It has become apparent at our studio, with the beginning of the New Year and our First Annual 40 Day Yoga and Meditation Challenge, that our students are committed to change. Almost halfway through the challenge, spirits are high and students return day after day to attend class.

The challenge is to create new, healthy habits by practicing yoga and meditation consistently for 40 days straight; but why 40 days?

“First we create habits and then habits create us.” – Yogi Bhajan

Thousands of years ago, yogis became aware that it is possible to adjust one’s life through changing one’s habits. Habits are repetitive behaviors which form specific patterns in our reality. Our lives are based on our habits, good or bad; our habits define us to ourselves and those around us. When we change our habits, everything around us can change.

Yoga and meditation help us facilitate change because they can help us to penetrate the psyche. In Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training, it is customary for the students to practice a 40 day Sadhana or daily spiritual practice and to keep a journal during this time. Major transformation can begin to happen when a person is digging deep to find the discipline to complete their practice, to keep going when they may want to quit, and when their willpower becomes stronger than their mind. Documenting those physical and mental changes can be a rewarding experience!

According to yogic technology, it takes 40 days to break negative habits and allow for more positive habits to take their place. Practicing anything 40 days in a row without missing a day will retrain the mental process and the nervous system to incorporate the new habit into your being.

Are you ready to create new habits that serve and uplift you with your own 40 day challenge?