Thirty Days (Hold Me)

With a few quick keystrokes this afternoon - before I could think too much about what I was doing - I committed myself to a thirty-day challenge at my yoga studio. For the month of May, I'll try to practice every single day. If I miss a day, I'll have to double up on another day (I have never, ever done this before) to catch up. I truly have no idea if I'm going to love this, hate this, succeed or fail at this, but I do know that I'm in need of a little challenge in my life and that I never leave yoga wishing I had spent the last hour any other way.

When the studio first announced the challenge, I wasn't interested: not the right stage of my life, weather finally getting nicer, right shoulder feeling a little wonky for the last couple of weeks, and, to be honest, a little bit of fear. I thought I'd just keep practicing a couple times a week and probably take a few months off during the summer. Darn that Gretchen Rubin, though, with her Happiness Project blog, because here was part of Friday's entry:

"If I try to do something four days a week, I spend a lot of time arguing with myself about whether today is the day, or tomorrow, or the next day; did the week start on Sunday or Monday; etc. And that’s exhausting.

If I do something every day, I tend to fall into a routine, and routine has a bad reputation. It’s true that novelty and challenge bring happiness, and that people who break their routines, try new things, and go new places are happier, but I think that some routine activities also bring happiness. The pleasure of doing the same thing, in the same way, every day, shouldn’t be overlooked. By re-framing, you can find happiness in activities like doing dishes or sweeping the floor, as well as your beloved morning coffee-and-newspaper.

The things you do every day take on a certain beauty, and provide a kind of invisible architecture to daily life."

Unsurprisingly, I think Gretchen is right on here. I remember when the girls were smaller, I found it was easier to give them baths every single night, no matter what. It wasn't that I really thought they needed baths every single night, but it was more that I knew it would be easier and happier for everyone if baths were just part of the nightly bedtime routine. No arguing, no trying to figure out when the last bath had been, no negotiating over it. And I suspect the same will be true here: no figuring out when (or whether) to exercise, no meaning to get to yoga but getting sidetracked by errands or a book, no wishing I had gone when I had the chance and resolving to go the next day. I've always wanted to do more yoga, and here is my chance. Just thirty days of yoga, one day at a time.