March Movement: Kicking off the First Month with a Run

Since I first thought of this project nearly six months ago, I had planned for my first month's focus to be yoga. I love yoga and it seemed fitting to do 29 days of yoga during my birthday month. But now that the month is here, my body is telling me something different. Today, my body said "Run!" And so instead of doing yoga, I pulled out my running shoes and did laps in my new neighborhood. It wasn't easy and the distance I can go is slightly depressing, but I did it. Tomorrow I may run again (finally, we have some nice spring-like weather in Western North Carolina!) or I may lift weights for 20 minutes or do an hour of yoga. Regardless of what my body is craving that day, I intend to get a minimum of 20 minutes of movement every day for the next 29 days. 

This change-in-plan reminds me of a couple things: 

1) I don't want this year to be too pre-planned. I have a list of different things I would like to do, but I intend to roll with the punches and see where this thing takes me. 
2) Stop. Breathe. Pay attention. This practice is not about things I "should" do or what my brain thinks I need. It's about listening to my heart and my gut, and practicing from an authentic place, not a forced one. 

I would consider myself an active person, however, in the past couple of months I have gone into hibernation mode. Snow and cold weather have kept me indoors. The management at my old building decided it was a good idea to put air fresheners (the kind full of phyto-estrogens) in the gym and I didn't want to make a fuss about it right before I moved out. I do a lot of walking and go to yoga one or two times a week, but I have been craving more heart-pumping exercise. 

So, during the month of March I plan to practice MOVEMENT. My parameters: 

• At least 20 minutes of movement each day, not counting walking. 
• If the movement is yoga, I need to do at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour. 
• Walking counts as my daily movement if I am hiking (most of the hiking I do is up a mountain and therefore gets my heart-rate up). 
• Push myself to be creative and explore. There are several yoga studios I have never been to and I would like to check out other exercises classes like zumba and pilates.