Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge – the final week.

If you are wondering what this series is about click here for the introduction. But short story even shorter: Inma from “Sunshine&Glow” (a seasoned yoga lover) and I (a complete beginner) share our experiences with the 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge of Lesley Fightmaster Yoga (here).

 

Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge - the last day
Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge – the last day

 

I hope you enjoyed following out little Yoga journey, struggles, failure and getting back on track included. This post marks the last days of the challenge. If you want to read our final thoughts and recap, head over to Inmas blog.

 

Day 22

Anne

Oh how I wish I was back at meditation! The upper body twists are killing me, and what looks pretty relaxed when Lesley does it has me dripping with sweat. It doesn’t help that the weather has been amazing and I practice in my living room with the big glass windows. It is Hot Yoga!

Inma

 

Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge - supported handstand
Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge – supported handstand

 

Day 23

Anne

There are a lot of animals in Yoga apparently. After the locust and the dolphin it is the camel today. Looks quite easy, is surprisingly hard. But that seems to be my general Yoga discovery: Looks quite easy, is quite hard!

Inma

The last week starts and I’ve missed 5 full days, so I feel a little bit rusty. I get sweaty straight away. I am beginning to think that what people who started 23 days ago achieved is the level I have achieved in years, ha ha! I have started to do chaturangas without dropping my knees, which is a massive achievement for me, as I have been trying to build upper body strength this year. After half an hour I feel proud of myself for getting back in the saddle and nicely tired. It is 11pm so I am straight to bed for what I hope will be a good night sleep.

 

Day 24

Anne

We start the practice by setting an intention. We do this every day, but I don’t really come to grip with it. The spiritual side of Yoga eludes me, and as much as I try to be mindful and send out positive energy, I don’t think it works.

Inma

I am in a bit of a rush today as I am meeting friends after work, but after last week’s fiasco I make sure I make time for this. Thankfully it is not such a sweaty one although we are getting to some poses that I find very challenging, like wheel. I give it a go but can’t go past resting on my head, so stick to the easier option. That is one of the things I love about yoga. You try, sometimes it doesn’t work, but it doesn’t matter. Today I was a step closer.

 

Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge - Hip openers
Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge – Hip openers

 

Day 25

Anne

I bought a new Yoga mat. Sio much for the spiritual aspect, I seem to be material through and through. But it was such a struggle practicing at home with my old one, absolutely no fun, so I invested in a nice medium thickness one in purple. That gives an extra boost of motivation. It is hip openers today, and once again I realize how stiff I am.

Inma

Yay, it’s the weekend, and I’m off to London to see my mum, who is visiting with friends, so it is an early one for me today. I think this has been one of my favourite days, as it focuses on hips. As Lesley says on the video, we carry a lot of emotions in our hips, and I know letting go is not one of my strengths generally in life, so I always like classes that focus on releasing the tension in this area. Pigeon is one of my favourite poses even if sometimes it can be a bit uncomfortable at times. I feel so relaxed after today 

 

Day 26

Anne

Core work, dreaded even before I was pregnant the first time and my abdominals were ripped apart. I mentally groan before we even get started. But plank goes surprisingly well, and even the side plank in the end is manageable without even taking the knee down for support! I am so proud of myself.

Inma

Wow, yesterday was a busy day between London and then a Eurovision party with friends, all accompanied by a few drinks, so I am glad I have no plans today other than to chill at home. Today has another one of my favourite poses, half moon. It is quite an energetic one for how little energy I had, but after building up over the past few weeks the half hour goes really quickly. I’m super excited that we will try to do a headstand on the last day, as I’ve never managed one.

 

Day 27

Anne

A slow yoga stretch class today. Amazing! Because when I wanted to get up in the morning, I realized all the core work had paid off: My abs were on fire! So even though you can´t see them, they are still there. Reassuring.

Inma

I’ve started reading the video descriptions before starting and when I sit on my mat I know today is all about stretching, which seems like the perfect way to start the week and much needed after the past few days. I’m working from home today so I make the most of not having to walk to the office and practice at 8am. This is so lovely I feel so relaxed I could go back to bed at the end! Time for coffee though!

 

Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge - the crow
Lesley Fightmaster 30 Days of Yoga Beginners Challenge – the crow

 

Day 28

Anne

When Lesley announces, we will be doing crows pose today, I am tempted to skip the whole class. Crows pose? Are you kidding me? That is not going to happen! But as we are working our way up to it, ambition strikes: That can´t be too hard. So I try. And try. And try. It doesn’t happen in the end. Oh well.

Inma

This week seems to have all my favourites, as today we build up to crow, which is an arm balance I love. I first did this on a yoga retreat nearly two years ago, when I thought there was no way I could do all these strong poses, and to my surprise I held it for a split second. It was exhilarating, so I’ve always seen crow as the pose that made me believe that I could do anything!

 

Day 29

Anne

Crow yesterday, handstand today. I had the feeling I was keeping up quit nicely, but these last days are showing me how much there still is to do when it comes to yoga. But at least I manage to walk myself up the wall for an assisted handstand. Not too shabby.

Inma

I went to my usual yoga class yesterday but seeing as we only have a few days left I do Day 29 a day later instead of skipping it. I have never been able to do an unassisted handstand and today is not exception, but I can feel how I am getting closer and that really encourages me to keep practicing.

 

Day 30

Anne

I did it! I finished the 30 days of yoga. 30 days of moving my body, 30 days of working on regaining my strength and maybe building up some new flexibility. 30 days of commitment. I feel great, even though I am sore, and one thing is for certain: Yoga will not accompany me every day for the rest of my life. But it will have a permanent place in my workouts for sure.

Inma

I can’t believe it is the last day! This time last week I was feeling pretty rubbish because I had missed a few days, but today I feel so happy that I have managed to finish the challenge! The final week has been tough and today was no exception. My whole body aches from the work we’ve been doing but it feels really good!

 

And that marks the end of the challenge! I really am proud I saw it through. Don’t forget to head over to Inmas blog (Sunshine and Glow) for our final thoughts.

 

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