Re-aligning My Health Goals: Day 21

Hello to my 21st day! Been lazy to get up early. When I looked out the window Mr. Sun was out brightly. I took a 10 minute brisk-walk then. My son was out earlier than me with his bike. I just followed him.

I took these photos at around 6:10. If I remembered right, since I joined the challenge  this was the second time the sunrise greeted me so brightly with no clouds covering it. The light felt so good on my skin and succeeded in lifting my spirits up.

After I took my bath and the kids were out for school, I did some yoga routines. One of the realizations I have after joining this challenge is the motivation to get serious with my yoga practice. At first I did not aspire to become a yogi. After I got seriously sick, it was then I had given more focus on my spiritual and mental health.

On my way to healing I did meditation and Tai chi. Of course, prayer is a big part of it. Then I found yoga. Since I was once a gymnast in grade school, it was easier for me to do it. Only that I have to deal with flexibility issues due to my age.

My yoga practice is done only at home. I do it with the help of the internet because there are no yoga classes in our area. Moreover, I do not have available longer time if ever I opt to enroll in a class if there is any.

I do my routines 10 to 20 minutes a day, for at least three times a week depending on my availability. In short, I am doing it in my own pace for more than a year now. So, you see with such a loose schedule you could not expect much improvement from me. And I was just fine doing the beginners poses until now.

Then came Caroline’s challenge. As we progress together through it, I related to her what I was doing for the health part of the challenge. I told her about my yoga journey. She asked me if I have a video of myself while doing my routines. Such never occurred in my mind, though it is a common thing nowadays. That question opened me to greater possibilities of what I can do. I realized, I was living in my comfort zone way too long. I asked myself: what if I would bring my practice to the next level? Then and there I posed another challenge for myself – I aimed to learn one advanced yoga pose. And this is what I am doing right now.

Thus, I am so much thankful to Caroline for coming up with a challenge like this. It helped me much in re-aligning my health goals. More than that, it helped me to look at myself as a healthy individual. I once considered myself as a sickly earthling. The ghosts of my past (sickness, fears, old age) no longer stare at me like lions waiting to devour my flesh every chance it gets. I just feel happy and free and renewed.

Have a purposeful day!

~Nezel

(You may visit Caroline’s sunrise photo and health challenge here.)

(WP Daily Prompt: ghost)