You may have come across a 40 day practice on your Kundalini yoga journey. If not, it is something you will hear about.
In Kundalini yoga it is common practice to do a 40 day set. This means that we choose a kriya or meditation or both and commit to practicing this same set for 40 consecutive days.
Why Do We Do This?
A 40 day set allows us to go deeper within. It may be something that we want to work on within ourself or an area of our life we want to focus on. Either way our 40 day practice is supporting us on whatever journey we are on.
Choosing to do a 40 day practice is a commitment to yourself. It’s your personal practice.
Setting an Intention is one way you can prep at the beginning of this practice.
Some Intention questions:
- What is my main focus for this 40 day set?
- What is my why for practicing for the next 40 days?
- What will keep me going to complete these 40 days?
Why 40 Days?
40 days is a period of time for transformation. This transformation has to do with our blood. As our heart beats and our body produces new blood cells in every beat of the heart, the new cells have the ability to record your attitude.
40 days is a period of time in which you’ve produced enough blood during your 40 day set that you’re starting to make change.
You can also practice for 90, 120 and 1000 days.
How To Choose A Kriya or Meditation?
Choosing a kriya or meditation for your 40 day practice is personal. You are going to be working intimately with a specific area of your life, wether it’s something as simple as energy boosting or something deeper like strengthening your nervous system.
If you’re unsure of what to choose, Ask yourself these questions to inspire you:
- Is there something in my life that I’m working on or want to work on right now?
- How can this kriya/meditation support this area of my life?
- How much time can I commit to practicing daily for the next 40 days?
- Does this kriya/meditation fit into that timeline?
Tip: Prepare your practice before you start. Write down what warm ups you will do, how long each exercise is for, plan your practice so you know what it is you’re doing and what comes next. I find this can help eliminate distractions.
Check out my other blog post: 5 tips to start & maintain a daily practice for ideas on getting started with a daily practice.
Journal Your 40 Days
Keep a Journal during your 40 days (and beyond). If you don’t journal already Journaling is a wonderful tool for really getting into the nitty gritty of anything. You can write about what’s coming up for you, what you’re noticing or any changes along the way. It’s a way to have a really honest conversation with yourself and you don’t ever have to read what you’ve written. You can write and let go.
I love journaling, I’m definitely a journal junkie. I find it so helpful when I’m working through something as it gives me clarity that I can’t get if I just spoke to myself.
If you use Digital Journals, I’ve created a Digital 40 day sadhana journal that’s free for you to download. Check it out here.
What Happens If I Miss A Day?
Traditionally it is said that if you miss a day then you must begin again. Yep, so if you’re on day 36 and miss a day then you’ll be right back to day 1, ouch!
However, I have also heard said that you can use your intuition and discernment to guide your answer. What I mean by this is that if you miss a day you can check in with yourself and see how it feels in your body.
Example: it’s the first couple of weeks and you’ve missed a day, you may not have practiced the kriya for long enough already and so going back to day 1 may feel like the right thing to do.
or
You’re on day 38 and you miss a day, you’ve checked in with yourself and it feels like you’ve practiced this kriya long enough already so it feels right that you continue as is.
But if you miss another day then it’s best to begin again at day 1.
Whatever you choose, listen to your intuition.
Conclusion
A 40 day set will challenge you in ways you may have never been before. You will want to give up, you may become bored by the repetition, your mind will tell you that you don’t want to practice today. At times it will be a challenge to keep going.
However you will be strengthening your resilience by completing the 40 days, you will be showing up for yourself everyday like you said you would and that alone feels great.
Try a 40 day set and test it for yourself.
Happy practicing!
Heather xox
If you’re new to kundalini yoga or have taken a class or two and wondered what was going on, I have created a FREE Beginners Guide to Kundalini Yoga just for you to get you started.