Welcome to Day 1 of the 2-Week Yoga Challenge: Find Your Flow
Monday, April 12th.
Welcome to your two-week yoga challenge! Congratulations on being here and committing to self-care over these next two weeks. Yoga's benefits are plentiful and can have positive ripple effects in all areas of your life. Even for some long-time practitioners of yoga, 14 consecutive days is something many have never accomplished..because it is no easy task! There will be days you're excited to get on your mat, and others where it's more of a challenge, but the structure and accountability of this challenge will make it easier for you to stay consistent and show up for yourself each and every day.
The theme of this challenge is finding your flow. The past 12+ months have not been usual for most of us, and if you've fallen out of your flow, you're not alone. What does being in the flow mean to you though? It is not about achieving an outcome, but more about the presence and immersing yourselves in activities, where you lose track of time, are in your body, and forget about your struggles of the past or worries about the future. Yoga is a practice and ritual each day that can bring you into the flow state while expanding your limits.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist who recognized the concept of flow, explains the flow state in more detail and how it's often connected to effort, and not merely about reaching goals but about the journey itself. He said, "The purpose of the flow is to keep on flowing, not looking for a peak or utopia but staying in the flow. There is no possible reason for climbing except the climbing itself; it is a self-communication. Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times — although such experiences can also be enjoyable if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”
To help you find your flow, each day you will have three class choices delivered to your inbox. You only have to choose one class. If you ever feel like the choices are not a good fit for you on a given day, worry not, as there are over 1700+ other fantastic classes you can substitute with on the website. It's recommended you stay with the group and choose the options when possible, but by no means feel limited or stuck. This challenge is about making things work for you.
There are yogis joining from all over the world. We love hearing about your experiences and reflections on your mat each day. Cheer each other on, share, and reflect on your experiences, while connecting virtually with each other. To start things off, feel free to share in the comments below where you are joining from, and why you are excited to participate in this challenge.
For day one, you've got an excellent beginner class from Jackie, which is also a good refresher for experienced practitioners wanting to revisit some important basics. If you want to find your flow state, Ali's class is accompanied by a special music soundtrack. If you're ready to challenge yourself right away, Kylie's class is all about action and will give you a strong 65-minute intermediate practice. Enjoy your practice today!
Here are today's class choices:
Begin:
Foundations of Yoga with Jackie Casal Mahrou
50 min class | Level: Beginner | Intensity: Everyday Namaste
This is a perfect class for those brand new to yoga, or those looking to deepen their practice through a focus on alignment. Jackie guides you through basic yoga postures including lunges, single-leg balancing, and seated stretching that will help you increase your flexibility and strength as well as gain an understanding of what yoga is all about.
Flow:
Copasetic Flow with Ali Duncan with music by Sahale
30 min class | Level: Adv. Beginner & Up | Intensity: Everyday Namaste
Taking your practice inward to support the healing and expansion of the heart is what this class is about. Allowing the energy to flow through the body and settle around the heart center to encourage blockages, anxiety, and overwhelm to melt away putting you into a copasetic state.
Take Action:
Stop Dreaming, Start Doing with Kylie Larson
65 min class | Level: Intermediate | Intensity: You'll Feel It
The purpose of this class is to get your body moving and prepared for action. Class begins in child's pose where we think about the importance of action backing up our intention. As with all my classes, we take some time to build the poses from the ground up, but after one time through the flow, we are moving breath to breath.
This is a balancing flow class that will open your hips and have your legs shaking. You can expect, chair pose, standing splits, standing figure four and my favorite of all the warriors, warrior three. Once our body is warmed up I invite you to move from half moon to chapasana as well as wild thing. The most important part of this class however is the message: In order to manifest what you want out of life, you have to take massive action.
**you only need to choose one class**
Be sure to share your challenge experiences in the comments section!