It all started out with my feeling that I really wanted to get back to my daily vinyasa yoga and meditation practice, but being overwhelmed by it. I would set my intention to get up in the morning, but then failed every time. It's a common dilemma, not something new to me, and certainly something I knew everyone had experienced at some point in their lives.

So, I started to think about what <i>would</i> help me to be successful, and remembered the fitness challenges my friends had joined in the past. And that's where the Sadhana Challenge came in.

Sadhana simply translated is "intentional practice." In Tantrik parlance, it's something you do with a goal in mind, typically meditation or japa (repetition of divine names and/or mantras), or specific rituals. The main thing is that there's intention and regularity behind it.

The Challenge is simple - for the month of March, get up every morning earlier than you normally would, to perform your sadhana, your practice. For me, it's getting up at 6 a.m., starting with meditation and japa practice, followed by vinyasa yoga. Keep a log of your progress, and don't beat yourself up if you're only able to do two minutes one morning - consistency is the real key to success in this Sadhana Challenge.

The other part of the intention is to offer the fruits of this sadhana for the benefit of world peace. To that end, we're using the Upanisadic prayer:

<i>Loka samasta sukhino bhavantu</i>
May the Divine bless the entire world with eternal peace and happiness

I sent an email to our local SHARANYA community, asking if anyone might be interested - and I was blown away by the responses! All together, there are nine of us attempting the Challenge. I'll be blogging about the progress of the group. You're welcome to join us in your own way, too. Let us know if you're inspired to join us - we will link you in with our prayers so you can be included in that web of support.

This morning I learned why we're calling it a "Challenge"...