What I Learned From Doing 30 Days of Yoga

Yesterday marked the end of the #YogaEveryDamnDay challenge with Rachel Brathen, @yoga_girl.

I'm proud of myself: I rolled out my mat and practiced every day in September!

The month certainly had its ups and downs, as I was learning the ins-and-outs of my new job, working on creating a backyard in our new house (pouring concrete is SO MUCH WORK), and mourning the loss of our 14-year-old Pitt mix :(

All in all, having my yoga practice as a tool for grounding each day helped SO much.

Here are a few of my takeaways from the yoga challenge:

• Show up on your mat with no expectations. Or, at least TRY to. 
• Get in your body instead getting lost in your thoughts. Use the body to release negative energy.
• Trust your intuition.
• Let go of your definitions of what is a 'good' yoga practice. You don't have to do hard postures or inversions for your practice to 'count' for the day.
• Keep track of your progress. Give yourself kudos for how far you've come!
• Consistence yields results.

Have you ever done a month-long yoga challenge? What did you learn?

All photos by Kimberly Lewis.