How To Incorporate Yoga Into Your Morning Without Losing Sleep

We all love our sleep, and we cherish the moments we get to spend in its warm embrace. However, yoga might be even more helpful than that extra 15 minutes of sleep in the morning. According to Harvard, yoga can help improve your strength and flexibility, reduces stress, and boost your immune system — all things we could all use.

Keeping your sleep schedule consistent can help improve the quality of your sleep, according to the National Sleep Society, so you should really avoid taking advantage of that snooze button. Instead, why not use that time to do some simple yoga to help yourself get ready for the day ahead?

Experts also say that getting an early dose of sunshine can help lift you out of the fog of your brain in the morning. Light is key to awakening., and stretching into sun salutations in the light will help both your mind and body.

There are dozens of simple yoga poses that you can do without any help, and you don’t even have to spend that long doing it. You can even do it while you brew your morning pot of coffee.

Timing is everything.

You have to find the right timeline for your schedule. Chances are, you don’t have an extra hour every morning to spend on yoga. The good news is that there are yoga routines for any time frame.

Only have five minutes? Not a problem — CNN has a routine that you can do!

Want to spend that nine-minute snooze doing yoga? WebMD has an energizing routine for the inexperienced exerciser.

Have 15 minutes to spare? Harvard has a video-guided routine to help you start your day right.

Exercise in the comfort of your own home:

If you don’t have a partner, or you wake up after they do, you can start doing yoga from the comfort of your own bed. Throw open the blinds to get that much-needed dose of sunlight, and then start with deep breathing exercises to center yourself.

You can do anything from wide child’s pose to a seated spinal twist to happy baby pose, all without leaving the bed.

If you’re not the last one up, you can still do these, but you should probably get a mat or rug to keep you off of the floor.

Need some guidance?

If you’re not sure where to start, there are plenty of yoga DVDs and Youtube videos that are options. You can find some Youtube channels, use an app or go to a nearby class.

The apps can help you avoid checking your email first thing in the morning and utilize your smartphone for the good of your mental health.