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Salute the Sun!
Monday has dawned on Social Workout, and there is a strange loneliness in the air. We "mlogged" for 120 days, laughed at the silliness of it all, but now that it's gone, we kinda miss it. Ha! Well, today we bring you something new: A simple, blessedly finite challenge, designed to ease the pain of MMM withdrawal, and to help you fully savour high summer....
Get ready for Salute the Sun, co-hosted by our dear friend Bethany Murray, yoga teacher and new media pioneer. BEFORE you click through, please cue up The Beatles, mentally locate your yoga mat, and read the full, complex instructions below. And if you are not a yogi, and never wish to be one, think of this challenge as kind of an exotic Hindu pushup challenge.
For Salute the Sun, your mission is simply to do 1,000 sun salutations in the next 28 days. Social Workout veterans will remember this "feat" from our New Year's Edition challenge; BUT this time there's a major technical twist....
As close readers know, we have been feverishly working away on a new, very different version of Social Workout. We are determined that "SW 2.0" provide all the communal warmness of our current site, but with more powerful, user-friendly "social" tracking mechanisms. Last month, we quietly let 50 or so friends of SW come in and take a look around, and they've given us wonderful feedback. There was scorn, mockery, and tears; but there were also some encouraging comments. We've been listening closely, and overhauling things, and we're now poised to release a new, much improved Social Workout 2.0 to a bigger crowd. SO, for all those just now coming down from the Million Minute Month, we invite you to join us for our second round of Beta testing!
What to do? If you were a part of our first Beta test. Simply click through to the Social Workout 2.0 test site, and join the Salute the Sun challenge. If you were not a part of our first test, please visit our Beta test homepage, submit your email, and we'll send you an invite to the Salute the Sun ASAP so you can join the fun.
To recap: We've got a new challenge afoot, and you're invited. We're hosting this baby on our new site which will require a bit of login/signup hijinks. Not to worry, we'll be blogging daily as usual on good old Social Workout 1.0, and everyone is invited (even encouraged) to keep tracking their workouts there. Soon enough, though, when Social Workout 2.0 is ready, we'll tie the blog and the tracking stuff more tightly together, and we'll all live happily ever after. For now, though, we get to play with both!
OK, stretch your hands and face to the sun, take a deep breath, and welcome the universe to your day.
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Comments
How I love thee, and what timing for me! I'm so in!
Submitted by whatodds on 08.16.10 at 08:48.
Yay! I anticipate some confusion around the sign up. Don't panic. If you get lost navigating to SW 2.0, simply post a comment here, and we'll sort you out. Anyone who signs up, look for an invite to the test by 2 P.M. today, EST.
Submitted by Oliver on 08.16.10 at 08:58.
i hereby say no to the first SW challenge since this site started. i'm kinda sad...
Submitted by msh258 on 08.16.10 at 09:02.
@msh i was thinking exactly the same.
Submitted by Fraidy on 08.16.10 at 09:10.
wow - this one's a real challange. 1000 in 28 is a lot. I'm going to have to really buckle down for this one.
Submitted by Butwhatifido on 08.16.10 at 09:14.
I'm in! Wow-the timing of this challenge could not be better!
Submitted by Kaitlyn on 08.16.10 at 09:19.
I'm out :(
Submitted by michlny on 08.16.10 at 09:34.
35 sun salutes per day? Yeah, I think I will sit this one out....
Submitted by FatBottomSlim on 08.16.10 at 10:00.
Ha! OK non-yogis, here's the beauty of SW2.0: We can run more than one challenge at a time. SO, this is going to be like elementary school: Some people take French, and some Spanish. Some of us will dive deep into the sun, and for others it's brainstorm time: What challenge are you looking for to finish your summer in style? Do you want to pump iron, run sprints, juice kale, wake up early, or spend more time naked? Please submit your suggestions, and we will review and create your custom challenge.
Submitted by Oliver on 08.16.10 at 10:47.
@Oliver - I'd like to ween myself off artificial sweeteners!! SO HARD!
Even though I use stevia - it's the diet drinks and such...they all use ASPARTAME! (save for the drinks I buy at Whole Foods or my local health food store)
Submitted by michlny on 08.16.10 at 12:40.
thank you, merci, tak, obrigada.....
I was starting to jones for a new challenge, and you sent me perfection. Have I ever told you how much I love yoga. Almost more than chocolate!!!!! Now I have a built-in reason to do yoga every day. I think I will start right now :)
Submitted by jan1965 on 08.16.10 at 10:56.
Hate to say it, but I think I'm out too. I am a pretty hard core yogi, but the last time I did 35 sun salutes in one day was on my 35th birthday, and it nearly killed me. Doing 35 a day for 28 straight days is pure madness in my opinion, if not impossible.
Submitted by joesgirl on 08.16.10 at 12:19.
@oliver: something like the feralicious components -- body weight exercises like push-ups, squats, etc. OR a eating-in / cooking challenge
Submitted by msh258 on 08.16.10 at 12:31.
Haven't been around in a while, and haven't done yoga in a while either. This looks like an interesting place to jump back in!
Submitted by bookworm on 08.16.10 at 12:36.
hey everybody, I'm still half broken. I can barely do a downward dog, and yet - I'M GOING TO DO THIS CHALLENGE.
so what are you so worried about?
Submitted by sandyliz on 08.16.10 at 01:09.
@sandyliz: i'm not worried...i just have NO INTEREST whatsoever in doing this...i'm just not a yogi like that.
Submitted by msh258 on 08.16.10 at 01:24.
@oliver - I loved the holiday challenge and although I wasn't around for last year's summer madness or esb challenges they looked cool. I liked the picking and choosing of feats and a mix of fitness + eating properly + well being feats in addition to one workout challenge.
Submitted by whatodds on 08.16.10 at 01:44.
I'm with Whatodds - our best challange yet was last summer because there was such a range of activities and you could customize it a little so those of us without easy access to a pool - for example - could now swim and still do the challange. That said - I'm in for this - it will be hard but I need the kick in the butt.
Submitted by Butwhatifido on 08.16.10 at 01:56.
The challenges I liked best were Feats of Summer and Feralicious. I like yoga, but sun salutations as the sole challenge does not interest me. I need options. Besides I don't even know how to do a sun salutation, and the guide posted a couple months back when it was a feat just confused me.
Submitted by Fraidy on 08.16.10 at 02:06.
Did I miss out on the beta? I never got my invite. :(
Submitted by sassmolass on 08.16.10 at 04:19.
I'm a brand newbie to yoga but I love a fitness related challenge so I'm in...just hope I'm not out very soon!
Submitted by Matt Joseph on 08.16.10 at 05:19.
Ok, at the risk of sounding like a complete, total, clueless idiot, I'm just going to put this out there....I dont know what a sun salutation is....I've only ever done Bikram seriously....So...if someone in the NYC area wants to teach me, or find me a link to a picture of said salutation, I'd consider it..... sorry kids
Submitted by thefatbridesmaid on 08.16.10 at 06:01.
bridesmade, remember what they said in school: there's no such thing as a dumb question. yours gave me an opportunity to post this cool video from lululemons recent "Salutation Nation" event. Should be self explanatory, but you can also look here for a how to... .
Submitted by Oliver on 08.16.10 at 07:04.
Ahhhh the impossibility makes this fun!
Submitted by bottle rocket on 08.16.10 at 08:56.
I'm out. :( I don't mind doing five sun salutes a day, but I'm not interested in doing 35. I wasn't around for the summer challenge last year, but if it was anything close to the feralicious challenge, then I'd like for the next challenge to be like that. I loved the pull-ups and push-ups and squats and sprints, and experimenting with different foods and cooking....
Submitted by volcane09 on 08.17.10 at 12:58.
Thanks Oliver! (Also, I signed up for beta test but never got an email....)
Submitted by thefatbridesmaid on 08.17.10 at 06:50.
My favorite was the new years challenge - I agree with what others have said about the flexibility and options in the challenge, and the balance between exercise requirements and food requirements for the challenge. I think I'm going to hold off on the sun salutation thing. :-/
Submitted by yeahredgymnast on 08.17.10 at 09:51.