Sometimes we don’t know how much we love something until we throw ourselves into it. I recently finished 30 consecutive days of hour-long yoga classes in 100-degree heat. Most classes started at 6:30 a.m., and while you probably think I’m crazy, this is one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I didn’t do it to detox or lose weight. I did it to clear my mind, gain perspective and relieve anxiety. I had taken hot yoga classes before, but I knew that challenging myself to practice for 30 days straight would be a huge commitment. Once I started, I realized how much it was changing my life.
I’m not here to show off my new six-pack (spoiler alert: I didn’t get one) or brag that I lost 15 pounds (nope). Instead, putting my all into yoga made me look at my life in a completely different way. I learned that what my body can do is more important than how it looks. While improving my balance and perfecting my downward dog felt great, knowing that I could get up at 5:30 a.m. every day felt pretty great too. For a girl who’s married to her snooze button, that was big.
Here are the biggest lessons I learned from my month of hot yoga.
1. The first step is the hardest – and most important.
I was usually still 90 percent asleep on the subway, but I dragged my butt out of bed and made it to class. On the off chance that I slept through my alarm (it only happened twice), I went to a night class. There was one exception: when a historic blizzard hit New York, I practiced at home in my Batman onesie, but it still counts! Poses that felt impossible the first day flow easily now, and I discovered that I might actually be a morning person.
2. What your body can do is just as important as how your body looks.
It’s safe to say that most of us are self-conscious about our bodies. It’s only human, guys. Hot yoga gets…well, hot. It took me a few classes to get comfortable with sweating it out in a sports bra and pants, but the more time went on, the less the image in the mirror mattered.
3. Practice doesn’t make perfect – and that’s fine.
There’s something amazing about yoga: Every time I entered that room, I had a different experience. Some days I went in angry or stressed out, but forcing myself to breathe and move turned everything around. There’s no perfect yoga routine, that’s why they call it practice. Getting back into yoga made me realize that maybe life is merely practice too.
4. Sometimes our recurring thoughts are merely empty words.
For a long time, I resorted to the same thoughts when I took shavasana (for non-yogis, that’s the time at the end of class where you lay on your mat and chill, i.e. required naptime). I thought I was doing it wrong. I wanted to picture a beach — or nothing at all — but I kept thinking about people or things that were bothering me. It took me a while to realize that was OK: it’s about whether you let those annoyances affect you or not.
5. Focus is just a breath away.
It used to drive me crazy when yoga teachers would tell me to focus on my breath. How can you focus on something you’re literally always doing? I started counting breaths like sleepless children count sheep. It worked. Once I connected to my breath, I was able to be present not only in the yoga studio, but in everyday life. Now when I feel overwhelmed or anxious, I focus on my breathing and it clears my mind.
6. Being hard on yourself isn’t worth it.
Some days I’d lay in child’s pose for 10 minutes because I didn’t have the energy to do downward dog, and I’d beat myself up about it. Why couldn’t I do what seemed to come so easily to my classmates? Eventually I realized that getting my butt to the studio was all that mattered. I reminded myself that it wasn’t even 8 a.m., and I had already broken a sweat. I was doing something good for myself even if I couldn’t be hardcore every time I unrolled my mat.
7. Little things are a big deal.
The little moments made these 30 days great. The warm daily welcome from the people at the studio’s front desk. The friendly doorman who waved and smiled as I headed to the studio. The daily selfie I sent my parents as proof that I’d gotten up every morning. Ultimately, it was how this experience cleared my mind and made me look at my life with new eyes.
My 30 days are over, but my practice isn’t. This wasn’t a binge or a phase I’m going through. It’s my way of integrating this practice into my life. I hit the mat every day not for the physical benefits, but in pursuit of clarity. I’m sure obstacles will come up sometimes, but I would be stupid to let go of something that’s given me so much happiness.