Flex and Focus

To all my blog readers who have supported me on this new journey,

First of all, thank you! This is such an exhilarating venture for me, and your encouragement gives me the confidence to continue! But secondly, I’m now giving you an opportunity to write to me for a change!

As you know, I’m engaging in monthly challenges. You can read about why I started this process and what my January challenge was in past blog posts. February’s challenge (which I will write about in the next week) was about appreciating the rhythms of my day, which I captured in a handmade gratitude journal. Keep your eyes out for an explanation and photos soon! The challenge was inspired, in large part, by my dance teacher and her focus on the shapes our bodies make as we dance. (Trust me, it’ll all make sense when you read about February’s challenge!)

Funny enough, March’s challenge has also been inspired by my dance class. Last week, as I watched a fellow student perform the dance our class is diligently practicing for the spring recital, something about his movements struck me. I was awed at the way he not only performed each step but did so with the strength and focus often reserved for martial arts or yoga. Here I was utterly absorbed in my quest to know the exact steps in the choreography, obsessing about where I was headed next, all the while limply fumbling through the dance; yet he was poised and present in each moment, bringing such power and precision to his movements that I suddenly saw my method as flawed and frantic.

This realization stuck with me even after I departed the studio, and I realized the lesson would be the perfect framework for my next challenge – approach life with strength and focus. And what better month to do so than the one that comes “in like a lion, out like a lamb”! This month, I want the challenge to encompass many parts of myself, as is the aim of my blog in general. And because it is the third month of the year, I shall focus on threes. For my body and mind, I will commit to three sun salutations everyday with an emphasis on including strong poses, like Warrior. Some days this may transition into an entire yoga session. Other days I may hurry to squeeze my yoga poses in just before bed. The time of day and the length of the session matter not. The challenge is to make space for three sun salutations daily and to do each flow of poses with strength and poise.

So here’s where all of you come in! Help me structure other pieces of this challenge that equally encompass a focus and diligence of the mind and body. Help me dance through March while focusing on my present moment, always knowing where I’m headed but never switching my gaze from the current movement. Please comment below with your suggestions of other ways to carry out this month’s challenge of approaching life with a calm, centered, and powerful awareness. I’m open to all ideas, especially those that challenge mind, body, and spirit AND that require daily commitment (and possibly multiples of three), so please speak up, and don’t be afraid to get creative! Thanks for your thoughts!