There are many good yoga poses we can do in the morning to relieve tension. If you’re like me and wake up feeling stiff from tense muscles, doing some gentle stretching in the morning can work wonders. Doing stretching in the morning not only helps our body, it’s also a great way to start the day. It can help with our physical, emotional and mental well-being in a number of ways. Chuck on some gentle music and do what feels right.
I’m no yoga teacher and just go with what feels right for my body at the time. I have attended yoga classes in the past and never thought I would have the motivation to do yoga on my own, but here I am. I’ve done it so if you’re wanting to give it a go, it does take a bit of practice, but it’s totally doable on your own. So if you’re interested in how to get started, read on to see what each pose has to offer.
Easy Pose
Let’s start off easy in Easy Pose. This pose is good for the hips and can also help us with releasing emotions. Sometimes we can wake up in a shitty mood. Do we know why? Probably not. So starting with this pose could help release any pent-up emotions stored from the slumber we just came out of.
Ever woken up from a bad dream that then affects the whole day? If the answer is yes, try doing this pose upon waking and ‘let that shi* go’ so to speak. Release it and move on. Oh, it’s good for our hips too if we have a problem with that as well.
Sun Salutation – stretch or do your thing
While a sun salutation is a great way to start the day, doing any sort of stretching can help relieve tension in our muscles. I do parts of this pose and just go with the flow of it. If my back feels like it needs stretching, then I’ll spend more time doing that. Everyone’s body is different so doing what works for us is essential.
Related Post
Check out this short clip to see some additional health benefits of practising yoga.
Child’s Pose for the back and anxiety relief
This is my go-to-pose probably because it’s easy 😉 Not only does it stretch my back and shoulders (these are often super-tight from too much computer work), it’s just a comforting type of posture that’s known to help with anxiety. Check out this meta-analysis that examines how yoga can help with relieving some symptoms of anxiety.
Sit on your knees, wideish or close together. Lay your hands out in front to a position that feels comfortable. Don’t go crazy. Just ease into it and relax. Our forehead goes on the ground. I try to stay in this for around 3 minutes. From child’s pose I like to head into a different form of child’s pose (shishuasana) where instead of having my arms out in front with palms down, they go alongside my body, palms facing up. I find this pose very calming plus it’s easy to do.
After child’s pose, I’ll often go into a cat/cow to help me focus on my breathing. Just do what feels right at the time.
Wide-Legged Fold for tension in the calves
I like to do this pose sitting and standing. Again it just comes down to how I feel in the morning and what needs to be stretched. It can be good for a bit of stress relief and releasing tension in the hips.
Sitting down – spread your legs (obviously), and stretch as far as you can go without popping a valve. Let gravity do the work and use your breath to release even further towards the ground. Again, don’t go nuts especially if you’re new to yoga or stretching of any kind.
Standing up – same as above and listen to what your body needs. If the body says stop or ease up, listen to it. I find doing this standing up helps release tension in my calf muscles.
Cobra for our lower back tension
When I do cobra, I do a combination of both cobra and sphinx. I start with sphinx and then lie on my stomach for around 30 seconds. Then I move into cobra. Again, it depends on how tight my back is when I get out of bed. Sometimes I can only stay in this pose for 30 seconds as my back is always pretty tight. But I just do what feels right on the day. One thing I have found though, it’s getting easier each day.
Foward Leg Stretch for tension in the mid to lower back
This is where I really start to feel the tension – mid to lower back usually on both sides. But if my right side is a little tighter than the left, then I’ll spend longer stretching while on my left-hand side. I take this pose slowly and ease into it. Usually, I can feel my back and leg try to hold onto the tension. Being aware of it is the first step. Once we’re aware, we can start to release it. This is where using our breath comes into play. I don’t force anything. I breathe, release, and then let gravity do the work for me. I often repeat this one twice because it seems to hold the most tension for me.
The forward leg stretch is also where I usually feel if I’m holding tension around my arms and face. Just give it a go and do what your body feels is right for you. It’s a learning curve, quite literally.
Upward facing Dog
I certainly don’t look as relaxed as this yoga cat does above when doing this pose. Upward facing dog is similar to cobra. This is a tough one for me because it focuses on upper body strength particularly the shoulders and stretches out the lower back – something that’s bloody tight for me.
Downward Dog
A downward dog is probably one of the most common poses people have heard about when they think of yoga. It’s also one of the most common to mess up – well it was for me. I even had to stay back after class once so I could be shown what to do. For me, going to a class and doing a workshop helped me learn how to do it properly without straining my back. If you can’t get to a class, try video clips to help you perfect it. Remember, learning stuff takes time and we don’t have to be a master at it. Yoga is a personal thing so going at our own pace for our own body is essential. We can develop our own practice and improve on that.
Bottom line – do what works for you
Doing a range of yoga poses we can do in the morning can relieve tension. If you wake up feeling stiff and tense, doing some gentle stretching in the morning can work wonders for not only our body but also for our mind. also a great way to start the day. It can help with our physical, emotional and mental well-being in a number of ways and it’s pretty easy to get your own practice going with minimal knowledge.
I’ve now even branched out to doing the same in the evenings. I’m still in the beginning phase of developing it, but we all have to start somewhere don’t we!
additional benefits of yoga
Sources
Yoga for anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
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