Yes, it's time for another challenge. For years, I've really struggled to be consistent with my asana1 practice. Actually, "consistent" is misleading... I've struggled to do any asanas at all. Why the struggle? Hard to say. Part of it is that there's always something else I'd rather be doing at the time. The other blocker is that my flexibility isn't great, and my ego prefers me to spend my time on things I'm "good" at!
So, with the 731 Kriya challenge in the bag, I'm going to turn my attention to getting consistent with my asana practice. I made the commitment while on the Sri Sri Yoga teacher training course in Taiwan (14th to 25th May, 2010). Despite taking it easy, my body ached all the way through, but my mind was quiet and so I actually enjoyed the asanas. That experience was a revelation.
My commitment will start on the 1st of June, will run for 1001 days without interruption, and will be as follows:
- Come what may, I'll do a contiguous sequence of daily asanas lasting a minimum of 40 minutes, finishing with an additional 5 minutes of Yoga Nidra (final relaxation). That's 45 minutes a day.
- Each day's sequence will cover all parts of the body. Some days, I might focus on one area at the expense of another. That being the case, I'll balance it out the next day.
- My only goal is to complete 1001 days without a break. Doing the asanas with 100% effort but without struggle or attachment to any goal, such as increasing flexibility.
OK... here goes!
1 Asana: A yoga posture.
Distribution of session durations:
Distribution of time of day:
After 559 days, the challenge comes to a premature end
Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I dropped the ball on day 560. Why? Well, I fell in love and became single pointed in my focus. That point was far removed from my asana challenge!
So, my asana challenge is over, as is my uninterrupted run of …
108 Sun Salutations
The 1001 Sequences challenge is still going strong. Today, I took part in a group effort to do 108 Surya Namaskars. There were 17 of us there and we finished in under an hour, so the pace was pretty brisk. …
Pyjamasanas
(pictured left – yours truly practising Sucklingasana)
This asana adventure has been incredible. I've never felt so healthy. It's been 18 months since I had a cold; pretty amazing for someone who used to get a cold about 3 times a year, without fail.
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The First Six Months
It's hard to believe it, but 6 months have gone already. It feels like I started just a few weeks ago, but it's been 183 days. I'm averaging 68 minutes a day, mostly practising in the morning. The chart shows that my favourite session is 90 minutes long; I know that I tend to "only" do 45 minutes when my day is rushed, so apparently I've only had 37 busy days in the last 6 months! …
Rick shows early asana aptitude
Recently, I've been scanning old family photos and was delighted to find this early shot of me in the middle of my asana practice, at the tender age of 8 months.
It would appear that my asana practice was not encouraged, and so it lapsed before my self awareness, and hence memory, developed. …
Day 1... only a thousand to go
After a short sleep in a hotel in Brisbane (up late doing slides for a presentation), I got up at 5am. Couldn't wait to get started on the challenge, despite having a mildly debilitating virus that's been hanging around for a few days.
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A bunch of Sri Sri Yoga teachers join the challenge
Some Sri Sri Yoga teachers have joined me for the first phase of the challenge. A Sri Sri Yoga teacher training course is planned for 27th December 2010, in Australia. That makes for a nice little subgoal – 210 days (30 weeks) from the 1st June until the 27th December.
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