I'm a little sad, because I highly doubt that I can complete the 30 day hot yoga challenge.
On Monday, I went running for longer and more intense than usual. Also, I did not stretch. I felt okay afterwards, but I also felt something wrong in my right knee, which is not a big deal but I just felt like I should wait at least 2-3 days before I could run hardcore again.
However, I still kept on doing yoga everyday. On Wednesday, during my yoga class, I felt like something popped in my knee. I tried, but I couldn't really do the rest of the class. The next day, I couldn't sit down without holding on to something, it would hurt when I walk down the stairs and I felt like my knee would crack if I walked fast, and it did crack once in a while. No need to mention that I missed class on Thursday and Friday.
My knee is better today, but there is still some pain, so I don't want to risk. That means that even if tomorrow my knee is fine, and I go to class until Tuesday, which is when the challenge ends, I would have done 25 classes instead of 30...It sucks.
I did learn a lot during these almost 30 days though. I learned to listen to my body. Your body degrades if you stress it with intense activity everyday, especially with yoga because you're working every muscle in your body. If you don't give your muscles and tendons a chance to heal, and re-damage them the next day, and the next...you will never recover, and healing time is what makes you stronger.
I also learned quite a bit about food. I never truly felt fatigue in my life before this challenge. I have done intense workouts before, but I always had plenty of time to rest. During the challenge, I had no time to rest, so I did plenty of research on nutritional facts and learned about how easy, yummy and fun it is to eat clean. This will probably not change how I live, but it provides some options.
With the 30 day challenge, I guess I worked yoga into my life and I plan on continuing after the challenge, but probably for 3-4 times a week. I'm glad it's almost over because now I will have time to do other activities that I love. I joined some hiking clubs actually because during my travels, I discovered that I loved hiking, and I'd like to discover some nice places and mountains in Quebec!
I'm ending this post with, Namaste :)