Announcing: The 2013 Yoga Challenge - May!

#yogaeverydamnday is going so well (70,000 pictures posted on Instagram and counting) so keep practicing daily! That's what this challenge has always been about: to get on the mat, every day. The twist for this month is about finding stillness in your day and starting up a daily meditation practice. Hashtag for the month is #meditateeverydamnday - start today! We will begin with 5 minutes daily, and i will add 5 minutes to it every week with some different meditation techniques so you can figure out what works best for you. If you want to stick with 5 minutes that's fine, but if you want to add to it we will reach a full 20 minute daily meditation for the last week of the challenge. This may be the most important twist of The 2013 Yoga Challenge so far - learning how to quiet your mind is the most valuable gift you could ever give yourself.

Every day you post a comment on the challenge page describing your meditation and how you feel, and also post a picture here on Instagram! It could be a photo of yourself, of your meditation spot, of something that inspires you... Whatever you want that somehow connects you to silence, presence and meditation. Just remember to hashtag #meditateeverydamnday ! Every month we have different prizes to keep you motivated so stay tuned.

We will begin with a very simple meditation. Today, find a quiet place to sit and set a timer for 5 minutes of silence. Place a pillow beneath your sit bones, place your hands on your knees and keep the spine long. Now, follow your breath. That's it. Stay present. I will give variations and more detailed descriptions, but I want you to begin with this most simple but profound exercise. Find silence. See what happens. Don't judge, don't label... Just sit. I want to emphasize that I created the every damn day tag to make it stick, because its catchy and to focus that it's all about practicing every single day without exceptions! It's not about "damn" being a bad word - it simply puts some weight behind the hashtag and makes it catchy. And honestly, yoga is all about being true to who you are... I could pretend to be this holier than thou type of person that sits in silence all day long and never curses and never drinks or does anything that doesn't go with the "stereotype" of being a yogi. I am who I am. I curse (a lot), I like beer, I sometimes lose my cool and sometime cry for no reason. I'm human. I also practice yoga daily, meditate, stay away from animal products and do my best to center my life around love. Being a yogi is being the true you. Embrace this. #meditateeverydamnday