The last few months, I’ve been in what you might call a workout funk. I have a weekday alarm that I’ve shut off every morning for months that’s set early enough for me to get to the gym, eat breakfast, take a shower and be off to work by 8. As for my excuse for not going to the gym in the evenings, I’m usually pretty drained after a day at the office and talk myself out of going to the gym after work even when I don’t have other commitments AND I have my workout clothes packed. Shameful. My general lack of motivation to workout has extended into a general lack of motivation to do much of anything – a sure sign that I need to shake things up and try a different path.

That’s why I’m both nervous and excited about my plan to do 30 days in a row of Bikram yoga. Bikram’s beginning yoga class runs 90 minutes and is done in a room heated to 105°F with a humidity of 40%. I will be doing this EVERY day for the next month. I’ve done the class twice before, and both times I had to stop and rest mid-way through and felt like I was going to throw up. It’s a very challenging workout, but something that’s good for your mind, body and soul.

A happy side effect of doing this is that I’ll get to spend more time with my friend Kira. It was actually her idea. She did bikram yoga regularly a few years ago and said she looked and felt great. Both sound excellent to me. Our challenge is as follows: Both of us have to do 30 days in a row of Bikram yoga (we started yesterday). If one of us quits, they have to pay for the other one’s month of classes. If both of us quit, we have to eat a can of dog food.

So there you have it. Where mind power fails to motivate, the threat of eating the most disgusting thing you can imagine will surely succeed. Here’s to the next 30 days.