30 days of yoga with Adriene - COMPLETED!

I finally filled up this calender with stickers. My stickers of accomplishment!

Yesterday marks the last day for my 30 days of yoga with Adriene! And it was also the last day of school before I graduate in May this year. So yesterday was really a happy day. #feelingaccomplished

Anyways, I am here to give an update on how yoga has changed me after this 30 days. Previously I mentioned I couldn't do a proper downward dog pose with both my heels touching the ground. I couldn't do them now either, but the distance between my heel and the ground has shortened visibly. I'll be able to get my heels flat on the mat for downward dog eventually (I believe).

I also realized that through all these poses of opening up your hips and shoulders, I have grown a few centimeters. I feel taller, more confident and feel that I now stand and hold myself with a better posture. I used to slouch and hunch a lot during my school days. Hunching over the laptop and typing away, not stopping for many hours. But now, I find that I have grown to be more present to my surroundings and have learnt to listen to my body. Whenever I feel that my shoulders start to ache, I stand up and move. I walk around and stretch, doing a forward fold or a twist, which ever position I feel my body craves for. So through this yoga practice, I have learnt to listen more to my body. Listen to the signals it is sending me and making changes so I feel good. It's all about feeling good. If you feel good about this, do it! And I think that is what many of the yogis are trying to tell us. Connect to your inner self and listen to what your body wants. We were often so busy trying to get through our to-do list that we neglect what is most important - our body. Without a healthy body, we wouldn't be able to do much of our daily activities. So doing yoga, I feel, is my way of thanking my body, treating it with the yummy twists and stretches it will benefit from so as to allow me to continue the day with positive energy. Yoga time is my me-time. And I truly appreciate this little me-time every morning before breakfast. There were so many days when I felt very lazy and wanted to skip the workout, but I persevered on and still got on my mat because I know if I don't, I will regret it in the afternoon where I start to feel tired.
Before practicing yoga, I used to get this feeling that you get when you feel that you want to crack your knuckles so badly. And now, I feel this is my body's way of protesting, saying that it didn't manage to get a good stretch in the morning.

I'm glad that I pulled through this 30 days and I'm now in search of more yoga videos. (which wasn't quite difficult thanks to all the helpful yogis up on YouTube)
I found a series of free yoga videos. The trainer is Ms Erin Motz and the title is named "30 Day Yoga Challenge" (yay! another 30 days!) The videos in this series are rather short (only 10-20 minutes) and I believe would be the best for busy days. I've enrolled myself into this free 30 day challenge and have done the 1st day. It was nice. Rather challenging. It also provides alternative poses for different levels of difficulty just like Adriene did. (I'm still at beginner level by the way) And I find it really helpful.
So like I've mentioned in my previous post about yoga, I would definitely like to continue this practice. And here I am! Finished my 30 days and ready to take on another 30 days! HaHa!
And I'm telling you this like how we often like to share it with our best friends about the good stuff we find. Try it out yourself! Get out of the chair and on to your mat! Do the 30 Day Yoga Challenge
Feel free to comment on how you have benefited from yoga on the comment section below. Cheers!