Beginning on March 1st, I began my first ever Bikram 30 Day Challenge. 30 days later and about 10 lbs lighter, I completed the challenge. What exactly is a 30 Day Challenge, you ask? Well, it is the commitment to doing Bikram Yoga for 30 consecutive days – 26 postures in a room heated to 105 degrees for a duration of 90 minutes. The actual yoga is the easy part (sorta). The hard part is the time management. Being a husband, father and employee, it is difficult to schedule 90 (more like 120) minutes of your own time, every day without affecting those closest to you. I owe a huge thank you to Jamie for being so flexible and supportive during the challenge.

My biggest take away from the challenge was that it was okay to let things go, or rather I was forced to let things go, and for 90 minutes a day to solely focus on one thing – being in the room. For me that was a huge challenge. I often brought my thoughts into the room with me, and constantly battled with putting outside thoughts (work, life, etc.) aside and concentrating on practicing yoga.
Big thanks to the teachers and everyone associated with Bikram Yoga at the Sweatbox for their guidance and instruction during the challenge. While I won’t be practicing every day, I hope to at least make it twice a week.
While I am at it, here are some things I have learned along the way:

• Don’t do yoga on a full stomach. Even if it is Indian Food. You will feel like puking.
• Don’t do yoga when you have not eaten anything at all that day. You will see stars and get very dizzy. You will come close to keeling over.