What would happen if…?

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What would happen if…?

By writer, yogi and entrepreneur Regina Tingle

When I came to the 40-Day Personal Revolution I had ideas.  Ideas about myself, of where I was physically, mentally as well as where I was headed; both inside and outside the challenge, on and off the mat.  I believed that I was more or less a healthy eater, that I took my yoga practice more seriously than I took myself and that there was really no reason why I couldn’t succeed in a forty-day personal revolution.  

Often times, however, it’s the challenges that surround the challenge, not just the challenge itself, that become the crux.  It’s always the stuff we don’t know about, the things we have no way of anticipating which throw the stick in our spokes. 

The start of the challenge came at the perfect time for me as I’d had just gone through months of trauma.  I was feeling its heavy effects on my body and spirit, not to mention my mind.  Needless to say, I was ready for a shift and more than a shift, I was looking for relief.  I was gung-ho to bring about a sense of distance and newness from those trying months.  But two days into the 40-Day challenge my bout with trauma hit me with one more blow.  This time it was physical and the doctors said I needed to stay off my mat for two weeks.  

Here presented itself an irony I had not foreseen: to stay with the challenge despite the challenges.  I had a choice.  I could quit and give it another go when life was more willing or I could accept what was being asked of me in the moment.  I resisted, of course, but the resistance led to pain and more frustration.  Knowing full well there’s never a perfect time for anything, I surrendered to acceptance, let go of my expectations surrounding this challenge and just did what I could off the mat.  I meditated, journaled, came to weekly meetings and changed my eating habits. When my two-week rest period was up, I got back on my mat and did my best to pick up where I left off. 

When we earnestly ask ourselves questions like, “What would happen if…” it tends to land us in the middle of these types of wild commitments which require our total abandon.   I believe it’s a directive from a deeper inner knowing wiser than we are, a supernatural force that propels us into big growth if we allow for it.  That is, if we abandon ourselves to it.  My need to cultivate my self awareness was something that spoke from my soul.  I signed up for this because while I knew I needed something I did not really know what that was.  I only knew I needed to find out.  

Let me be clear: in no way were my forty days perfectly executed.  I didn’t do everything by the book and I fell short in places I wish I hadn’t.  But this too — accepting my own shortcomings — has been part of the challenge.  And going to group meetings helped me see that I was not the only one who had to endure herself.  In short, I got what I came for plus a whole lot more.  

If you’re reading this with perked ears, thinking that this is something you’d like to try come January, I wholeheartedly suggest jumping in.  If you’re worried it’ll be hard, you’re right.  But let me ask you this: what isn’t that’s worthwhile?  If you’re wondering what would happen if… all I can tell you is you’ll never know if you don’t try it.  Just like with life in general, you are guaranteed to get as much out of this as you put into this.  And for what it’s worth, here is a little bit about what I’ve found out so far on my journey, a few things you might expect for yourself; body, spirit and mind:

BODY

It’s a shift that happens gradually; every day your body will show up for you in a new way it hadn’t before.  Most days it feels slow and arduous.  But that’s because Baron Baptiste is a genius.  He does a good job of easing you into the journey so you don’t burn out with overwhelm.  We don’t start off on a long hike thinking we’ll complete the whole journey the first day.  We train beforehand, make sure we’re ready then once we set out, we work our way up, increasing our distance mile by mile each day.  One day you’ll find yourself on a ridge with a clear view of the path you’ve taken to get here and the distance you have yet to travel.  You will have clarity: all the changes will suddenly be real and radical.  

SPIRIT

Through this challenge, I’ve more deeply been able to explore the direct correlation between body and spirit.  While my hip bone is connected to my thigh bone and my mind is connected to my spirit, I never realized how separate they actually are.  Yes, they are one but they are not the same.  One day Spirit says SAD and I get on the mat and Body says STRONG.  Spirit suddenly lifts.  Another day Body says ENOUGH and Spirit says YOU CAN.  Through this 40-Day process, an amazing opening happens; a softening, a centering.  You will develop easier access to your inner, deeper self, learn how to connect to the quiet calm in loud moments.  You’ll better learn how to heed the body’s warnings, understanding when it’s time to stop, sit down, close your eyes, breathe, meditate and in short, tend to your spirit. 

MIND

I woke up on the third day of my cleanse and felt like I had the world’s worst hangover.  I almost didn’t come to class.  But I went anyway, giving Elina my disclaimer beforehand.  I do not know how to explain what happened on my mat that day in any other way except to say it was magic.  It was by far the hardest and also the best practice I’d ever had.  Mind said NO WAY and Body said, WATCH THIS.  Witnessing the strength of body and spirit has the capacity to quell the mind and, in the nicest of ways, keep our ego in check. 

Mostly what the forty days has given me is an astounding knowledge about myself.  About the body’s strength, about the mind’s messiness and willingness to be gently trained, about the spirit’s depth, power, reliability.  I now reside in myself in a more open and settled, accepting way.  

While I didn’t have the opportunity to get on my mat for those two weeks, there’s nothing in the here and now that impedes me from extending the challenge.  And that’s part of what the forty-days is all about.  It’s prep work: preparing you for the new challenge of adopting and integrating all the above into regular life, not just a 40-day framework.  So it’s two more weeks to go for me, every day with a rest day once a week.  I don’t think I’ll stop there.  Yoga has become as much of my day as eating and breathing.  A necessity.  

Indeed, it’s true: what a difference a day makes.  Add thirty-nine more, ramp them up with meditation and vitamin-packed foods, add the rock-strong sturdy support of Ari and Elina’s studio, the community of glorious, like-minded people along the journey with you and what you get in return is beyond measure.  It’s a lifelong gift.  

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“The goal here is to make peace with all the tendrils and conflicts of your life, both inside and out, weaving the strands together into your own spiritual coat of many colours.  In the end, if you dedicate your energies to detaching from struggle, giving up fear, taking right action, and practicing true patience within yourself, you will find that all the pieces of your life begin to radiate with the luminosity of whole and true health.”  — Baron Baptiste, 40 Days to Personal Revolution

reginaRegina Tingle is the co-founder of both Wide Open Writing (wideopenwriting.com) and Hayden’s List (haydenslist.com).    When she’s not on her mat, she’s usually writing, scouting out her next retreat location or finding ways to color outside the lines.  You might find her wandering around by the river, in one of London’s many markets or drifting through a museum.  For more of her musings visit her website, reginatingle.com   

The 40 days to Personal Revolution is back in January. Sign up and make a positive shift in your life!

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