Can the journey continue for 30 more days?

It’s hard to know what to do when you’ve finished what you started.

On Sunday, my 30 nonstop days of Bikram yoga were up. I completed my challenge. I did it and was done. Voila.

Now what?

I’ve always been a planner, someone who sets her sights on the big trip in two months or the family vacation in August or a friend’s birthday in autumn. I like to look at a calendar and see the boxes are full of happy hours, dinners, day trips, and weekends away. I try to live in the moment, yes, but I can’t help myself from constantly looking ahead, planning ahead, wanting to be ahead already.

And now—now that the feat I wanted and worked toward for 30 days is over, I find myself wondering, what next? Where do I go from here, in both my practice and in my life? For the last 30 days, I had a goal, a single focus and ambition, and although maintaining that tunnel vision was difficult and exhausting, I realize I kind of liked having a defined purpose. Yoga, for all its flexibility and openness, structured my life tightly. And, strangely enough, I liked that. A lot.

I also liked that in those 30 days, my muscles grew longer, leaner. I can see clearly defined lines in my thighs, my calves, even on my forearms. My back stands stronger, tighter. Even my fingers and wrists feel worked through. My body was more wholly my own in the last 30 days than ever before, and I fell in love with the lines of myself in a new and powerful way.

I liked that the food I craved and put into my body consisted mainly of fruits, vegetables, chicken, toast, honey, peanut butter, naan, coconut water, juice, and milk. I liked that one glass of wine left me light-headed—gone are the days of needing three vodka tonics for that woozy effect. I liked that I made such a concentrated effort to fuel and energize my body in good and healthy ways. We so often don’t do that.

I liked that my studio felt as familiar and comforting as my apartment. I liked the company I found, the men and women who encouraged me, with just their smiles, as I kept coming back, day after day.

It was a challenge, yes, but I enjoyed it.

So now, I’m beginning to think I should keep going and do 60 days.

Why not, right? 

I mean, I’m already half-way there.  What’s another 30 days?  Granted, I took Monday off, which means I’ll have to double up at some point, but I think I can do that. Also, I’m not traveling at all this month, and although I have parties and the Shamrock Festival and birthdays and work events throughout the month of March, I know I can squeeze yoga in, around and between all of those commitments.

Actually, I want to.

And so, I think it’s safe to say the journey will continue. For as long as I have strength in my legs to climb.