Categories: Lifestyle

Yoga | Stretching – Morning Routine – Human Performance

This post is part 1 of 8 in the series Maximising Human Performance & Abilities
4 MIN READ

Ok, let me make it straight. I have never been a morning person. I remember when I used to wake up and first thing in the morning was my phone, my email, my messenger. Omg, horrible! Trust me, I would never come back to it. Today my mornings are slow, workout/stretching/really quick morning yoga/jogging, warm water, cup of coffee, talk and then I can start my day. Stretching or really quick morning yoga, just to move my body, just to stretch the calves, just to extend my back. It just feels good, calmer and much better to start the day.

A few words from me about morning yoga and stretching. I do it wherever I am at the moment. I love doing it on the balcony over the summer, but when I use the balcony it is most likely evening yoga. Sunset on my balcony is amazing! In the morning instead I do it usually in the living room, just in front of the sofa. I used to do some yoga in the bedroom previously as well. It doesn’t really matter, as long as I have some nice spot, ideally with the sun in front of my face. By the way, have you read my blog post about sunlight? I love doing activities in the way that I gain many benefits. In this case, I do yoga or stretching on the balcony to get some sunlight, the same with meditation – on the balcony just go get some fresh air and direct sunlight on the face.

Benefits of morning stretching or morning yoga 

Let’s talk a little bit about the benefits of morning yoga or stretching. Just 5 or 10 min will be good enough, you don’t need to book an hour for it. You can do it while drinking your morning coffee and talking to your partner. 

Flexibility and motion

Alright, I will not surprise you by this point. That is a pretty obvious benefit of stretching and yoga. Thanks to these activities your muscles are more flexible, strong and just healthy. It also helps with range of motion and mobility which impact your daily activities. 

Movement for a day

Starting the day with the movement is such a great way of starting your day. Your body is becoming ready for daily activities, blood is running through your muscles, you are becoming warmer and ready to face a day.

Calm your thoughts

Morning thoughts, stress and moods can drive you crazy. Morning stretching or morning yoga helps to calm your thoughts, it is kind of like mindfulness exercise or even meditation. A lot of my yoga sessions include meditation. And what is better than starting the day with meditation? 

Stress relief

Imagine many hours sitting, really often you are stressing out during important video calls.  Your back is getting tense and your shoulders are tightening up. Stretching is the perfect way to relieve a little bit of stress. By focusing on the back, shoulders, neck you can nicely reduce all this stress which you had to face over the day.

Reduce back pain and helps to improve posture

I have never had any problems with my back till now… For a few weeks my back is so much in pain after many hours in front of the laptop. I have started to exercise my back more to make it stronger but I also keep stretching it. Stretching can reduce muscle imbalances which are really common nowadays. Regular stretching can reduce risk of muscles straint and it is perfect before and after back day. My morning back stretching helps me to keep my back in healthy posture during the day. 

How to start your morning with stretching or quick yoga?

Let me tell you that one, I wasn’t so happy when Zyd proposed to me in the morning stretching. I wanted to just chill and drink my coffee. But at the same time I knew it was good for me. So I started to stretch when I was drinking my coffee or when I was just talking with Zyd. I didn’t save any time for it, I just did it whenever I had 5 minutes in the morning. I also started with some quick morning yogas, I have learnt a few sequences and I just started practicing them in the morning from my memory. That was actually the easiest from my new routines. 

Do you wanna know more?

I have found some stretching exercises online. And some more details about the importance of stretching from Harvard. Last but not least, 9 benefits of stretching from Healthline.

By the way, the photoshoot for this article was done on Sunday evening by myself. I have written this post and I was looking for some pictures. After scrolling for a while on my iPhone I realised that I don’t have any pictures of myself. I just didn’t have anything to choose from. Zyd was playing on his PS4 so I decided to take some artistics pictures of myself. So here we are 😀 Let me know what you think in the comments.

Give yourself a chance

Just try it out. Always, try out before disregarding. It doesn’t mean it needs to work for you, maybe it will not. But everything that potentially can help your health is worth trying. Did you try out any meditation apps from last article? Share your experiences in the comments!  


This part is another item in my morning routine. If you liked this post, please, share with friends and family.


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Zaneta Baran

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