21 Days into the 100 Day Challenge

It takes 21 days to form a habit and 90 days to make a lifestyle change. If you are doing the 100 day challenge, you are on your way! I started a few days before September 1st but I wanted to write this 21 days in to help motivate those who are doing the challenge or those who are thinking about joining.

I was on the phone with my sister over the weekend and I was trying to encourage her to do it and get her students to join too. She argued that they may not have an hour in their day, so I told her to do 10 or 20 minutes. I committed to an hour, but that timing may not work for you. This is all about doing something for yourself.

I committed to an hour a day, to improve my French I practice Duolingo and I am doing physical activity every day with a combination of yoga and dance. There are some days I do both French and Yoga in one hour, but most days I am balancing a lot and I squeeze in yoga at one point of the day and my French over lunch or before bed.

So how am I doing 21 days in?

Yoga Practice

I have been doing a dance class almost daily for years before this challenge and the change of 20/30 minutes of yoga has made my body so sore. I feel it in my abs and legs in the morning. I am still waiting to see a difference in my body when I look in the mirror.

There are days when committing to just an hour seems so hard when I have a million other things that I have to get done. Last night, I discovered “evening yoga” on the Peloton app and it was just what I needed. I have also enjoyed the ritual of lighting a candle during my yoga at night to help me unwind.

If I am doing yoga in the morning, I will open the windows and let the sunshine through if there is any. I have been using the Peloton app to do yoga and there are a variety of classes and teachers. I have been doing 30 minutes mostly with the teacher Aditi. I am ready to try a longer 60 minute class this weekend.

I feel like yoga can be easily addicting. If I don’t do it, my body hurts. My hamstrings get tight and I have to do yoga poses to feel better. Also, it is an instant mood booster for me.

This is the Peloton App I have been using. It is free for the first 30 days and then $12.99 per month. The amount of classes they offer is really worth the value and if you aren’t into yoga, they have running, meditation, and stretching all on demand.

Practicing French

I have been using Duolingo to practice French on my phone. I have done 30 days in a row and I honestly feel like I learning a good amount. I ended up paying for the full year (to avoid the ads) which was under $100 for the year. It comes out to under $10 a month to learn French. It is totally worth it and I hope I can continue after the 100 day challenge. I am learning to fix easy grammar mistakes and become more confident in my knowledge of the French language.

The lessons are very short which makes it easy to squeeze one or two in at different parts of the day. They also have stories to read and a podcast if you are interested. My friend Tammy and I have a healthy competition going. We follow each other and I get emails and push notifications if she is beating me in lessons. I know this daily practice of French will help when I have the opportunity to visit Paris again next year.

So how are you doing? Feel free to comment below and share your progress or if you are just starting the challenge today what you are working on.