by Emily Jacobs, Big Yoga student and 40 Days program participant

So I'm pretty sure I signed up for the 40 Day Yoga Revolution for all the wrong reasons (if that's possible). I thought it would be a fun way to stay connected with my co-workers who were taking on the challenge as well as my ever-so-amazing yogi buds who had just opened the studio where it would be hosted. I never really considered the mental and physical benefits I might receive as a result of committing to (at least) 6 yoga practices and 12 meditations a week. Kind of ridiculous, I know...

I started my revolution on a Monday and had a great practice with the aforementioned co-workers. We all went to breakfast and had a grand old time planning out what the next 6 weeks would look like and how we could maximize our time together. We laughed and carried on as we envisioned what ellusive poses we'd master during our time on the mat.

It was exactly two days into the challenge, on Tuesday, that I experienced what I can only assume would be the first of many life changing revolutions! There I was, all alone (which was not part of the "maximizing our time together" plan we'd created) in a yoga class I'd never attended before, with a yoga teacher I'd never met, surrounded by students I'd never seen in my life, having what I could only imagine was my first breakthrough of this journey!

To back up a tad, Nancy gave us a little "pep talk" at our first meeting where she mentioned there was no wrong or right way to complete the 40 days. But that didn't sit with me. I mean, there WAS a right way! It was all laid out for us in our packet-we were SUPPOSED to practice a certain amount of days each week, meditate twice daily, assume some different eating practices, and read from our book, right???

What I didn't realize was that this journey was completely my own, and I could do WHATEVER I wanted to do with it. There would be no gold medal for me if I did it exactly the way it was suggested to me. I didn't really get that until I began reading Law 1: Seek the Truth in 40 Days to Personal Revolution. In this section, Baron recounts a conversation where he uncovers that a yogi is suggesting we all "have the courage to face the pure, unsweetened truth of ourselves so that we can move on and grow in more honest and authentic ways". THIS made sense to me! It was ok if I didn't follow the curriculum line by line, and I should never beat myself up about it. Instead, I should seek to understand WHY I do the things I choose to do every day and what that says about who I am. In reading this, I also realized that I was in complete control of my own perception of myself. I could get as much, or as little, as I wanted to out of this experience. So I chose to really throw myself into it with an open heart to see what would happen.

This led me to the yoga class that Tuesday. The teacher began reading from Iyengar's "Light on Yoga", and the rest was history. It was during this class I realized that I was completely in control of the amount of joy I experienced in every moment of my life. Yes, it was just a 60 minute class, but I could choose to be "by myself" in a corner practicing with strangers, or I could choose to be "WITH myself" having a ball. And guess what? I choose to be with myself, and it was a TOTAL blast!

I found myself smiling in poses I previously dreaded, laughing out loud in moments of pain, and even attempting poses I'd never tried before (including going for a headstand which resulted in me falling ON TOP OF a pregnant woman!!!)!!! I left class that day feeling so great and so clear. No matter what I face in every day, it's up to me to CHOOSE how I am experiencing the moment. On that Tuesday, I chose joy, which I've continued to do throughout the rest of the challenge.

I am so grateful for all that's already happened during this time, and I can't wait to see what else I will experience over the next several weeks!

P.S. No pregnant women were harmed in the process of this revolution! :)