One Week...

One week from today I will begin the new 100 Days of Yoga Challenge! I am crazy excited and a little bit stressed out by it. I'm stressed that I'll have a hard time sticking to it (especially with all the travel I'm doing this summer), but I keep reminding myself that I have worn nothing but dresses for the past 54 days (even when the temptation to wear pants has been intense… dresses in snowstorms suck!). If I can wake up every morning and put on a dress, then I can wake up every morning and make time for yoga.

This past week or so, I've been reflecting on my goals for this challenge. I think it will be so much more motivating to complete it if I have a set of goals keeping me in check. So, here they are!

1) Feel physically strong
2) Have a greater sense of unity between my body and my mind
3) Clear my mind
4) Learn to control my thoughts
5) Learn to not fear my own thoughts

I am SO excited to feel the benefits of 100 Days of Yoga!

The 100 Day Challenge

 Now that I am half way through the 100 Days of Dresses challenge, I've started thinking about the next challenge (for those of you who haven't seen, it's 100 days of yoga), and what goals this challenge will accomplish. Goals? you say. Were there even goals to the 100 Days of Dresses Challenge? My answer: not really. It was mostly about proving to myself that I could commit to something for 100 days (no matter how silly it seemed to other people). When I came up with the idea of 100 Days of Dresses, I didn't think the "100 Days of…" idea would be something I'd want to stick with. After all, how many things can you do for 100 days. As the list I came up with this morning shows, quiet a few:

100 Days of…
not buying new clothing
writing in a journal/blogging/any kind of writing really
not eating out (I could only do this over the summer because of work)
prayer/meditation
forgoing Facebook
reading a chapter of a book a day
reading the entire New York Times paper (or any other newspaper of your choice)
not watching TV/movies
vegetarianism
drinking nothing but water (good bye alcohol, coffee, soda, juice…)
silence (not sure how I would pull this one off… but maybe someday)

I'm sure I will come up with many more ideas in the future, but I think this is a nice list to start. If you have any other awesome ideas for "100 Day of…" challenge, please post them!

The Power of Habit

As summer gets closer I can feel the itch to indulge in the habits of my past summers--the summers where I spent days lounging by the pool, book in hand, and nights spent with friends in various houses, bars, parks, and cars. I also feel the weight of my pre-summer habits: apathy, exhaustion, and weariness. I hate to say it, but these habits have been well ingrained in my system, and I can't seem to shake them. April is the cruelest month, after all. 

Since April first came around, pre-summer habits have taken hold, and there seems to be no end in site. How to break the cycle? This has been on my mind the past week. I keep saying to myself, once the travel dies down, it'll be better. Once I'm sleeping in my bed every night, then I will get my second wind. Honestly, I think have a few positive interactions with professors this week and next would do wonders for my moral. I don't even care if they aren't using my book, just someone being nice would be helpful. Only 3 more weeks. Only 3 weeks…. 

This summer will bring its own set of troubles as far as breaking more habits. Certain people who seem to always become intricate parts of my summer life will be missing… for better or worse, I'm not sure yet. I would like to think it's for the better, ultimately. Off I go, into the flood to April to hopefully wade through to the other side where there is restoration and sleep.