By one o’clock this afternoon, I will have completed 48 yoga classes in 48 days. I think it’s safe to say that rolling up my yoga mat and driving over to the studio has become a habit. I also know that it’s a very fragile one. When the Challenge is over (in less than two weeks!), will I maintain the same resolve to haul myself into the “torture chamber” day after day? I want to, but will I do it without getting paid in stick-on stars?
As the end of the Challenge approaches, I find myself almost wishing it would go on longer. I feel propped up by it — as though maybe I won’t be able keep up a practice without external incentives. I guess I’m saying I like my training wheels, and I don’t want to take them off just yet. I’m afraid I might be faking it — that I can’t ride a bike on my own.
On the other hand, I’m also looking forward to Day 60 — the day I can look at my star-studded calendar and say, “I did it!”
At the same time, I keep reminding myself to look forward to Day 61. That’s the day I hope to stride into the slow cooker not to earn a star or to keep a commitment, but simply because it’s what I do.
60 Days With Bikram 
I feel the exact same way, Megan. We’ll have to make our own incentives after the stars are gone!
I’m confident we can do it. It’s amazing, though, what great carrots those little stars are. I guess I never really got past second grade!
Megan, join me on Day 61 then. I’ll be in the studio….I too, wonder if I’ve been faking it this entire time? It’ll be so much easier to not go in after Day 61. Especially this week, how I would have skipped if it weren’t for the rules that have bound me within this Challenge. I have no more days left that I can miss. That visual calendar with the stars, the fact that it’s hanging there for everyone to see, is what motivates me to show up. Else, I’ve always kept a calendar here at work (on a post it note) and I can only do so much to keep myself accountable especially when the going gets tough like it has been this past week.
Megan – I feel you with the stars. I was carrying this feeling of dread with me immediately after committing to the challenge – until I walked into the changing room, and saw the blank calendars and the star stickers. Then I was thrilled! Before I started reading everyone’s blogs, those stars were my only lifeline.
I walked into another unnamed Bikram studio and saw their challenge calendars – boring little white boxes, with no dates and they kept track of everything with lame red avery dots. Not at all enticing. Val and her team know the way to motivate us!
Oh, and a nice stat Val shared @ today’s 4:30. Last year, only ~20/? people completed the challenge. This year, nearly 45/60 people are on track. AMAZING.