#21Questions Yoga Challenge – Week 1

Thank you for participating in our first week! Here is a recap of week 1 poses and questions.

  1. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the body or the mind of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

This is really tough for me, because I’m so physical, and let’s face it…VAIN. But I choose mind. If you can’t experience and enjoy your life, feel emotions, converse with friends, why live? The mind is a powerful thing. It can control your body but not the other way around. Having a conscious mind “trapped” in a frail body can be a matter of choices you make when you are younger. Sure, some things are out of your direct control, potentially genetic disease and illness, etc, but there are so many things you CAN control, prevent, maintain, and strengthen. Choose to be happier, stronger, and healthier, live simply and be grateful. And wait…who says having a 90 year-old body means you’re limited in what you can do? Let’s make 90 the new 30 hahaha!

_C1A8008

Todays Pose is Wheel/Urdhva Dhanurasana

“You’re only as young as your spine is flexible.” – Joseph Pilates

  1.                  You know you will die of an incurable disease within three months. Would you allow yourself to be frozen within the week if you knew it would give you a modest chance of being revived in 1,000 years and living a greatly extended life? 

I don’t need to live a long life if it’s not spent with people I love doing what I love to do. I could die tomorrow, let alone 3 months.

This is something I’ve struggled with for much of my life, trying to control everything, planning for the future financially and with my career, so much that I never really enjoyed what I have NOW. That’s why it took me so long to let go of my corporate lifestyle, the people, the money, the parties, the booze. It took a huge toll on my mental wellbeing and health and I was too stubborn to realize it. I never got to enjoy our condo, the first home that hubby and I bought together and lived in for 3 years after we got married. Every day we would wake up, go to work, come home, sometimes eat together, sleep. Our cars were parked for 12+ hours every day at the GO Transit station while we commuted downtown. We were working to pay for these things that we hardly ever used.

Now, if I freeze myself for 1000 years, what will my husband and family/friends think and feel? I will be leaving them much sooner. I chose the corporate life over starting my own fitness business when I first graduated 9 years ago because I thought it would give me more control over my life. I thought it would give me a modest chance of making a lot of money so I could get married, have kids and live in a nice house. It was like a race to the finish line for me. I let external factors shape my life and went against what my heart desired.

    Today’s pose is King pigeon/ Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Open up your heart and let the universe guide you to where you’re meant to go. Release mental and physical tension and allow yourself to embrace this hip opening stretch

“Last night I lost the world, and gained the universe.” C. JoyBell C.

  1. I don’t need to live a long life if it’s not spent with people I love doing what I love to do. I could die tomorrow, let alone 3 months.

This is something I’ve struggled with for much of my life, trying to control everything, planning for the future financially and with my career, so much that I never really enjoyed what I have NOW. That’s why it took me so long to let go of my corporate lifestyle, the people, the money, the parties, the booze. It took a huge toll on my mental wellbeing and health and I was too stubborn to realize it. I never got to enjoy our condo, the first home that hubby and I bought together and lived in for 3 years after we got married. Every day we would wake up, go to work, come home, sometimes eat together, sleep. Our cars were parked for 12+ hours every day at the GO Transit station while we commuted downtown. We were working to pay for these things that we hardly ever used.

Now, if I freeze myself for 1000 years, what will my husband and family/friends think and feel? I will be leaving them much sooner. I chose the corporate life over starting my own fitness business when I first graduated 9 years ago because I thought it would give me more control over my life. I thought it would give me a modest chance of making a lot of money so I could get married, have kids and live in a nice house. It was like a race to the finish line for me. I let external factors shape my life and went against what my heart desired.

    Today’s pose is King pigeon/ Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

_C1A8437

Open up your heart and let the universe guide you to where you’re meant to go. Release mental and physical tension and allow yourself to embrace this hip opening stretch

“Last night I lost the world, and gained the universe.” C. JoyBell C.

  1.                  If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one ability or quality, what would it be?

I want to have complete mastery of my craft. There is so much more I must learn about yoga, its philosophy, anatomy, and holistic nutrition. The problem with me before was that I would rush things. I would do the bare minimum to get by and I just stopped learning. That’s because what I did for a living didn’t interest me. I would’ve never been successful in that world because never tried to be better. My life was stagnant. My mind was robotic and even my physical fitness had plateaued for years.

Now that I’m free from that madness, I am able to learn something new every day, and work towards becoming better at what I do so I can be a better teacher to others, and for my own practice. I am learning more about how to take care of my body, understand its limitations, and become stronger mentally and physically.

IT would be great if I woke up tomorrow as a yoga guru, the Yoda of anatomy, but I am ok with waking up every morning being one step closer.

Today’s pose is Bow/Dhanurasana

_C1A8482

This pose is very dear to me because I was so far away from ever flipping my grip while grabbing my toes. This took me 2 years. Baby steps.

  1.                  If you knew you could devote yourself to any single occupation– music, writing, acting, business, politics, medicine, etc. — and be among the best and most successful in the world at it, what would you choose? If you knew you had only a 10 percent chance of being so successful, would you still put in the effort?

If this question wasn’t worded specifically to 10% chance of success, I would immediately say yes. I quit my corporate job last year to get back into personal training and to become a yoga teacher. I didn’t expect to be 100% successful and make the equivalent if not more than what I made at my previous job. I also didn’t expect to fail. I had no expectations. I just got up every morning and went at it. In the beginning I was super lost. I didn’t know where to start, what I was trying to promote or accomplish. I had no system in place – I still kinda don’t 😛

But I got up every morning and kept pushing through. I practiced, I blogged, I did free seminars, taught more classes, I met new people, and everything just came in a big WHOOSH! From 2 clients to 25+, from 3-4 hours of training to 40+ some weeks. I’m dead tired by the way – which is why I need to keep learning and growing to take myself to the next level.

So if you told me I only had a 10% chance of achieving this back then…I may have said no. But 10% is still a chance, and now that I feel more in control of my thoughts and feelings instead of letting external factors shape me, I would totally take that chance. Because if I did fail with a 90% chance, I will know that it is something I need to learn from and do better next time.

Today’s pose is supported headstand/salamba sirsasana

_C1A8347

I found this pose with the forearms much harder than the tripod headstand because I couldn’t find balance and utilize the strength I had properly. Every time I tried it I would fall. I knew I couldn’t hold it. But I kept trying and today, it is very therapeautic for me. I hold it for 5-10 minutes in my restorative practice and I feel incredible.

“The key to success is to start before you’re ready.” – Marie Foleo

  1.                  If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?

 

I’ve made that change a year ago, when hubby and I quit our corporate jobs, sold our condo, and moved in with my mother in law for a few months. We took a leap of faith when our house closed and decided to move in instead of renting it out, as originally planned. We are truly blessed to be able to tell this story and we continue to work hard and grow. Not everyday is a ray of sunshine but those are the days that keep me pushing and continue to be successful. If every day were easy – as nice as that may sound – I would be back to where I was before, stagnant, comfortable, a dead spirit.

 

However, I am still not exactly where I want to be. If I were to die next year, I would sell everything I own right now, take all that money and travel until I die. But I do want to build something big, i want to leave something behind. So I will continue to do what I love, through the good and bad, until I can become a ghost, leave behind a legacy. Is JESSIE LAM a real person? 😛

Today’s pose is  Ray of Light pose – Marichyasana III – This twist can symbolize a “change in direction.” It’s funky, unorthodox, maybe awkward and uncomfortable, but when you are able to settle into the pose, you feel open and free. I love the way this bind opens up my shoulders and chest

_C1A8053

“Do it now. Sometimes ‘LATER’ becomes ‘NEVER.’”

 

  1.                  Is there something you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

 

Of all the questions you’re about to see over this challenge, this was probably the hardest one for me. It made me realize that I was never much of a dreamer. Rather, I was stuck, dying, and anxious to get to the finish line. I set a limit for myself and was dying to finish school, dying to find a job, dying to settle down and get married, dying to buy a home and have kids. I told myself that once I got these things, I would stop, and be comfortable and live like this for the rest of my life. My spirit was lazy and dead.

 

My ideal life would’ve been to own a gym, and live there LOL I guess that was my dream. I wasn’t looking for fancy stuff, all I needed was a kitchen,a bed, a shower, and a sick ass gym. I think I’m living it now, after 7 years of dreaming it. I also dreamed of becoming a certified yoga teacher and meeting my mentor @tiffanucruikshank, which I have in the past year. One of the best times of my life.

But I’m not done growing. This new life has taught me to aim for more, not necessarily in wealth, but in my personal growth and potential. Thanks to this question, I’m starting to dream again. I dream of sharing my yoga and fitness experience with the world. One day I will write a book, sell dvd’s, and draw an international crowd to my workshops.

Today’s pose is Plough Pose – Halasana –

_C1A8280

This gives you a different perspective, literally, as your body is lying down in such a way, and allows you to dream of something new. Look up in the sky and see your feet walk amongst the clouds. Keep dreaming and persevering to keep the soul alive.

 

“if you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney

 

  1.                  What do you most strive for in your life: accomplishment, security, love, power, excitement, knowledge, or something else?Which would you prefer: a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure — intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks; or a happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood?

 

Now that I am living that life, I would choose the first option:  a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure — intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks

The grass is always greener… my previous life with a full time gig was content, secure, I had lots of friends and every week, month, year was the same. Eat, party, drink, vacation, party, drink, hangovers, etc. don’t get me wrong, it was tonnes of fun and I wouldn’t change it at all. I still love going out and dancing and vacationing, but to a different extent. my life was predictable like everyone else’s, except I always looked to stand out. I was loud, party animal, with the jokes, the splits, and random yoga everywhere hahaha – the yoga is just ingrained in me!

I didn’t want to give that up. I failed my CFA level 3 twice, I did have a good job and money was good, got married, bought a home. I felt pretty good. but not ACCOMPLISHED. my knowledge stopped increasing. there was no real EXCITEMENT

I love this life now. setbacks are not setbacks unless you dwell on it and let it consume your soul. I let the CFA do that to me. My soul was sucked dry. Again, I don’t regret, or else I would wonder about that life. The grass is only green where you water it.

 

Todays pose is Half Frog Pose.

_C1A8016

It represents accomplishment, power, adventure, passion. experience an open heart, and relinquish all fear and doubt from your hips and thighs. It only gets better from here

 

Stay tuned for week 2 recap!


 

Below are the details of the challenge in case you missed the post.

For 3 weeks in December, I will be hosting a challenge with my girl @anioyoga called #21Questions! (Like the 50 cent song haha :P) From December 1 – 21, we will be drawing selected questions from Gregory Stock’s book “The Book of Questions”, sharing a brief reflection on it, along with a yoga pose with a beginner and advanced option where applicable. Yoga is not just an activity, it is a way of life. We want to show you how yoga can be applied to different situations, both through the body and mindset. We’ve gotten a lot of questions about how we started our journey in yoga, career change, mindset, healing physically and emotionally (from overcoming IBS, injuries, and death of loved ones). This daily exercise can help you get started and maybe point you to a direction. It may not be the right one, but you will never know what might be right for you unless you know what’s wrong. It will be a way to find out more about yourself, to really dig deeper and start to discover what your heart truly desires and what is important to you. They say it takes 21 days to build and stick to a habit. These 3 weeks are a perfect way to stay mindful, grateful, and organized during the busiest time of the year. Enjoy and cherish the time with loved ones over the holidays, but don’t lose track of your goals and personal wellbeing. It’s also a great segway into 2016. we are confident that with these daily reflections, you will get closer to discovering your potential and purpose. You will learn a lot about yourself. You can be as candid as you like and there is no right or wrong, no judgment – but of course, post with discretion, within reason and with respect (no racist, violent, or sexual posts) So please follow us @lamjessfit and @anioyoga, repost this photo, hashtag #21Questions, and tag us in your daily posts. Share with your friends!!!! If they become too personal, you can just post a partial journal, or just a photo and let it speak for itself. Looking forward to an inspirational 3 weeks!

A photo posted by Jessie Lam, CPT, E-RYT200, RHN (@lamjessfit) on

Please like & share:

Leave a comment


Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)