Stress can be a great motivator, but it can also be terrible for your health. I find there’s a very fine line for me between productive stress to get my finances under control, and hurtful stress that depresses my mood and health. Your health is very important, and during this stressful time in your life, we need to make sure we don’t neglect it. So this week’s post is a 7 day yoga mini-challenge. Boo-ya!
- waking up earlier (I usually hit snooze a few times)
- getting motivated for the day ahead
- getting some exercise
- increase efficiency in my morning routine (sometimes I just sit on the floor and stare at my closet, totally incapable of deciding what to wear that day)
- manage my stress from work and debt
- remind myself that there’s more to life than work and debt
- improve focus and mindfulness throughout the day
The reason I’m not taking yoga classes at one of the many nearby yoga studios is because they cost a fortune! How does anybody afford to go to a $28 yoga class multiple times per week?! Also, here in LA hardly any of the classes start early enough to complete them before work – way different than the East Coast with all its 5am sessions. So that and the fact that this challenge is also about easily adding something healthy to my routine is why I’ve opted for free yoga sessions from the internet. There are many out there but I’ll be using some 15 minute flows from youtube I found.
Here’s how it’s going:
Monday: off to a later start, so sleepy! Yoga helped wake me up but I didn’t get out of bed early enough to make up for the 15 min session – out the door about 15 mins later than usual.
Tuesday: great! I got up on time and got straight to it. No problems and it motivated me to dawdle less in the morning and I got out the door a little early!
Wednesday: moving a little slower today but managed to get up almost on time, yoga, and out the door about 5-10 mins late. Traffic was bad and I pretty quickly lost my ‘zen’ gained from yoga. But I remembered to breath and was able to regain a good mindset for work.
So I’m halfway through and I really like it so far. It’s not easy for me to wake up in the morning, but I think that may be helping me in a way. I’m too sleepy to think about not doing it that I just sort of roll off the bed and over to my mat before my brain can really function, so I guess I’m sort of getting up earlier. It DEFINITELY has helped my muscles throughout the day. I get sore from sitting at the desk for so long and this really helps with the stiffness I usually feel. Also, my abs are sore which means I’m building my core strength! Yay! At the very least it is a wonderful way to wake up and thank my body for doing all the amazing things it does so I can live.
Give it a try! Let us know how it goes!
Namaste!
-WCD
I’m pretty sure I’ll be like this by the end of 7 days…right?
I agree that the cost of classes at yoga studios is crazy! I recently started going to holy yoga classes – those are free yoga classes that are held in churches. I can go 3 times per week without paying anything! I’ve found a lot of other free classes too. Yoga has been a huge help for my anxiety and the stress that comes along with being buried in debt.
Great idea! I’ll have to look into that!
Oh, god. I needed this reminder. About six months ago I started my own morning miracle. My goal was to do five or six productive things before the workday began. One of those productive things was exercise–specifically stretching. Well, I started off like gang-busters and was doing great. But then I began to slide. I still have my morning miracle, but the exercise part has disappeared. I got to fix that. I’m not very flexible. I have a hard time stretching below my knees. So I think I’ll take you up on your yoga challenge. I want to freak out my doctor at my next physical by touching my toes. Wish me luck!