Here we are. Welcome to 40 Days of Practice. 

These next 40 days together are a time to nourish, to connect, to shift habits, to go deep, to show up, to be accountable, to be open, to transform, to be YOU. 

In many traditions of self-study, 40 days is a period of time which holds significance. According to Yoga, 40 days is considered a sufficient amount of time to make or break habits. These next 40 Days of Practice are a sadhana (sanskrit for ‘quest’) for us to practice and to transform – individually and collectively. This time around, we are grounding the experience in the Vitamins (as laid out in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika) – courage, enthusiasm, discernment, faith, perseverance, and good company. 

We want to invite you to make this experience your own. Consider everything within your 40 Days pass as the container for you to create a daily commitment and practice that feels nourishing for you. And yes, that means that 40 Days of Practice doesn’t have to mean 40 days of classes in the studio. This is truly an invitation for you to try on what works best for you within a commitment of showing up to some sort of practice (asana, meditation, or pranayama) for 40 days.  The resources within this portal are all here to support you in cultivating this daily practice, including:

• The 40 Day Companion – a simple guide that includes 40 Days best practices, a lesson on the Vitamins, etc. 

• Class library – we’ve compiled a library of offerings from our global community of teachers into one resource for you to explore, including short tutorials, pranayama, classes of different lengths, and lectures. 

• Weekly content drops – themed around the Vitamins, we’ll be uploading new content here every Monday, including on-demand recorded classes from the previous week, a playlist, an inquiry/journal prompt, a recording of the weekend workshop, and maybe a surprise or two ;) 

Remember that your membership includes unlimited access to our daily classes and workshops, but you will need to register for them in order to guarantee you a mat (in the studio) or to receive a Zoom link (for all our virtual friends!). 

Lastly, this is a tender and powerful season of possibility for all of us. We invite you to use these 40 days to explore what you want your practice to look like, to notice how you feel, to be open to what emerges and what you may choose to let go of. Transformation can happen if you let it. Make this your own.

We’ll see you on the mat!

COURAGE is strength in the face of hardship or difficulty. Courage is rising to meet a challenge that may frighten or intimidate us. Courage will keep us in the work when we need it the most or we are on the verge of transformation that will be a big shift for us. We will have to do all the work, in all the deep corners of body, heart and mind, and courage will see us through.

If we can find a way to be excited about our practice we are more likely to come to it regularly. If we are ENTHUSIASTIC, buoyed by the results, we will want to spend more and more time with our Yoga. This is the perfect environment for getting our practice off the mat and it becomes our constant companion. Coming to our practice with a positive attitude, our teachers even say with zeal, is essential to success in yoga.

On Day 1 we came together in Satsang and we discussed how it meant Good Company, which is part of the beauty of 40 Days of Practice together; we are in good company, we are also that good company for others and we might even become good company for ourselves. Another way to work with the vitamin Satsang is to translate Sat as Truth. So we are in the company of Truth. And the truth is that wherever we find ourselves, Truth is also present because that is what we all are.

As we work with this teaching and turn inward towards this Truth, we encounter obstacles, congestion and resistance. For many this is the end of the journey, but for us with our Vitamins, we commit to Perseverance; to the actions required to overcome, heal, release and transcend all the reasons why we are not established in Truth. We also learn a little (or a lot;) on where we can reliably source the strength to persevere (Satsang anyone?!).

This is where Discrimination comes in; as we come up against all that is in the way, how do we know which way to go, what to hold close and what to release? Do we have the ability to see the way clearly or do we remain embroiled in our dramas, traumas and stories? So maybe we slow down, take one step mindfully at a time and ask all the questions, even when answers appear. Oh, and remember you can always lean on that Good Company.

INQUIRY: Halfway through our 40 Days and maybe we can reflect for a few minutes …
What have the been the benefits of keeping Good Company? And what Truth have you encountered?
What have you had to persevere through? And where did you source the strength required?
What is clear to you now, that maybe was not when we began?

Burn bright, don’t burn out. PERSEVERANCE is often generated by our enthusiasm; no matter what conditions arise, our commitment to practice must win out. Each of us has the capacity to tap into an unlimited stream of power to transform the obstacles that come our way. Without this commitment success in yoga is difficult because it will take time and effort and patience to reach the full promise of yoga. Optimism is key as everyone progresses differently and all have the ability to succeed in yoga.

INQUIRY: What sources you to keep going when you meet a perturbance? When burnout feels near, use this as fuel to alchemize and choose who you are and who you are becoming.