Here is a “quick guide” that you can save to your phone with 5 minutes of the best morning yoga poses. This is the first thing I do every day, wherever I am. I usually don’t even roll out my mat. The benefits are wildly disproportional to the amount of time and effort that it takes. Zero back pain—even when I am sitting a lot for work, going on long bicycle rides or travelling for several days in a row, and a radical reduction in the risk of injury, even when I’m beasting out to my Onnit kettlebell workouts.
How Do Morning Yoga Poses Work?
- Awareness. By bringing awareness to your internal physical sensations, you connect mind and body, which is crucial for avoiding injury.
- Alignment. If you have a tendency to fall out of alignment, these 5 minutes of morning yoga poses can act as a daily reset.
- Release of tension. Breathing deep into your belly allows your central nervous system to relax and your muscles to let go of tension.
- Preparation. You can think of this as a warm-up for the physical activities that you plan to undertake throughout the day.
- Engagement. Especially of the core musculature can be all you need to stave off the build up of lower back pain.
- Mobilisation. Loosening up your hips for freer movement during the day reduces your risk of injury and can help to alleviate pain.
