My only fear is that I won’t even try if I have no accountability.

So here’s my idea. I’m going to post about my workout (and if I actually did it!) on my Twitter feed every day. If any of you would like to challenge yourself in anything (a daily walk, meditation, learning to cook, art, ANYTHING!) for the next 30 days, go to my Twitter account and post your own personal challenge.

Use the #checkedoffchallenge hashtag to share your personal challenge. Make sure to tweet using the hashtag every day that you complete it starting this Saturday. If you aren’t sure how to use Twitter and you would like to learn, you can check out this video or article. We can share our personal challenge journeys together and hold each other accountable! What do you say?

Even if you decide that right now isn’t the best time to do a personal challenge or if you don’t want to share it online, send me an email and let me know what your personal challenge would be. I’d love to hear it!