Getting up in the morning with an alarm clock does not always evoke pleasant emotions. Feeling unwell and sleepy in the morning hours motivates few people to have a productive day. But there are several asanas that will help you quickly cheer up and tune in to a good mood for the whole day ahead.
What you need to know about morning yoga
Many people know that one of the basic rules of a healthy lifestyle is the need to exercise. Starting every morning with light physical activity is very beneficial for both body and mind. The load is selected individually by each person, and if you have not yet decided what you would like to do every morning, then you can try morning yoga. It will become much easier to wake up with her after a while.
Even a beginner can cope with a complex of asanas for the morning. It is recommended to do them after a morning shower, but without starting tea and breakfast, that is, on an empty stomach. During the exercise, you should not make a lot of effort, try to pump muscles and stretch. Everything should be done very softly, smoothly. If possible, you can turn on quiet beautiful music for morning yoga or meditation.
What asanas can be included in the morning class
- It is best to start a lesson with pranayama - a breathing exercise. For beginners, Kapalabhati is the most suitable. Sit in lotus, half-lotus, or any comfortable posture with your back straight. Relax, sit like this for a few minutes, get used to the sensations, breathe evenly, calmly. When you feel ready, take a deep breath and begin taking short, sharp breaths out through your nose, about once a second. Beginners need to do 3 sets of 10-15 breaths. After each cycle of exhalation, take a deep breath and immediately exhale completely, hold your breath for a comfortable time and gently inhale air through your nose. There should be a short break between sets. When you finish the exercise, sit in this position for another minute or two to return your breathing to its usual rhythm.
- We will continue the next exercise from the lotus position (Padmasana). The back is straight and elongated. Place your right hand on your left knee, with your left hand behind your back. On exhalation, smoothly, without sudden movements, turn the body to the left. Take 6-7 smooth, deep breaths and return to the starting position. Repeat to the right.
- This is followed by Marjariasana, better known as the cat pose. Get on all fours, hands strictly under the shoulders, knees under the buttocks, forming an angle of 90 degrees. With an inhalation, bend and stretch your chest down, and the crown and coccyx up. Watch your shoulders: they should not be pressed against your ears, but relaxed and lowered. Then, pushing your palms off the floor, as you exhale, slowly bend your back up, direct your chin to your chest, pull in your tailbone. Repeat 5-6 times, remember to breathe.
- We pass to the plank familiar to many with outstretched arms: hands under the shoulders, legs straight, on toes. Deep breath. As we exhale, we do chaturanga - bend our arms at the elbows, press the elbows tightly to the body. After a few seconds, we move on to the upward-facing dog pose: while inhaling, straighten your arms, bend over, stretch the body and crown upward, pull your shoulders back. The legs are straight, the toes are extended away from you and rest on the back of the foot. With an exhalation, we move into the dog's pose facing down: pushing off the floor with our hands, we lift the tailbone up, and the head down. Further, from this pose, while inhaling, we place the left leg, bent at the knee, between the hands. We rely on it, find balance and take our hands off the floor, open up and stretch our arms up. As you exhale, put your hands back on the floor, remove your leg back, stand in a plank position and do the whole 4 point again on the other leg.
- After completing 4 points on the right leg, we remain in the downward facing dog pose for a few breaths. Then we slowly approach our hands, bend over, wrap our arms around our legs. With a breath, slowly raise the body, stretch your arms up and put your palms together. We stand straight, with outstretched arms, with an exhalation, we smoothly lower our folded palms to the chest.
- The next asana is called Parivritta Utkatasana - twisting in a chair posture. We leave our palms folded, bend our legs, as if we are sitting on a chair. Gently rotate the body to the right so that the left armpit is over the right knee. Take 5-6 deep breaths, repeat on the other side.
- Complete the complex with Shavasana - lie on the floor, spread your legs and arms in different directions, relax. Breathe evenly, deeply, listen to pleasant music. Take 3-5 minutes to relax and finish the session.
The whole complex should take no more than 15 minutes. If you have time and desire, the duration of the complex can be gradually increased.
