[Vibrant Mornings] My top 6 reasons for doing an AM yoga practice

Morning yoga, anyone?

I practice yoga every morning. Even if I only have 10 minutes, I get on my mat to move my breath and body. This ensures that my day gets off to a good start.

I remember when I finally committed to a morning yoga practice. I had already been a yogi for many years. I knew how much better my life was when I practiced yoga regularly.  (And, I knew how much worse it was when I didn’t!).  But I didn’t have a regular morning practice. In fact, I rarely practiced yoga or exercised in the morning before work. I mostly practiced yoga in the evening.

Looking back, I didn’t know what I was missing! It wasn’t until I become a mom (nearly 18 years ago!) that I developed a morning yoga practice. (If you’re a mom, you know how time gets compressed and personal time becomes extremely precious when kids come along.)  After I had kids, I realized that if I wanted a daily practice, I better do it in the morning while my husband was around and could be with the kids, because if it wasn’t going to happen then, there was an extremely high chance that it wouldn’t happen later because I would be too tired.

So, I committed. And I haven’t looked back. Doing a yoga practice each morning is key for getting my day off to a vibrant start.


(Read on and and I’ll share a link to a yoga practice you can do tomorrow morning!)


My top reasons for doing an AM yoga practice:,,

Get your prana on. This is yoga for “getting on your morning groove.” After you sleep, your body is stiff. Your blood oxygen levels are low. Your vibration is stagnant, even dull. I don’t know about your, but I want to build a strong vibrational field for the day. To do this, you need to get your prana moving! You have to sync up your breath and body and get the life force circulating inside you. Breathe, oxygenate, move. Repeat. Your whole day will be better.

Be more productive. Yoga boosts productivity.  There is a lot of research on this, but you should check it out for yourself. Do a morning practice and you’ll start your with greater focus and drive. The yogis call this ekagrata - single minded focus. You do your yoga practice and you get clear on what you need to do that day and you get more done. Try  it out for yourself.
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Improve your metabolism. If your metabolism is sluggish (mine tends to be), a morning practice will pick it up. You’ll also find that your digestion will become more regular. Yogis have known this for thousands of years. A morning practice helps you eliminate the waste from your system so you can start the day with a clean slate.

Set yourself up for better sleep. A good night’s sleep starts in the morning. As little as 10 minutes of exercise can dramatically improve the quality of your sleep. A series of sun salutations in the morning will help you sync up to the cosmic clock (aka Circadian rhythms) for better sleep and overall health.

Fill up your cup! When you practice in the morning, you put yourself first! You don’t wait to care for your health later.  You do it first.  You make yourself a priority. It’s the old oxygen mask metaphor. You won’t be good at caring for others if you don’t care for yourself first. If you are a woman (and most of you reading this are), you particularly need to hear this.

Start your day on a positive note. Research on yoga practitioners shows that folks who practice yoga regularly are more positive and happier in their lives. Have you found this to be true? I certainly have and my family will attest that yoga makes me a more patient mama and a better spouse.

“But wait,” you say, “I don’t have time in the morning.”

Do you have 20 minutes?  Really.  That’s all it takes.


“I don’t know how to start.”

Actually, if you have been going to yoga class for a few months, your body knows a good yoga practice. It’s just like a good story.  It has a beginning, middle and end, or in yoga language, a warm up, a build up and a cool down.  It’s not that complicated.

I’m also happy to make it easy for you! I know how nice it is to be guided in a morning practice. Here is an audio practice I created:

Check it out here:

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If you are interested in more yoga practices, check out my free online yoga practices here.