by Zelinda On Friday, February 24th, we celebrated the end of The Yoga Room's first 40 Day Challenge! Thirty-five people signed up and undertook the challenge of attending 30 classes in 40 Days. Eighteen people met the goal and two were awarded an honorary completion due to a close finish despite a serious car accident. Those are some pretty impressive stats!

Seven participants blogged about their journey, graciously sharing thoughts, insights, challenges, and triumphs, they experienced along the way.

During the 40 Days Wrap Party, participants spent a few minutes journaling about what they'd observed and learned about themselves during the 40 Days. When the writing was done and everyone took turns sharing their thoughts, a consistent theme emerged: everyone agreed that a strong sense of community has developed at The Yoga Room, not only amongst the Challenge participants, but amongst all the yogis.

The word "yoga" translates as "to join." In yoga, we commonly think about joining the mind and the body, but the joining of people into a community is equally, if not more, powerful. During the 40 Day Challenge the participants' consistent yoga practices helped them begin the process of joining their bodies with their minds and becoming truly present. They started to become their own authentic, open, fearless selves, and they began to connect with others on a new level. As a yoga teacher, this transformation of an entire group of people in such a relatively short period of time was beautiful and amazing to watch.

I'd like to congratulate everyone who participated in the 40 Day Challenge. Whether you met the goal or not, the Challenge was an opportunity for reflection and growth. Some achieved 30 classes and many more. Some achieved 30 classes with disbelief, saying they'd never stuck with anything before. Some realized through the Challenge that their biggest challenge is prioritizing time for themselves.

Regardless of the number of classes you completed, I hope you'll continue your practice (or your intention to practice!) and continue realizing the benefits of yoga. Consistent yoga practice will change your life! I feel deeply blessed to have been a part of your journey.