There is something very magical about yoga in the early morning. Here are five top tips and five perfect yoga classes for building a morning practice.
What’s your favourite time of the day to practice yoga? There are merits for practicing at any time of the day, and each one of us will have a different preference depending on our circumstances and schedule.
Magical Mornings
But there is something very magical about coming to your mat in the early morning. Practicing when you wake is a great way to set the tone for the rest of the day – mindful, embodied, connected to the breath, feeling spacious and stable….body, heart and mind.
Fitting It In
Fitting in a practice before you’ve even left the house can be tricky for some of us (me included) so we’ve created the Daybreaker Course as a fun motivator for getting on the mat first thing. It’s a series of five short classes, each with a different theme that focuses on strengthening and expanding into different parts of the body – and it’s sure to help you kick start your day with some zing!
Top 5 Tips
And to make it even easier to work yoga into your AM routine, here are my top five tips for building a morning practice:
1) Wake up early
Wake before the rest of the household. For many of us it’s pretty rare to have 30 mins of true peace and quiet! If you wake 30 mins before the everyone else, you can enjoy the blissful silence and absolute, uninterrupted focus on your practice
2) Go to bed early
Now I’m not saying that you should be tucked up at 8pm every night. But if you do plan to practice in the morning, why not set yourself up to win by securing a full 8 hour sleep the night before? You’ll feel happier to get out of bed early if you’ve had enough sleep and you’ll also feel stronger, clearer and more focused for the rest of the day
3) Make it manageable
Let’s be realistic, chances are a 75 minute practice could be a struggle to fit in before breakfast. If you only have 20 or 30 mins available, adapt your practice to fit into what time you have. It may be that you just do sun salutations, or focus on one particular part of the body, or let the body guide you intuitively on what to prioritise. We know time is precious in the morning, so with this in mind, we’ve made all of the Daybreaker classes between 20 mins and 45 mins long.
4) Set up the night before
Lay your mat and props out before you go to bed so that you can roll out of bed and straight into your practice (one of the great things about a home practice is being able to do it in PJs!) If you wake up to an inviting scene like that, you’re much more likely to commit to the practice. If it’s all ready for you, youre less likely to be side tracked with unexpected distractions
5) Work with an intention
If you set and intention, a point of meditation and focus for your asana practice, it can continue to come alive and permeate throughout the day. Intentions are a beautiful way to remain mindful off the mat and it’s exciting to observe how the themes unpack from one moment to the next as you navigate your day.
Of course, the most important thing is to find a regular practice schedule that really works for you… but if you’re usually an afternoon/evening yogi, why not give morning practice a go? I’d love to hear how you get on!
>>FInd out more about the Day Breaker Course>>
To celebrate the launch of the Daybreaker Challenge, Nikita is offering a 30%* 15% discount on her next retreat (September 21st-28th) exclusively for MFL members.
You can enjoy a week of daily yoga and meditation with Nikita at the Okreblue Centre, on the Greek island of Paros, from just £475*.
Visit www.yogawithnikita.com/paros-retreat for more info. Email nikitaakilapa@hotmail.com with questions or to make a booking.
*Prices differ depending on occypancy (triple, double and single available) but all are 30%* 15% off advertised price. 30% off places are now sold out but some at 15% off are still available.
Nikita teaches a strong, slow and soulful vinyasa flow, with a focus on breath-based movement, the mind-body-spirit connection, and both internal and external alignment. She aims to empower and motivate her students, encouraging each individual practitioner to explore their own potential and deepen their awareness of true self. For an overview of Nikita’s classes, workshops and retreats, visit yogawithnikita.com
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