Yoga Winner(s)

Let's cut right to the chase -- it's time to announce the Om This! winner! If you're a new reader (welcome!), I challenged our little community to commit to some form of daily yoga for the last week. This could entail a full on 90 minute practice or a simple meditation/prayer time. I'll confess that a number of my om efforts involved the Wii Fit. Apparently, I don't have what it takes to score well in the Wii Fit's lotus challenge, in which you sit quietly and try not to flinch at distractions. Did I fail? Evidently . . . but I still reaped many benefits from my daily yoga, regardless of Wii Fit's rather callous judgement.

We've set a new record! Kitchen Courage has never seen a more successful challenge in terms of participation and enthusiasm; there were a total of 18 entries the Om This! page. Wow! Out of those 18, the random number generator chose a single participant to win the elite YogaDownload membership:

Congratulations to Junghwa, who said, "I love yoga as it helps me focus on breathing and letting go." Junghwa, please email your full name and contact information to me at escagnel04 (at) yahoo (dot) com, and I will forward it on to Emily at YogaDownload so she can hook you up.

Thank you to everyone who participated. I was gratified to learn that a number of you experienced positive things after doing yoga regularly. Here are a few of my favorite comments:

• Clara said, "I have gotten more laid back in real life and on my mat. Yoga also calms my mind and body... I feel better overall!"
  

• Bhakti Omwoods said, "Regularity enables structure. Without structure in my life, I find myself wasting time, not accomplishing much, and living in a more confused state as I'm not focused. With structure everything falls into its place more easily. I can monitor my physical, mental and spiritual progress each day as I have the previous day, week or year to compare with. I am more aware of what is worthwhile and stay focused on that. As a result I am peaceful and more of me can be engaged in practical spirituality, which for me is what it's all about."

• Katherine said, "Yesterday I did so much more mental, meditative yoga than ever. I really focused more on calming my mind than on my body and I think my muscles relaxed as a reaction. It was a great feeling. I am so glad you did this challenge."

Thank you to everyone who participated! I know it sounds cheesy, but I really think we all won this yoga challenge. You all kick as -- er, asana.

Question: will you continue to practice yoga regularly now that Om This! is over?