When I first agreed to do 30 straight days of yoga, I was confident that I knew what I was getting myself into.
I had just bounced back from a surgery and was chomping at the bit to get back to a regular fitness routine. Post-surgery, I was feeling pretty frail and I was interested to see how fit I could get from just doing yoga and nothing else.
As a style writer living in Los Angeles, I am also quick to jump on celeb trends, and when stars like Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Chung swear by a regular yoga practice, you know it's got to be effective.
Enter: Playlist Yoga, a trendy celeb-loved studio in the heart of West Hollywood (I even spotted Jamie in one of my first classes). Here, my findings after completing their 30-day Coachella body challenge.
This Is Not Your Beginner's Yoga Class: I've done yoga before, and while it's been a beat since I've gotten at it, my form is pretty spot on. (Rusty but spot on.) At Playlist, everyone takes the class at their own pace, and the ever-changing hip-hop music playlists made it fun and unpretentious. That being said, I think it would be tough (and dangerous even) to jump right into this challenge as a beginner with no prior knowledge.
Easier Said Than Done: The decision to commit to this yoga challenge was easy. But, like a relationship, the idea of it was much more alluring than the nitty-gritty everyday reality. Hungover? Yeah, that happened pretty much every weekend, and, yep, I still had to go. And what about when Easter fell smack dab in the middle of my challenge? I made my entire family relocate Easter brunch to another city in order to accommodate me. Yeah, I actually did that.
Tight and Right: I will tell you one thing, after 30 days of yoga, my abs and arms have never looked so sculpted. A million chaturangas later, I'm noticing tiny muscles in my already-toned arms that have never existed before. And, somehow, all of those crazy yoga side bends chiseled my abs big time. I even had that subtle line down the middle, which was a pleasant surprise. Hello, summer crop tops!
It's Not a Cure-All: My goal was to get my strength back, and to a degree, yoga did help me do that. But do I think that yoga alone is the end-all-be-all and should replace your other workouts? That's a no. In fact I noticed really quickly that while yoga flow might be gold for my upper half, it was not going to tone my booty the way weight lifting does, or sculpt my legs the way a killer spin class does.
Finding My Zen Was a Challenge: One thing that I didn't pick up on until the tail end of the 30 days was the idea of stillness. Each class, I'd be encouraged to settle into a pose and before long it would feel uncomfortable and I would start to fidget. Slowing down in general is hard for me and holding still was annoying, to say the least. It wasn't until I realized that I needed to sink into the discomfort of a pose and hold still, that the purpose of yoga started to register.
The 6 a.m. Version of Me Is Boss: As I've ventured into my mid-twenties, I've really been fighting this whole adulthood thing. Won't having a routine, waking up early and being responsible make me extra-boring? That's a huge fear of mine. However, to my surprise, the version of me that wakes up early and goes to yoga at the crack of dawn and is actually early to work, I like that girl. She's in a better mood, she's less stressed, more productive and dare I say even more fun because of it.
Will I Continue?: No. Has yoga made me more aware of my body and to make better use of my time? Absolutely. For me, yoga is a lifestyle-enhancer. Doing it kept me present-minded and, sure, a little calmer. Moving forward I plan to incorporate it into my normal routine maybe once or twice a week, but in terms of my fitness fix, I won't be canceling my gym membership anytime soon.