Introducing Your New, Empowering Habit: Morning Yoga
What’s the first thing you do upon waking up? Do you hit the snooze button? Check your email to see what you missed overnight? Dive straight into the news? These are far from uncommon morning habits, but they’re far from empowering, too. Rather than starting your day so reactively, we’d like to present you with a proactive option, one that puts you back in the driver’s seat where you belong. That habit is morning yoga, and it’s making people happier and healthier all around the world.
Why Morning Yoga?
Yoga is impactful at any time of day, though its power is seriously multiplied in the morning. Why? Well, despite the initial grogginess you may feel upon waking up, our energy levels are naturally higher after a night of sleep. And though it may not look like it, yoga is definitely a high-energy activity—just ask any skeptical first-timer who dropped in for a session expecting it to be a breeze.
Yoga also requires plenty of mental focus. When do we have the most control over our focus? First thing in the morning, before being exposed to the distractions of everyday life. Before checking your phone or reading the news, then, is the best time to capitalize on your uniquely heightened focus. It’s the best time for morning yoga.
Benefits of Morning Yoga
It’s true that yoga will make you stronger, more flexible and less injury-prone, though the lesser-known benefits of morning yoga are even more compelling. As both a physical and a mental workout, yoga challenges the body in ways other workouts simply cannot. It’s great for the heart and lungs, as it gets your blood pumping and encourages deep, deliberate breathing. It urges you to look inward, fosters mindfulness and can significantly reduce stress. There’s a reason some of the world’s top athletes, actors and entrepreneurs are taking up morning yoga. It works.
How To Win At Morning Yoga
1. CREATE A SANCTUARY
The quality of your yoga practice will be strongly impacted by the energy of your surroundings. As a result, carving out a specific space for your practice—your personal yoga sanctuary—will enable you to get more out of it. Wherever you decide on, whether it’s your living room or somewhere outdoors, ensure your sanctuary has ample space and plenty of natural light. Beginning every day from your inspiring sanctuary will give you the boost you need to push through the rough patches ahead.
2. STACK THE DECK
Habits break down when faced with too much friction, so stack the odds in your favour by removing the friction and making your morning yoga fun. For some, that means doing a different set of yoga poses each day; for others, it’s simply about changing the music. Shortening your practice makes it more likely that you’ll follow through, too—even 10-15 minutes is enough to start your day off right.
3. GET PHYSICAL
The earlier you can stimulate your body each day, the better. Pumping blood and oxygen through the body activates your lymphatic system, which is responsible for bodily cleansing; it also kickstarts your metabolism, which means you burn more calories and have more energy throughout the day.
Every morning, one of our acclaimed yoga teachers hosts a class at phone-free Silent Beach, one of three private beaches here at Hillside. Depending on the day, you might find yourself amid a high-intensity vinyasa flow or a more serene hatha practice. Whatever the case may be, you can be certain your day will be a better one as a result. We’re here to make sure of it.
“Win the morning, win the day,” goes the old saying. There’s no better way to do it than with morning yoga.
