Morning thoughts that aren’t always pleasant tpop up when we’re groggy and half awake coming out of dreams we don’t control.
And we can change our thoughts and attitude from this one exercise and yoga exercise habits described below. 👇
Below are some yoga moves so even you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or have a busy day, you don’t miss out on your best day where you feel good when your head hits the pillow at night.
Wake up, Sunshine! Rise and shine. In the morning when you get out of bed with groggy morning thoughts.
But you can change this with your breaths in present moment.
Morning is a great time to start deep breathing for more oxygen… a natural way to get more energy.
Sitting up and standing helps to clear your passages that can be stuffy from laying down.
Survey your home and where the best morning light is if you’ve never done that.
That will be the eastern exposure windows or if you have indoor/outdoor living.
Be sure to let light into your eyes for at least 30 seconds.
Wearing blue glasses to protect eyes from digital screens and shades during the day outside is is a good idea! 😎
In the morning when it’s not direct sunlight like at noon, take them off to look outside and see what’s happening in your natural environment while you enjoy your morning water, smoothie, coffee, etc.
If you’re not a morning person, this is especially good so you wake up.
And if you experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD), this can change your outcomes.
Women need more sleep than men and children need more sleep than adults. Waking up adult energy changes and depends on many factors including a Kapha imbalance (could be mind or body).
If you’re naturally a Kapha body, then this is your natural way more than your Vata and Pitta counterparts.
If you’re not sure which imbalances you currently have and want restoring suggestions on your specific body imbalance symptoms, then I encourage you to take the body balance quiz.
Morning Yoga
Morning yoga even for 5-minutes is worth the effort for restoring good morning thoughts!
Everyone has 5 minutes they can sneak in.
And getting into Table Top pose and doing Cat and Cow can change your day.
Your Ayurvedic routine can include ginger and water. And finding your imbalances. If you’re super tired, Kapha is dominant.
If you’re super hard charging, Pitta is dominant.
If you’re feeling scattered, Vata is dominant.
And if you feel all, know that your Vata runs the show. The other name for Vata is wind, so like howling wind, that will dominate. But then later in the day you may find that your other (Pitta and Kapha) moods kick in.
These are all natural but the more you can feel less moods and restore them to peace and calm, the better.
It’s like your healthy body that doesn’t have symptoms. And when there are symptoms, then you’re focusing on how you can fix the symptoms.
So in the morning, maybe in the kitchen or bathroom, survey what your mood is. Do you need to calm from anxiety, worry (Vata) or being critical of yourself or others (Pitta)? Or are you tired and withdrawn (Kapha) or the opposite extreme of being needy (also Kapha)?
Yoga can change your day. And deep breathing on your mat will help all these restoring needs…. calming anxiety, lowering blood pressure, and breathing in oxygen for energy.
This is a good way to ease into the morning even if you only have 10 minutes before someone or something needs you.
My stretch routine is below (and if you’re a yoga beginner or think you’re not-good at yoga because of body issues, I’ll explain how not to be intimidated).
Here’s a daily yoga morning practice that you can try and tweak to how you like.
Do your Sun Salutations that are done standing.
You can rise up slowly and as controlled as you can like one spinal vertebra at a time, into a standing Mountain pose position.
From there, test your body for where there are kinks in the body, where there’s tightness and especially cracking sounds that are common in the morning or if it’s cold outside.
It’ easier to do this seated or laying down.
Seated, do a Seated Spinal Twist to see if your sides are tight. This was one we did as kids (maybe, hoola hooping, doing Twister, or Sit-n-Spin).
Then check your back. Lay on your back in Corpse pose. Survey. Then when you’re ready, do a Bridge pose. See if there’s tension in your bridge.
Easy Yoga for Beginners
If you’re intimidated by the idea of yoga and doing poses wrong, don’t be…
I’ve been in yoga classes before where I would hear people say they’re “not good at yoga.”
Re-framing your morning thoughts help and then you’re better at it in the future!
We all start as yoga beginners and each morning is a re-start so your body feels different than the day before. It’s a good metaphor for being a lifelong learner.
If you look at laying down flat on your back as another name for Corpse pose, you can make the connection that yoga can be a fancy name for “just being.”
Besides, the funny and interesting thing is, no one is looking at anyone else in a yoga class. Everyone is too busy concentrating and looking at their own body parts and poses.
No one talks about other people’s poses, in or after class. The point of yoga is that it’s an individual sport. You get to look inward and see yourself like when you look in a mirror.
If you’re self-conscious, then yoga can help you break away judgmental feelings about yourself.
If you’re a beginner, doing more yoga gives you self-confidence, and you feel better about your body when poses work.
When I attended my first class I didn’t like it because I didn’t know what was going on, and that’s just par for the course of learning a new skill.
And practicing yoga at home gives you more confidence. So don’t be too quick to rule out yoga as a sustainable activity for you and your morning.
If that’s you at this stage, just have fun with getting to know your body, and center your mind on parts of your body and intention for your practice. The rest will work itself out.
We all have weak spots and our vulnerabilities and bringing them to light is how to go through them. You never know, you may end up loving yoga like I did and do.
And if you’re beyond beginner yoga overthinking or any yoga insecurity, then maybe use your morning yoga practice to work on your patience and resilience.
So that’s my morning routine start (that you can use) before my coffee and catching up with my daily news.
Then I make myself a breakfast smoothie or a breakfast snack and get to productive work.
I hope by reading this, you’re a wee more happy inspired to get up in the mornings and kick those negative morning thoughts to the curb!
