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Yoga has been practiced since ancient times. Considering its immense benefits, yoga exercises have been gaining immense popularity in Western countries.
Starting your day with yoga can set the tone for a refreshing and successful day. Yoga exercises allow you to de-stress first thing in the morning and kick off your day with greater balance.
Doing yoga exercises as you wake up can set the tone for an entire day, as it gets your body moving and blood flowing in the body. You can also use the warm weather of the summer season to practice yoga poses outside. That'll help you reconnect with nature while also getting some fresh air.
Yoga Exercises Just When You Wake Up
Going through some simple yoga exercises when you wake up can leave you feeling energetic and refreshed. Moreover, it will also provide several long-term benefits for both the mind and body.
Here's a look at six such yoga exercises you can do when you just get up in the morning:
1) Downward Dog
Downward facing dog yoga is one of the simplest and most well-know yoga exercises.
It's a foundational yoga posture that provides an equal proportion of stretching and strengthening. Practicing this pose after waking up can effectively stretch your muscles and bring better alignment to the body. A downward-facing yoga pose can help you inhabit relaxation and alertness simultaneously on a yoga mat.
Furthermore, this yoga exercise also helps in toning the arms and legs along with building better flexibility and balance of the body.
2) Forward Fold
Uttanasana, also known as standing forward fold, is also a beginner-friendly pose you can do after waking up. It's a simple yoga pose that can leave you feeling more euphoric and refreshed. There's also a sitting variation in the forward fold you can try.
Standing forward poses completely stretch the muscles of your body along with releasing tension between the shoulders and neck. Regularly doing this yoga exercise enhances your posterior chain by targeting the spinal column, back and leg muscles. Additionally, this yoga pose can be beneficial in the long term, as it stimulates the endocrine and digestive systems.
3) Half Fish Pose
Regularly performing the half-fish pose, also referred to as Ardha Matsyendrasana or Seated Twist Pose, provides a plethora of benefits. It's the perfect pose to energise your body after waking up while improving your body awareness and posture. This deep restorative pose can help in both rejuvenation and strengthening the body.
Regularly practicing this pose can boost blood circulation of the body, aid in the digestive process and enhance spinal mobility. This yoga exercise is often used by athletes to stretch before starting their activities. The half-fish pose also enhances the posture of the body by elongating the spine.
4) Camel Pose
Camel pose, also called Ustrasana, is a great way to start the morning, as it can bump your confidence as well as energy levels. This yoga exercise requires you to bend your back and counteract the forward bending yoga exercises. Camel pose is a great exercise you can do after waking up, as it can help in alleviating lower back pain and reducing tension in the back muscles.
Regularly performing the camel pose improves the body posture, as it counteracts the effects of slouching and prolonged sitting periods. Furthermore, this yoga exercise helps stretch the major muscle groups of your body, including the hips, quads, shoulders, abdomen and chest.
5) Lizard Stretch
Lizard Pose, also known as the gecko pose, is an effective pose that can be done in the morning and prepare you for the busy day ahead.
It's a slightly advanced yoga pose that can be intense for your hip region. This yoga exercise is great for everyday life too, as it helps alleviate sciatica and release tension from the back. Lizard stretche can also improve the flexibility and balance of the body.
Start with warm-up poses before doing this exercise, or perform a modified version of the lizard stretch if you're not very flexible in the hip region.
6) Twisted Lunge
The twisted lunge pose is a dynamic yoga exercise that deeply stretches the muscles of the posterior chain along with increasing the range of motion. Performing this yoga pose after waking up can provide for a smoother energy flow and create better body awareness.
Bottom Line
Practicing the aforementioned yoga exercises after waking up can be a great way to start your day. These yoga exercises have both physical as well as mental benefits, including better flexibility, strengthening muscles, toned body, better energy flow, and so on.
Yoga exercises can leave you feeling refreshed and more energetic to start your day.
Some of the exercises mentioned above are advanced poses that require better flexibility and coordination of the body. However, you can start with the modified version and then advance towards the standard pose.
