Yay for Yoga Aid!

First- congratulations to Kim who SUCCEEDED IN HER 30 DAY CHALLENGE!! She made all 26 practices, and I am amazed by her. WAY TO GO, KIM!

Yoga Aid was yesterday, and it was excellent! I had one of my best friends on one side of my mat, and my husband on the other, and I made it through the entirety of an intense two hour practice.

Mary didn't just stick to traditional A's and B's for sun salutations; she threw in some change-up and kept us moving. I felt (surprisingly!) great for the entire two hours, and was even able to try some new things and hit some sequences I've never gotten before!  (flow --> crow --> head stand --> tripod --> crow --> flow) I was riding my excited train until we went home.

On top of that, I raised almost $350 for Headstand. Thank you to everyone who helped me surpass my fundraising goal and for all your thoughts and prayers. It felt great to challenge myself and know that in working to make myself a better person, I was helping students do the same thing!  Check out my fundraising page to see how you and others came together for such a great cause (and there's still time to donate if you can spare a few dollars!).

But of course, the high wore off last night and the soreness and pain set in. "Life" came back full force this morning, and I was faced with all the stress that that entails.  My challenge is to keep the spirit of what I did yesterday with me this week-- keep that feeling of good, that peace, at the front of my mind.

As my sister-in-law reminded me this morning, I need to eliminate the negativity in my life.  While I know that I can't get rid of it, I can choose how I respond to it.  I can choose to see the good in any situation, or work to increase the positive rather than focus on the negative.  So, while she was trying to be snarky and hilarious by throwing my own "blog lessons" in my face when I choose to be a curmudgeon, she was absolutely right!

Think about the things that stress you out-- the things that seem to "erase" the good feelings you have, make you forget about the positives.  How can you "flip it and reverse it" so that those negatives don't have power over your mood or your spirit anymore? Think about it...

~Namaste~