40 Days of Yoga: BE BOLD!
Oct 7- Nov 15
Spring is a time filled with growth, renewal, potential, possibilities and rebirth. During this 40 Days we will cultivate that energy and create intentions and explore what it takes to move through resistance of all sorts and towards our highest Self! Throughout this 40 Days of yoga we will combine daily yoga sadhana with personal growth to get clear on Self and goals and navigate the path that leads there!
We look to nature to inform us and help us understand our own potential to change and grow. Imagine the potential within each seed, and know that with the right circumstances and conditions, those seeds expand, sprout, and break through their shells into beautiful, productive, and nourishing plants of all sorts.
Yoga is an ancient spiritual system about discovering what is holding us back and helping us unlock our true potential by using tools to observe and overcome. Throughout this program, we will guide you along the authentic path of Yoga as it applies to personal growth and offer timeless inspirational philosophy combined with energizing and healing physical practices to leave you feeling your best.
Join us as we journey into self-reflection and personal growth. Discover what you really want and what is standing in your way. This program will help you feel connected to your higher purpose and empowered to align your thoughts and actions to achieve it.
Our teachers are long-time committed practitioners who have unlocked the secret to staying disciplined and are passionate about sharing that with others. The key is making a realistic commitment and having guidance and community support. Start with something you can manage and feel good about yourself for succeeding. Can you commit to at least 1 minute per day? Because that's all it takes to start shifting toward your higher self in 2024.
The One Yoga 40-Day Sadhana is a phenomenal opportunity to commit deeply to your practice and to catalyze growth; Entirely online, this is a profound time to connect with a larger community of like-minded people from all over the world and learn from some of the best minds in yoga, holistic wellness, and personal growth.
Schedule
Curated Daily Motivational Email Every Morning at 5am PST
Weekdays 7:15am PST 30-45 Minute Guided Practices
Saturdays 9am PST 60 Minute Guided Practices
Sundays 9am PST 75-90 Minute Practices with Ryan Leier
Coaching Workshop with Kristine Divall
Coaching Workshop with Cecily Elmas
Starting and Ending Online Community Events with Special Guests
Access to the 40 Days Companion Practice Manual
Access to the 40 Days Content Portal Online Resources
Although we offer a class each day, doing them is entirely optional. It's up to you to create a sustainable commitment that you can rock; that may mean doing the weekend practices and one minute daily on your own throughout the week.
Because most people are busy, all classes are recorded, so you can do them on your schedule at any time in the future if you choose.
Cost: $40
Dates: Oct 7- Nov 15, 2024
Opening Gathering on Oct 7 from 6-8pm PST
*These sessions will be recorded for those who are unable to join at that time.
Why 40 Days?
The 40 Day Sadhana (a daily practice or discipline) we share was inspired by one of my teachers, Baron Baptiste's book 40 Days to Personal Revolution. His book uses Yoga as the central observance of the Sadhana. Baron writes, "The word yoga, in fact, means 'to join one point to another,' 'to leave one place, space, condition and move toward a better one.'" Along with union, evolution, and a way to freedom and peace, Yoga is medicine. It provides physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. One of the goals of this Sadhana is to help you to build a daily yoga practice with a focus on self-care.
The yoga master T Krishnamacharya, who is known as the father of modern Yoga, was the guru of many of my teachers, including BKS Iyengar, Srivatsa Ramaswami, and Pattabhi Jois, who in turn went on to teach many more of my teachers, like Nicki Doane, Eddie Modestini, and Baron Baptiste. Krishnamacharya stated: "Yoga is a process of replacing old patterns with new and more appropriate patterns. If such a practice is followed, one acquires the power (Shakti) to change one's destiny. One person practices the science of Yoga, thus contributing to the welfare of all humanity. It is Yoga which enables our intellect to do or not to do. The yogi gains to choose only what is good. (To attain success in Yoga), deep desire, faith, courage, perseverance, Sattvic (pure) and limited food - are required…one should practice daily at an appropriate time with devotion, sincerity and respect…"
As each individual is their own unique expression of divinity and creation, their daily practice/commitment will vary. The 40 Days can be like the old Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series some of us older folks (like me!) used to read. You can choose to practice one pose daily and meditate for a minute or do as much as you like.
Many of you know that postures (asana) make up only a small part of Yoga (1 of 8 Limbs in the Sutra.) Hopefully, you will learn more about the complete practice of Yoga, which includes (among other things): being kind, truthful, generous, and meditating. To deepen your practice during the 40 Days you may choose to forego certain habits, this will help you recognize and strengthen your power to choose what you eat, drink, say, and do. And, if you wander off the 40 Day path, you can always begin again…
Why 40 Days?
"What 9 months has done for the embryo, 40 early mornings will do for your growing awareness."
~Rumi
The number 40 holds great significance in the realm of transformation and transcendence. Some yoga traditions maintain that it takes 40 days to remove negative patterns and blockages that prevent one from a more positive life experience. Many also hold that it takes 40 days to successfully tap into your creative energy. 40 days is a time of testing, purification and renewal. According to different spiritual traditions, practicing diligently for 40 days can make or break habits; you can cleanse your body/ mind, declutter your life, and find purpose, power and peace.
Sounds amazing, right!? Keep reading.
In 2020, researchers found that 40 days of mindfulness meditation led to structural brain changes and increased quality of life. In addition to the positive structural brain changes, the participants showed markedly decreased depressive and anxious tendencies. In biology, our skin cells take, on average, 40 days to renew, and red blood cells start dying from 40 days onwards. Delving into psychology, researchers have found that one's personality can be changed through handwriting exercises for 40 days.
Buddhist scripture states that Siddhartha Gautama sat under the Bodhi tree for 40 days. He vowed not to rise until he found the ultimate Truth. He met his dark adversaries, amongst them doubt, attachment, lust and fear in the form of the demon Mara. He faced, overcame and absorbed the obstacles, with determination and fearlessness, discovered the middle path and attained ultimate freedom (Nirvana) to become the Buddha (awakened One).
Christian scripture tells of Jesus spending 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness to experience purification and better understand himself and his mission. Towards the end of the 40 days, he met his adversary, the Devil. He overcame and absorbed the darkness and despair, found clarity and strength and became one with the Father / yoked with the universe to soon become the Christ. Many believe that Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai before he came down with the Ten Commandments. You also find 40 day vigils/fasting/prayer in Muslim, Zoroastrian, Sufi, Hindu and Jain traditions.
"If thou but settest foot on this path, thou shalt see it everywhere."
~Hermes Trismegistas