#75 Hard with Ease
By Barbara Schuette on February 6, 2022
I have embraced the everyday wisdom of 2 amazing humans! One has taught me mental toughness and physical discipline, and the other has taught me how to do hard things with ease.
So I did a thing. And so have several of our yogis. We joined Andy Frisella’s 75 Hard Challenge. Some joined it and have already competed it. Others of us joined at the beginning of the new year and are getting so close. Is this a weight loss program? No! It’s a mental toughness program built on the basis that if you build strength in your mind first…your body will follow. As a matter of fact, our yogis and myself do not need to lose weight. We are already physically in pretty decent shape. Then why do we need this program?
Well, I can’t speak for the others, but for me personally it was a matter of detoxing my body from the inside out. Along with that comes the mental discipline of getting yourself to follow the program without wavering, knowing that 1 book page less read or one tiny sip of wine that day means you will have to start all over.
I won’t explain the program here in detail. If you want a rundown of it you can simply Google 75 Hard by Andy Frisella. The point I’m hoping to make is this battle that we have with ourselves, some of us our entire lives, can be won. Yes, most every day of our lives can be a “W” instead of an “L”. Andy simply gives us the tools and information to do it, and the program is free! The only fee is telling others about the challenge and how it’s changed your life. That’s what I’m here to do.
Whether it’s an addiction to alcohol or food or a lack of discipline to simply read a book or two every month, this program, with your hard work and attention to detail and honesty, can CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER! How do I know? Because the program has done this for me, rivaling only the birth of my children and finding the yoga + meditation practice.
So where does the ‘ease’ part enter since this program clearly states ‘hard’ in its title? Seems like an oxymoron! The program is tough. How I’ve approached it is with softness + ease thanks to another amazing human—Tara Stiles.
Tara has taught me the importance of slowing down and softening in most things I do. And guess what? My productivity has exploded!
My yoga + meditation practice that provides flexibility, physical strength, and mental clarity have been battling for years with my more deviant side of not treating my body so well. Not getting enough sleep due to too much stress and drinking alcohol were my main deterrents for leading a life that otherwise would have been extremely healthy. I felt sick, sluggish and out of balance most of the time. It has been one step forward and two steps back in regards to my mental toughness + treating my body right (softness) for years. I was constantly on the cycle of being good to my body part of the day and the other part of the day letting lack of discipline take me down. Poor sleep and indigestion would ensue, and then I would start all over each day with running, yoga + meditation to undo the bad I had done the night before.
Anyone else ever been in this vicious cycle? It’s brutal and unhealthy to say the least. Tara speaks of taking care of you and doing the right things in her new podcast, "Feel Better" and her latest, bestselling book, "Clean Mind, Clean Body." When I'm taking my daily outdoor walk, I can listen and learn from her while completing one of the tasks of 75 Hard!
I’ve been able to complete 38 days of the ‘hard’ program..(halfway through!)—while practicing, reading and listening to Tara’s softness principles and I’ve never felt more grounded, calm, focused, intentional and handling my life with ‘ease’—all the things the yoga + meditation practice want for us.
Ultimately what the yoga + meditation practice wants for us is our freedom. Freedom from the things in our lives that hinder us from being the best we can be and reaching our fullest potential. Andy and Tara have given me the tools to implement what yoga has always wanted for me. Softness + ease are a way of life for me now, and it has had a ripple effect on everyone in my life. Thank you Andy Frisella and Tara Stiles for sharing what worked for you with every human in the world!