Morning yoga practice and the joy it brings | Adventure Yogi

The gift of morning yoga practice
(from a self-confessed night owl)

We all know that a morning yoga practice is the ultimate self-care gift to body, mind and soul. 

Two things I know about myself

1. I am not a ‘morning person’. In fact, I positively detest early starts. Things have always felt easier for me in the evening. Late nights are my thing.

2. However, I generally start my day off pretty awesome when I get up early and practice yoga. My whole day unfolds from a place of initiative, awareness and a desire for wholeness. Eureka! I’m no longer struggling to fall asleep/get out of bed! I’m not grabbing a tub of ice cream to take the edge off. The edges feel smoother.

So when I was asked to take on early morning sessions at the local studio, I soon realised I had to find a way to reconcile those two things. I teach from experience so I needed to start practising early.

I created a daily to-do list to keep my attention focused

That’s the third thing I know about myself. I love lists! How’s it going so far? Surprisingly OK, actually.

In creating a set of intentions to refer back to, I created accountability for myself. I know these things make me feel good, and when I address them daily, they work and they keep my mojo intact for early morning teaching. Even when I fall flat on my face (which some people call “falling off the wagon,” but you land on your face every time, don’t you?) the recovery time is expedited by these lovely go-to’s.

Here they are:

– I take time before leaving the house. I really don’t like being rushed. Ever. This applies to my teaching style too! So on a daily basis, that means waking up with enough time to stretch, shower, prepare a proper breakfast, put on an outfit (rather than “any old thing,”) put on jewellery and perfume. Even on the days that I teach at silly o’clock. It’s important to me and it means I greet the world ready, mojo intact!

– Move daily. Being that this is a practice based in reality, there are going to be breakthroughs and breakdowns, without a doubt. And every day there is space for choice and action, compassion and truth, patience and practice. Moving with awareness, be it asana or something else, helps me find those things.

– Be grateful. Each night I list three things, never more and never less, that I have been grateful for that day. It’s my mum’s advice (thanks Mum!) In the process of reminding myself of the good in each day, I’m much more comfortable witnessing myself in the ups and downs, instead of getting seasick all the time, or just flat-out exhausted.

– Stuff doesn’t always go to plan so just let it go. It is a gift to practice non-attachment if only for the seamless quality it lends to our ever-changing world.  It’s certainly easier said than done, but I find myself smiling a lot more when I allow life to flow rather than hoarding the good stuff and complaining about the bad.

That’s it!

So, I propose you give it ago. Practice simply because it’s a beautiful way to start the day. In my experience, morning yoga has been the greatest gift I’ve given myself in a very long time.

Be good to yourself, you’re wonderful.

P.S. I hope I remember all this great advice. If you remember, then perhaps you can remind me. After all, everybody needs a push in the right direction sometimes. Even if it is just to get to morning yoga.