We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
Testimonials from recent 30 day champions-
"The thirty day challenge is demanding, but abundantly rewarding. Trading your spare time for practice on your mat seems like a big ask in the beginning, but quickly turns from a chore to a necessary part of your day. Necessary to reach your safe place and decompress. Necessary to continue to grow, every time you sit a little deeper in your chair, find a little more stillness in your tree, and a little more peace in your head and heart." - Megan J
"My first 30 day challenge ended decades of self-abandonment, strengthened my mind and body, and truly transformed how I relate to myself and entire life. My second 30 day challenge taught me to trust the process. And my third 30 day challenge taught me to trust myself. " ~Julie P
"Thirty Days of Hot Yoga: Immediately I slow down, knowing I get a shot at the poses tomorrow, the next day and so-on. I do not have to perfect this pose today or any day. I begin to concentrate more than ever on MY practice which looks very different than those around me. With an ACL replacement in my right knee, bursitis and tendonitis in my shoulders, carpal tunnel in my wrists, a severe scoliosis curve, damn, this means I might need to work differently than my neighbor. Sometimes, because I am human, I envy the flexibility and the binds of my fellow practicers, but I quickly redirect that to me and what I can do, what I have accomplished since joining this studio 10 months ago with only a few months of yoga under my belt, at age 46. This might mean that I don't grab my right foot when doing forehead to knee, I cannot bind, I avoid side plank and I need that block under me in fixed firm. And that is OKAY. It is a big deal that I am here every morning, making self-care my priority. My inner voice says "You are here and you have come a long way" everyday, when I end my standing practice. The weekday classes are the days I have the best focus. The classes are smaller and the faces are almost always familiar and this comforts me. Weekend classes bring new faces and crowded rooms and I sometimes get caught up in comparison and self-doubt. Of course I have nothing to prove, but come on, sometimes I have something to prove; It isn't to the stranger badass next to me, it is too myself. I am learning to let that go through continuing these type of classes and focus. There are days I wobble, and days I struggle with focus, the heat, the loud breather next to me. These are the days I gain more strength, because it is true work getting to the end of class. I find myself looking forward to the seventy-five and ninety minute classes more than than the sixty minute, which was not the case a month ago. I am here to work on the poses, not just get the yoga in. Two chances are better than one and longer time in the heat means more work on focus, which I desperately long for. I see subtle and not so subtle shifts in my body and in the poses. My forehead is almost to my knees now in rabbit. On day 34 I tried toe stand for the first time and did it. It wasn't a goal of mine, Kimmer just encouraged us to try it and there it was, at my reach. I do not hate half moon anymore, but I still hate standing bow and there is a good chance I always will! I hear Mara when she says notice the habits, so lately I try not to squat and crack my knee when we get free movement. Sometimes I try new spots in the room and this sends my focus in a tailspin. The private with Mara a couple weeks in was crucial to me understanding some of the poses better and understanding my body with the poses. If you have never taken a private with her, drop what you are doing and set it up. What I love most is seeing mostly the same familiar faces every morning- the community of meditation. I have always worked best in a group and this studio is full of inspiring humans and instructors. I am a week past 30 days and I will keep going as long as my schedule allows." ~Theresa F
215 Main Street. New Paltz. NY. 12561