Never in my life have I done something (other than eating or breathing) every single day. I don’t journal every day, I don’t go to the gym every day, I don’t read every day. Then, on January 1, 2020, I began Yoga With Adriene’s30-Day Yoga Challenge and managed to go thirty full days without missing a single yoga session. What?!? Who knew I was capable of this? I sure didn’t.
When I signed up for the challenge, I gave myself full permission to skip days whenever I needed to. But once it began, something interesting happened: I looked forward to Adriene’s daily pep-talks that landed in my inbox and introduced each yoga video. Her words were kind and encouraging. Every note ended with a quote from some poem. I would read them and get excited – not only about the yoga practice video (which was generally between 20-30 minutes long), but also about the theme or word she was inviting us to explore throughout our practice. I began to view it as my morning meditation – except instead of sitting still, I got to move the whole time. As I breathed and followed along with the poses, I would consider how the daily theme applied to my writing or my life.
Along the way, I began to feel stronger and braver – not just on the mat, but off of it. This became most apparent on MLK Day when my husband and I went hiking with some friends. The trail required multiple stream-crossings. An activity which typically fills me with anxiety. I fear my foot will slip while crossing the narrow log and plunge into the water below. If there isn’t a log, then I fear hopping from rock to rock. What if the rock I choose isn’t as stable as it looks? What if I slip? What if I get soaking wet and am cold and miserable for the rest of the day?
My mind plays out every terrible scenario and then I get paralyzed by dread. More than once, I have been reduced to tears on the side of a mountain when the path gets narrow and technical and I know the only way forward is to trust myself. I never know how to trust myself in these situations.
But on this last hike up Mount Wilson, I had set my alarm thirty minutes early to fit in that day’s yoga practice. The focus was “Balance” and Adriene had posed a question: “What if balance was actually our natural state?” I pondered that thought while attempting several challenging balance poses that she led us through, like Half Moon and Crow pose. On the mat, I felt comfortable and confident. What was so different about balancing on a rock or a log?
In the middle of my first stream crossing, I asked myself that very question and it shifted everything. Instead of doubting myself, I started to believe that I was capable. I applied everything I had been learning in yoga – the breath, the focus, the idea of play – and suddenly found myself crossing the stream with little effort. And even a smile on my face! I felt like Daniel in the Karate Kid when he finally realized that polishing all those cars, “waxing on and off” had given him the tools he needed to fight successfully. There I was – a yogi out in the wilderness.
This confidence has bled into my novel writing, as well. Once it became obvious that I was capable of doing 20-ish minutes of yoga every day, I began to wonder what it would look like to commit to 20 minutes of writing every day. How much could I accomplish if I chose to focus and play on the page? Even if it was only for such a short period of time? I had been learning through yoga to take myself less seriously. That there was value in trying and failing and in simply showing up.
I experimented with setting a timer for twenty minutes and telling myself, You only need to write until the timer goes off. That’s it. And it doesn’t need to be good, either. Just pick up where you left off the day before and write whatever comes out.
And something always does come out. On average, I am finding I can write about one page in 20 minutes. Anywhere from 250-350 words in that short, twenty-minute spurt. Is it all brilliant? Not at all. But it’s helping me learn about my characters and further the plot inch by inch. Page by page. This twenty-minute writing exercise is making me more prolific than ever. And what a gift it has been to be able to write without feeling so self-conscious about it.
If you’ve never tried setting a timer and writing for 20 minutes, I highly suggest it. It won’t be easy at first, and there will be days when twenty minutes feels like an absolute eternity. But try reminding yourself that you don’t have to show anyone what you write. You can use this time however you like. You can write from a prompt, describe the way a flower looks in your backyard, or use it to continue writing a longer project. I encourage you to experiment with it – just for a week. Maybe two. You just might be delighted by what you are capable of. And I am finding delight to be one of the richest and most beautiful feelings.
