Forty Days or Double Your Karma Back - by Mehtab, Yoga Yoga's Founder

There is a magic time period in yoga that will change your life forever. 40 Days.

If you practice yoga consistently every day for 40 days, you will create the opportunity to implement any change you want in your habits, your relationships, and even the way you see yourself.

Yogis have known this for thousands of years, psychologists have proven it in the last century, and even Jesus had this one down.

Any behavioral change, according to psychologists, requires approximately six weeks (40 days) to shift. This includes breaking a bad habit (like addictions) or starting a good habit (like yoga). This six-week period allows the body and mind to go through all of its biorhythms and cycles to initiate the possibility for a permanent change.

Many religious and spiritual traditions also follow this 40-day cycle, most famously exemplified by the fasting and prayers of Jesus in the Judean wilderness (Matthew 4:1-4).

Throughout the centuries when yogis began a meditation practice, they would practice it for 40 continuous days in order to receive its full benefits. A yoga posture or sequence was only fully understood after experiencing it for 40 days.

Note that it is for 40 consecutive days - miss a day and the cycle has to start over again. In our Kundalini Yoga teacher training program, one of the requirements is each participant practices one meditation or yoga set for 40 days. Students often say that their 40-day practice gives them a consistent foundation to handle all the changes that occur in their lives.

The 40-day period also roughly corresponds 1 1/2 lunar cycles that include a New Moon to Full Moon to New Moon to Full Moon (or a Full Moon to New Moon to Full Moon to New Moon) synodic phase cycle.

You can apply this yogic technology in your own life in several ways by committing to a new habit or practice for 40 consecutive days. Even if you cannot make it to a yoga class every day for 40 days, you can practice yoga for a few minutes at home each day on the times in between.

Challenge yourself to do yoga for 40 days. You will be absolutely amazed at the change you can create. If it is good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me.

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