Tip of the Week: How to Have a Successful 30 Day Challenge

Are you ready to start your New Years Resolutions? Ready to transform your life and your body? Make a commitment to make yourself the healthiest you can be. Take the 30-day challenge for a new body and a new positive attitude. Find unhealthy habits and attitudes replaced with new healthy ones. We will support you every step of the way through this exciting life changing process. This is one of the most rewarding fulfilling gifts you will ever give yourself—and the lives of those that are touched by you! 

What is the 30 Day Challenge? 

Challenge yourself with our ongoing “30 Day Bikram Challenge” by completing 30 classes in 30 days. Experience for yourself the amazing physical, mental and physiological benefits of a daily practice! 

Challenge Rules 

Participate in a yoga class at least six (preferably seven) days each week for 30 days. (If you need a day off each week, make up with a double class the following day.)

If you practice at another studio, please bring proof of your practicing there. 

Have Fun! 

Remember, when you sign up to do the challenge, you are making a commitment to yourself. Keep the commitment and see the difference it will make in your life! You may even want to keep a daily journal during the challenge, noting you observations. 

Not sure you can do it? Enroll your family, friends, and other yoga students to support you in your challenge. 

To Sign up for the Challenge: 

Talk with an instructor.

Pay the $20.00 registration fee. (In addition to class fees.)

Record your name and date on the challenge card.

Track your progress by using the stickers on the card. (Please remember to sign in)

At the end of your successful challenge, you will receive a special challenge t-shirt. Your name will also be placed on the website and published in the newsletter. 

Some Tips for Completing the Challenge:

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. We can’t say this enough! Make sure you drink plenty of water during the day, before and after your class. If you are drinking enough water out of class, you may not even need any during your Bikram yoga class. This sounds extreme in 105ºF heat, but the best Bikram yogis drink very little during class – this makes for a more focused practice and better access to your abdominal muscles because you don’t have all that water sloshing around hindering your movement.

Start Healthy. Make sure you are in reasonably healthy condition before you undertake a 30-day challenge. If you have any serious health concerns please see your doctor. However, you can also give the challenge a go and see how you feel – you may be stronger than you think, and might just surprise yourself!

Pace Yourself. Probably the most important piece of advice. Take each day as it comes without any expectations. Some days you will fly through a class, other days it will feel like you’re pushing a boulder up hill – this is all part of the process.

Vary your position in the room. We all get attached to our own favourite spot in the room. If you love the front row, challenge yourself but putting yourself at the back. And if you’ve never been in the front row, give it a try and see how it feels.

Know your Body. If you are feeling exhausted from a day at work, don’t push yourself too hard. Have a ‘relaxation’ yoga class where you position yourself in the back row – it’s okay to take it easy every now and then, and like Bikram Choudhury says, “Don’t try hard, try easy.”

Eat Healthy, Eat Strong. As you progress into your challenge you will gain greater mind/body awareness to the point where you’ll become extremely aware of what foods will help you get through the 30 days. Foods that won’t help you are of course the ‘bad’ foods such as white sugars, excessive wheat-based foods and too much dairy. Foods that will help you are: fresh vegetables and fruit, complex carbohydrates like whole grains, and because you are building new muscle tone, you may find that you need extra amounts of protein in particular. If you are vegetarian or vegan  make sure you eat more beans, tofu and nuts to compensate. You may even want to add in a Vitamin B12 supplement.