I admit it. I HATE Frog Hops. If any of you have been in one of Stacey’s classes in the last two months then you have experienced the phenomenon of the Frog Hop. It is like she is obsessed with them and now other teachers (thanks Darcy) have caught on to this new trend and are incorporating them in their classes too! So I decided to confront my dislike of this particular yoga pose knowing that I would soon be starting the 40 Days to Personal Revolution and needed to explore the “nuances” of my yoga practice. So why did I hate them so much? Was it the fact that they are challenging and require a lot of shoulder stability, which is one of my weak areas? Is it the fear of going upside down? Is it the loss of control as my feet leave the ground and I picture myself somersaulting over onto my back? Or maybe it is an innate phobia of amphibians?? Probably not the last one. So what would Baron Baptiste do? He would do more of them of course- practice outside of my comfort zone and challenge my edge. So that is what I did. I started doing sets of five Frog Hops a couple times a day- before I took a shower, while I was waiting for the pasta water to boil, during commercials while binge-watching Netflix….etc. And guess what- I got better. I felt more confident and stronger. I might have even begun to like them (a little).

So, as I was flowing through the yoga practice during Stacey’s Power 60 class I knew the Frog Hops were coming. And here were the cues: hands flat as pancakes shoulder width apart; big toes and heels glued together; inhale and bend knees; exhale and jump! And she starts counting: 10 (OK I am doing them), 9 (hmmm… not as bad as last class), 8 (hey- I am getting a little air time), 7 (ohh…that was a good one), 6….. And then Stacey was next to me cueing me to go up. Not having a moment to second guess the decision, I was in a handstand! At first, she was supporting me and then she told me to tuck my pelvis and extend my legs back and she LET GO. I let out an audible “Oh my gosh!!” and was able to maintain the handstand for a couple of moments on my own before bringing my feet back to earth. I was thinking while resting in child’s pose, “What just happened?”

Suffice to say, I had one of those moments that yoga teachers are always talking about. I was in the moment 100%, not forcing the pose, but allowing it to unfold organically with the help of the right cues from a teacher. This is why we keep coming back to our mats. This is why we meditate and bring our thoughts back to our breath. This is why we committed to 40 Days of Personal Revolution. And this is why I am grateful to my body and my mind for enabling me to practice yoga.

And I guess that extra work at home doing sets of Frog Hops might have had something to do with my successful moment. So next time a teacher cues Frog Hops, I won’t inwardly groan..…maybe :)

Have a great week!

~Christine McGee
SHPY 40 Days Participant - Winter 2016

I left after a LONG day at work, looking at more work to do once I was home. How was I going to fit in a yoga practice? Maybe Monday should be my rest day? Maybe I could just skip? I mean I'm sick after all. No one would fault me.

I checked my email after dinner and saw "Start where you are– right now, this minute– and move from there." So I did. I didn't have the energy for any thing that resembled a power yoga practice so I did a 20 minute restorative one. Still took me about 15 minutes from rolling out my mat, to actually getting on it, but I completed Day 2. Now meditation before bed.

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Full disclosure... I fell asleep before I meditated last night.

I almost dropped out of the 40 days because of all that has gone on in my life the past two weeks. I decided to stick it out, even if I can't complete it to "perfection." In staying with it, I'm leaving my comfort zone. In some ways I'm very type A: Do everything exactly how it's expected. Check things off the list. Work harder to get better results. Go Big or Go Home. In spite of the chaos happening in my life, I decided to stay in 40 days. To see where this leads me. To be gentler and more forgiving with myself when I don't do everything "perfectly." To just try to do the best that I can everyday. Some days that's going to be less, or more, than I think can do. And some days it's going to look different what I expect I "should" be doing.

~Michelle McSwigan
SHPY 40 Days Participant - Winter 2016

40 Days Blog: Frog Hops

40 Days Blog: Start where you are– right now, this minute– and move from there.