Moon Cycle 28-Day Challenge: Week 2 in review with Mary Carr
Mary Carr, CEO of the Underbelly, reflects on her first week of practice participating in the Moon Cycle 28-Day Challenge.
The Moon Cycle Challenge is a flexible 4-week self driven challenge. Work through 28 days of curated yoga classes in the app in conjunction with our workbook full of journal prompts and reflections, available as a hardcopy and digital download in the shop here. Start and stop anytime.
The Duality of Balance within Chaos: Finding the Moment
Ah, yoga. The ancient art of sitting in all your shit to access inner peace. This week, the challenge continued imperfectly. I sat, painfully still until I couldn’t anymore, needing to shake and scratch and burp and cry and yell at my kids a little. I was still met with an intoxicating connection to myself. Here are some things I am learning:
Life is Change
First up, let’s tackle the big one: Life is change. Just like my attempts to balance in Tree Pose, life is constantly shifting. Sometimes you're steady, sometimes you're swaying like a drunk flamingo. And that’s okay! Yoga has this sneaky way of reminding you that change is the only constant. One minute you’re a zen master, the next you’re a pile of limbs on the floor. Embrace it.
Building My Toolkit
Life is no joke and I need all the help I can get. Turns out the sex, alcohol and escapism of my 20s no longer cuts it at 42. So, I’m gearing up with a new arsenal of accessories. This week, I focused on movement and gratitude. Movement requires I slow my brain down, quiet her completely even if just for a second and get into my body. I find that connecting my breath to my body is truly mindblowing - is that just always happening?!? Wild. As for gratitude, sinking into and noting the beauty of “what is” helps me understand the truth of the now - not the thousands of future scenarios I’m running in my brain.
Release Expectations
Expectation is the enemy of presence. You think the moment should be one thing, and it stubbornly refuses. My yoga challenge? It should’ve been a serene journey to enlightenment. Instead, it was a chaotic dance of falling, fumbling, and laughing at myself. Let go of what the moment "should" be and accept it for what it is—a beautiful mess. Apply at will to all of life.
Deep Release
Being present requires a deep release of the external. Goodbye external validation. It's just me showing up for yoga most some days. Forget the perfect practice, the perfect pose, the perfect anything. Sink into your body, feel the stretch, the burn, the... sensation - as Jessamyn annoyingly calls it, just be with it. Showing up with an idea you have to fit into only distracts from the beauty offered. Let that shit go.
Growth Without Shame
Here’s a revelation: It’s okay to want to grow, change, and learn from the past AND you don’t need to shame or judge yourself to do it. Former you knew what she knew and she taught you what you know now! No need to berate her or you for what you didn’t know before - that just takes you away from applying the lesson now.
Self-Comfort
And finally, the big cozy finish. I have the resources I need; I can comfort myself. Yoga is a reminder that I am my own sanctuary. When the world gets too loud, I can find quiet on my mat. When I break up with someone I love, I can touch and hold myself. Being the one that shows up for me time and time again means a lot more than I ever thought possible.
Thank you for being on this journey with me. I am amazed at what I’m hearing when I just give myself some space to slow down and be with me.
With love and gratitude,
Mary Carr
