How to Tell if You've Been Doing a Great Deal of Yoga

(We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this post, brought to you by a 30 day yoga challenge)

You start referring to your "side body", "back body", and "front body" without batting an eye.

You've thought, at least once a day, "man, I could really use a hip-opening practice later today." (Alternately, heart-opening) 

You are very connected to your breath. Mindful breathing FTW. 

You think you are starting to understand what it means to "breathe into your fingertips"

You tell your brother to move with his breath while climbing a hard route at the gym. 

You think/talk about breathing All The Time. 

ARE YOU CONNECTED TO YOUR BREATH RIGHT NOW?!? 

You are sometimes accused of showing off when you stretch at the climbing gym. 

When your arms are shaking in low plank/torso is shaking in boat/legs are shaking in an extended balancing pose you say to yourself, "this is good. This is nice. I'm grateful to myself for taking the time for this practice." 

You truly are grateful to yourself for taking the time for your practice. 

You aren't sure how it's possible to be so sore and feel so limber at the same time. 

Your back-bends might be impressive but you need to create some space in your side body. 

You have, already a few days in, noticed an improvement in your climbing. Bonus! 

Unfortunately you've ALSO noticed that your posture is AWFUL. 

But you also are working on accepting where you are in your practice, which includes accepting your posture while committing to put effort into improving it. 

You roll your eyes at some of the over-the-top yoga-y affirmations, even though they are pretty nice to hear. 

You read pages and pages of Slightly Aggressive Affirmations to counteract the yoga-talk. You are hella affirmed. (You are glad that Alice tweeted about this SUPER AWESOME blog)

You don't bother rolling up your mat and putting it away because you're just going to use it tomorrow. 

Savasana is your best friend, your foam roller is your second best friend. 

You know that savasana is important and rushing through it isn't beneficial but oh man sometimes you want to even though it is, as aforementioned, your best friend, but your North American brain just doesn't LIKE lying on the floor and practicing stillness, until you are a couple minutes in and suddenly you realize that this really is a nice time so you take some deep, mindful breaths and do some praying because you ain't gonna watch your thoughts float around like little clouds, you have to draw the line somewhere. 

You expand your rib cage when you inhale, feeling the expansion in your back body, and it is awesome. 

You always bring it back to your breath, eventually.