Yoga made ME a morning person

If you are one of those people who just wakes up happy, energized and ready to go in the morning, 1. You are so darn lucky & 2. I ENVY YOU!!! If you aren't that person, I am right there with ya girl and this will be a helpful read.

Since I could remember, I have never been a morning person. And when I say that, I mean that I wake up grouchy, SUPER tired and I don’t want to talk…at all. There is even a running joke with my family that you give me a good 30mins and some coffee before you talk to me. Apparently I even sound like Darth Vader breathing through a mask… HAHAHA Pretty sexy! My hubs is one lucky guy. With that being said, I have tried everything to try to become a morning gal. I tried getting extra sleep, not drinking caffeine before bed, not eating too close to bed time, getting up right when my alarm goes off, working out, drinking a glass of water, showering, I mean the list goes on and on! Literally nothing has worked! Then I started craving yoga, I just kept having this thought in my head that my body needed some stretching/meditating.

Now, before you roll your eyes and stop reading thinking I am some Yoga guru, I am anything but that, I took ONE yoga class in college and it was pathetic…first of all the instructor was going so fast and using yoga lingo, so half the time I was looking up at her and looking around the class trying to figure out what the hell was going on, by the time I understood I was already three moves behind. I hated it, it felt like I was playing a very hard and awkward game of Twister and I honestly felt like it was a waste of my time! To think of doing Yoga in the morning…or any kind of workout in the morning made me sick to my stomach. Fast forward 4+ years later, and I got interested again. This time I did some research to see what types of yoga were out there, thinking that there had to be a slower more calming yoga than my first go around and I finally came across one that I fell in LOVE with!

Gentle morning yoga!

So, what is it you ask? Like anything, there are several variations but the ones I enjoy are a very light and SLOW type of Yoga combined with a bit of meditation. I started implementing this when I quit my corporate job and have not looked back since! Below are a few of my favorite routines to do. And the great part is, that these are only 10-15 minute routines. Yeah girl, I am not a fan of spending too much time working out, especially not in the morning!

And I am telling you, it feels AMAZING! I wake up, PJ’s on, phone in hand and go straight outside to do my gentle morning yoga before I start my day. Obviously, you can do this anywhere you would like, but for me, I prefer seeing the morning sunrise, feeling the grass under my toes, and breathing fresh air. Since implementing this in my morning routine, I feel more balanced, my body feels woken up and stretched, my mind is more clear, my mood is 100 times better and I feel like I have a little sunshine in my soul and pep in my step. I encourage you to try it out. And if breaking up your work week morning routine freaks you out, try it on the weekend. You deserve 10 - 15 mins of YOU time. Whether you do it for health, tranquility, more balance or for 10 minutes of sanity, I promise this will be worth your time!