Vibrant Soulful
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COACHING
    • AYURVEDIC WELLNESS COACHING
  • CLASSES
    • VIBRANT LIVING HABITS
    • IGNITE YOUR DHARMA
    • SPRING DETOX
    • FALL DETOX
    • AYURVEDA ESSENTIALS
    • AYURVEDA WOMEN'S HEALTH
  • YOGA
    • YOGA CLASSES
    • PRIVATE YOGA SESSIONS
  • WORKPLACE WELLNESS
  • RESOURCES
    • TIP SHEETS
    • FREE YOGA
    • RECIPES
    • BOOKS
    • PODCAST EPISODES
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT

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

4/3/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
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.
The Householder Path and the Renunciate Path
You see, in the Yoga tradition, there are two Distinct Paths to God/Spirit: the Householder Path and the Renunciate Path. The Householder Path is the path for those living in the world, in the marketplace of life, as householders.  Householders follow the path of pravritti - the outwardly manifesting path, the path that opens out of the Great Consciousness, from oneness into difference and diversity, into you and me and into all of the colors and textures of the world.  Yoga practices help householders develop their skills so that they can be better in the workplace, in the family and in the community.

By contrast, the Renunciate Path is the path for those who wish to let go of possessions, leave the marketplace of the world behind and engage in ascetic practices. Renunciates follow the path of nivritti–  the inwardly manifesting path, away from diversity and difference back into oneness.  Both householders and renunciates can equally experience the beauty of diversity and the fulfillment of oneness, but the end goals of practice are different. The aim of a renunciate is to dissolve the ego completely, to let go of everything and to merge into oneness letting everything else go, while the  aim of the householder is to develop and maintain a healthy ego, a healthy sense of self, to be able to be of greater service in the world.

Know why you’re practicing! Know what you want to accomplish.
If you’re a householder who practices yoga, you want yoga practices for personal and planetary evolution. You want your yoga to provide you with tools to help you: be a great parent, a productive businesswoman, an effective writer, an inspired artist, etc. Use your yoga practices to help you hone the habits of health, self-care, communication, expression, aesthetics, productivity, care-giving, education, stewardship and ethics. These, among, many others, are householder skills that the world needs for planetary evolution. 

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.
​
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.

Picture
“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:

If you are interested in more yoga practices, check out my free online yoga practices here.
1 Comment
Nancy Ruby link
7/23/2018 08:17:00 am

Thanks Annie, It was a joy being guided by you today! Flowing with Ease!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Annie Barrett

    Educator, certified health coach, educator and yoga instructor.

    Book a Free Consult

    Search this website

    Picture

    Get the Vibrant Soulful Weekly Newsletter.

    * indicates required

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    July 2018
    March 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    May 2012
    February 2012
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    May 2009
    February 2009


    Categories

    All
    5 Elements
    Abhyasa
    Abundance
    Alignment
    Anjali Mudra
    August
    Bija Niyaya
    Breath
    Detox
    Discipline
    Family
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Heart
    Holidays
    Intentions
    Meditation
    Mythology
    Namaste
    New Year
    Open To Grace
    Practice
    Pulsation
    Relationships
    Sadhana
    Sattva
    Seed
    Sleep
    Spring Food
    Stillness
    Summer Solstice
    Valentine's Day
    Winter Solstice
    Yamas And Niyamas
    Yoga
    Yoga Philosophy

    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture

YOGA WITH ANNIE BARRETT LLC
​
TERMS, CONDITIONS & Disclaimer

PRIVACY POLICY
Copyright © 2020
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • COACHING
    • AYURVEDIC WELLNESS COACHING
  • CLASSES
    • VIBRANT LIVING HABITS
    • IGNITE YOUR DHARMA
    • SPRING DETOX
    • FALL DETOX
    • AYURVEDA ESSENTIALS
    • AYURVEDA WOMEN'S HEALTH
  • YOGA
    • YOGA CLASSES
    • PRIVATE YOGA SESSIONS
  • WORKPLACE WELLNESS
  • RESOURCES
    • TIP SHEETS
    • FREE YOGA
    • RECIPES
    • BOOKS
    • PODCAST EPISODES
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT