Wake Up With Yoga – Start Your Morning With These 6 Poses

Disclaimer: I am NOT a morning person. It’s not so much that I can’t get myself out of bed in the morning, it’s just that I really don’t like it. But lately, I’ve been trying to ease myself into getting up earlier, so I can have some quiet time to myself before my day begins. It’s amazing what a difference it makes to my stress levels throughout the day, when I have some time to focus on me before immediately diving into the pile of emails that have made their way into my inbox overnight.

My first inclination after dragging myself out of bed is to head straight to my Keurig and brew a cup of coffee. Don’t get me wrong, coffee is most definitely still a part of my morning routine, but there are more powerful and effective ways to awaken the mind and body than caffeine. So, instead of reaching immediately for the coffee, I reach for a cool glass of water, and head to my yoga mat for this series of awakening poses.

I won’t get into all the benefits of starting your day with water here, but suffice it to say that 16 oz of cool water both fires up your metabolism, and helps awaken your brain function by re-hydrating you. (For more on this, check out this post from A Life of Productivity).

So, with your water in hand, it’s time to experience the energizing power of yoga. The benefits of yoga are many. Improved sleep, reduced stress and elevated energy levels just to name a few. Starting your morning with yoga gets your blood flowing. Remember, you’ve just been lying stagnant for several hours, so it’s important to re-awaken your body. Among the most invigorating stretches are those that involve gentle back bending. As you elongate your spine, you bring energy to the central nervous system, and as your blood begins to flow, you awaken your circulatory system.

In addition to these physical benefits, yoga also helps get you focused and centered for the day ahead. As you flow through the different asanas (poses) in this sequence, bring awareness to your breath. Inhaling and exhaling deeply through the nose both calms the mind and stimulates the brain as you cycle in fresh oxygen.

This sequence includes 6 asanas, and should only take you about 10 minutes. If I can get up 10 minutes earlier, you can too!

Forward fold/Rag Doll (Uttanasana) – Let’s start by beginning to gently stretch the hips, calves and hamstrings. This pose reduces fatigue, fights off stress and begins to stimulate your liver and kidneys. Start by standing tall, feet hip width apart with hands on the hips. Slowly fold through your hips, lengthening your torso as you sweep the hands toward the floor. Hang forward, allowing the head and neck to relax. You may either press the hands or fingers into the floor, or grasp opposite hand to opposite elbow. With each inhale, lengthen the spine, and with each exhale fold more deeply into the pose. Hold for 5-10 breaths.
Child’s Pose (Bālāsana) – Childs pose is a resting pose, and will help you center as well as begin to warm your body up as you breathe. Childs pose lengthens the spine, and provides a light stretch in the back, hips, ankles and thighs. Start by kneeling on the floor with knees about shoulder width apart and toes touching. Slowly fold forward, reaching your to fingertips to touch the floor in front of you and let the forehead come to the floor. Breathe into the pose, let your back and shoulders broaden and your hips sink down toward the floor. Stay in this pose for 10 breaths.
Cat & Cow Poses (Chakravakasana) – Moving between Cat and Cow poses begins to warm up the spine. As you move through, you begin to stretch your hips, back and abdomen and will start to stimulate your internal organs including those in the GI tract and the lungs. From Childs pose push yourself back onto all fours, hands directly below shoulders and knees directly below hips. Begin with a neutral, flat spine and elongate the neck extending the crown of the head forward. On your exhalation, draw your belly in and up, rounding the spine and dropping the chin toward the chest. Inhale and drop the belly toward the floor, lifting both your gaze and your tailbone toward the sky. Keep your abs engaged. Cycle through 4 more breaths, arching the spine on each exhale, and dropping the belly on each inhale.
Downward Facing Dog (Adhomukha Svanasana)- Part of the traditional Sun Salutation, down dog is an integral part of most yoga practices. Perhaps the most ubiquitous pose in modern yoga, down dog will continue to bring energy to the body. This pose provides additional stretching for the hamstrings, calves and arches and also builds strength in the arms and legs. From all fours, tuck the toes under and, on an exhale, push back extending the tailbone toward the sky and pulling the body into an inverted V. Arms and legs should be hip width apart. Straighten the legs if you can, pressing the heels toward the floor. Press the fingers into the floor, lift through the inner arms and widen the shoulder blades, pressing them back toward the tail bone. Stay here for 5 breaths. If you wish, cycle through a Vinyasa, or move directly to the next pose.
Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana) with Backbend – This pose continues to energize and strengthen, while also introducing some heart opening. For many of us, who spend our days at a desk, we often hunch the shoulders forward and round the back. Incorporating back bending and heart opening is a great way to counteract this compression, and also lifts your mood. From down dog, step the right foot between the hands, aligning the knee over the heel. Allow the left knee to fall, and place the top of the foot on the ground. Inhale and sweep the hands overhead, keeping biceps alongside the ears and reaching the fingertips toward the ceiling. Elongate the spine and gently bend backward, keeping the spine long. Hold for 5 breaths and repeat on the opposite side.
Twisted Chair Pose (Parivrtta Utkatasana) The sanskrit name for this pose translates to “revolved fierce pose”, and I can’t think of a better way to end a morning practice and begin the day than with a pose with fierce in the name. This pose has a slew of benefits. The foundational “chair” pose strengthens the hips, thighs and glutes while improving balance, posture and endurance. Adding the twist simultaneously strengthens and stretches the back, and the twisting motion stimulates the kidneys and digestive organs helping with detoxification and digestion. From the low lunge, step forward to standing with the big toes touching. Inhale and sweep the hands overhead. Exhale and bend the knees, bringing the thighs as close to parallel to the floor as possible (this may just be a slight bend in the knees). Keep the weight back over the hips, as if you’re sitting in a chair. From here bring the hands to heart center, palms pressing together. On an exhale twist to the right, bringing the left elbow to the right knee. Knees and hips should remain square, don’t let one knee jut out past the other. Breath into the twist, pressing the elbow into the thigh and pulling the right shoulder blade back. Hold for 5-10 breaths and repeat on the opposite side.