Rochelle and her coworkers at a lunchtime yoga class.

When my friend Mary asked me if I was interested in signing up for a 40-day yoga challenge, I hesitated for only one minute before saying “absolutely”. I had already put it out there to the world, posted for all to see on the goal wall at work, that I would commit to doing yoga two times a week. And since I hadn’t yet met my goal, or even started it, I figured Mary’s invitation was simply the universe conspiring to help me achieve my goal. I knew I needed to do this.

tip 1: do it with friends

Inviting others keeps you accountable, so I invited my team, People Potential, to take on the challenge too. What better way to achieve my goal than with awesome people striving for the same thing? Some of us are doing the full 40-day challenge, some are committed to doing yoga every day for a month, and some are simply sweating once a day. The challenges may be in different forms, but the objective is the same: to step out of our comfort zones and do something different.

tip 2: track your progress in public

We have a chart on the wall where we’re tracking our progress -- a happy face sticker for every time we practice yoga or sweat. How inspiring to see my coworkers grab their yoga mats from under their desks to head off to a noon yoga class, or to receive the morning emails from our remote team members letting me know they hit their goals the day before and to request a new sticker next to their name.

tip 3: the best gift to yourself

For me, I’m now back in love with yoga. Making the time for myself to connect my body, my mind, and my heart has been the best gift I could give myself. Here’s to more happy faces, more sweating, and many more downward dogs!

Have you ever participated in a yoga challenge? What did you learn?

Sheena's co-friend Jayme with their dance teacher, Geneen

Some people call them coworkers, but we like to think of them as cofriends. Yep, they are the peeps that share a laugh at our desk, keep us sane when the going gets tough and hit up the daily Starbucks run with us. It's with this spirit of camaraderie in mind, that Jayme and I decided to take our friendship out of the office and into the dance studio.

We embarked on a journey to Drive Dance Centre for an Intro to Street Jazz class. While we have yet to be trained in the art of wiggling jazz hands, our fabulous instructor Geneen is slowly but surely whipping our plies into shape.

Jayme warming up the jazz hands and Geneen ready to bust a move in her Gather and Crows

We warm up boot-camp style and then get our groove on, singing along to the Black Eyed Peas. The best part about the whole experience is having someone there to share a laugh with. Don't get me wrong, we take our dance moves seriously. It's just that leaping across the floor solo isn't so intimidating when there's a friendly face and encouraging word waiting for you on the other side.

So week after week, Jayme and I do what we do best...dance, sing, floss and travel.