So again I rolled out my yoga mat each day for 30 days as I welcomed 2021. As my last yoga journey blogpost was so popular, I thought it would be valuable for me to share my thoughts on completing my second 30 day yoga with Adriene challenge, and the comparison of yoga with Adriene's Breath Journey which I've just finished and the Home journey that I completed a year ago. 

As you can imagine the two journeys are pretty similar with the same yoga moves which now feel familiar to me. Through each challenge Adriene offers the same kindness in her voice. She shares alternatives to the different poses making the sessions more accessible. Adriene always encourages you to find what feels good, listen to your body and trust yourself.

The major difference between the two journeys, was the anchor of breath in the 2021 30-day challenge. Throughout the practises, this challenge really focused on the breath, as it's name would suggest. Different breath techniques were taught, and in general the practises felt slightly slower and more meditative. Some practises we're more focused on breath than movement. Last year when completing my first 30 Day yoga challenge I found I enjoyed the practises which felt more like a workout, with the idea of 'the more movement the better', but this time around I found the slower pace refreshing, focusing on the breathwork meant I left the mat feeling in a relaxed haze. 

Breath Journey Details

The shortest practise: 

The longest practise:

Day 30 - Begin is the longest at 50 minutes and 59 seconds - however being the final day of the challenge, this practice is slightly different from the other, as Adriene turns off her microphone and you complete your own practise alongside her, unguided, using the tools you learned in the previous days. 

Day 1 - Invite is also slightly longer at 48 minutes and 12 second.

Averagely the sessions are around 20-25 minutes.

The most movement: 

Day 6: Burn is the one to go to if you're in it for the work out. Day 11 - Flow offers pretty continuous movement throughout, as does Day 12 - Drop.

For stillness:

Day 8 - Snuggle... the practise takes places entirely sat or laying on the mat. Day 20 -Pause, also offers exactly what it says in the title.

Pros:

- You can do it from home

- Don't really even need to change your clothes. The practises are fairly gentle, so on the days I was feeling super lazy, rather than change into my yoga clothes, I'd hop straight onto my mat in whatever I was wearing - it just makes it slightly more convenient.

- Alternatives offered so Adriene's teaching is accessible for all different abilities and experience levels.  

- You can do it at a time that suit you.

- The videos are also educational teaching different breath techniques and mindfulness practises.

Cons: 

- No one to check your poses, or offer personal guidance reassurance.

- It does take commitment. Going into the challenge without fully committing is likely to leave you missing days and feeling guilty.

On showing up.

Personally for me I think carving out the time and showing up matters, more so than perfecting the poses (as I'm sure you can see from the imagery in this blog post, my poses could still use some work). 

You won't feel like doing yoga everyday for 30 days, but especially on those days you don't fancy it, afterwards you'll be glad you showed up, and see the value in taking that time for your body and mind.

In my previous yoga challenge review blog post I spoke about how to motivate yourself to show up, so I won't go into too much here, but I will say, I found  it much easier to show up everyday this time around, knowing that I had once before found myself capable of dedicating time each day to yoga practise. This year, I went in the yoga journey knowing without a doubt a wouldn't miss a day. That doesn't mean that some days I didn't put it off until the end of the day, and some days I still found my mind distracted when on the mat - which for me only underlined the importance of the mindful practise.

My results: 

This year I went into the journey feeling slightly more confident when it came to the yoga poses, having spent more time practising yoga overall. 

In general balance is something I struggle with, practically down the left side of my body - however this was an area I saw improvement as the days went on. I became better at using my core, and using that push and pull of energy to create stability where I once would have felt wobbly. 

Focusing on and following the breath during this challenge was something which, despite years of meditating, I, at first struggled with. But as the days when on, I found it easier to tune my body to the rhyme of my breathe and breathing through the nose began to feel more natural to me. I still think I could do some work on the breath techniques learnt, but it's set the foundation heading forward.

I complete yoga completely for my mind, but for those curious, I began to see a small amount of toning in my stomach come the end of the challenge. I also noticed I felt stronger, particularly in my arm (maybe from all of those planks)

There are still poses I wish I could do, but I am not there with yet (hello, crow pose) but overall I feel more confident when creating shapes in yoga, and feel much closers to the poses I once thought impossible for me. 

More so than last year, I found this journey really helped with my mental health. I talk about it more in this post - but daily yoga is something which has really calmed my mind, and enabled me to manage anxiety and panic attacks.

I'm sure you can tell from the imagery, my poses are far from perfect, but I am always striving for progress over perfection, for me it's about the journey. 

Shop this blogpost:

Yoga Mat: John Lewis - Leggings (old similar linked) - Tee: Hush  - Sports Bra: Shock Absorber - Grey Blanket (old similar linked) - TV: Samsung Frame TV - TV Stand - Sofa: M&S - Mirror: Made.com