12 Week Yoga Challenge

This Yoga Challenge should not focus on what you can or cannot yet do.  How flexible or inflexible your body is at the start.  How unforeseeable it is that you will ever obtain your desired flexibility.  The very nature of Yoga itself is not on such inhibiting factors.  Focus rather on the present and where your body is in the now and the rest will follow.  The dates of this 12 week Yoga Challenge are January 10th - April 4th, 2013.

Whether you are doing this Yoga Challenge all by itself with no other additional Challenges or whether you are tackling every Challenge posted this week, below are the rules for this particular Challenge. Note that it is very important to have a stretching program in addition to any fitness routines including but not limited to strength training, running, and cycling.  

First, choose a track based on your experience with Yoga.  If you have never done Yoga before, you are in Track 1.  If you have some experience with Yoga, but are still very much a beginner, choose Track 2.  If you consider yourself somewhere between Beginner and Intermediate (or Advance), go with Track 3.

Track 1
Do 15-60 minutes of Yoga 1-2 times each week of this Challenge.  For tips on Practices, see below.

Track 2
Do 20-60 minutes of Yoga 2-3 times each week of this Challenge.  For tips on Practices, see below.

Track 3
Do 20-60 minutes of Yoga 3-6 times each week of this Challenge.  For tips on Practices, see below.

Regardless of which Track you are in for this Challenge, plan what days you are going to practice and account for the foreseen obstacles and make a plan for working around them.  Make a mental account of your progress each week.  How your body and mental focus are changing as your practices grow. 

Stuck for Practices?  Some helpful resources:

*yogajournal.com for free poses descriptions and advice as well as practices and follow along videos. 
*Rodney Yee has an amazing line of DVDs from beginner all the way to advance.  He also has a superb book for all levels helping you advance your Yoga practice all the way into inversions titled Moving Toward Balance 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee
*Another one of my favorite yoga instructors is Kathryn Budig who has a beginner's guide to yoga titled The Women's Health Big Book of Yoga

Need Help With any/all of this? I'm always available: cagib1@charter.net

~You should see your physician before starting any exercise or nutrition program. You should have a complete physical examination if you are sedentary, if you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, if you are overweight, or if you are over 35 years old. Please discuss all nutritional changes with your physician or a registered dietician.~