Morning exercise is a fantastic way to start your day. For one, it ensures you fit in a workout before you look at your to-do list and convince yourself that you don’t have time.
While some people like to jump straight into challenging workouts, many of us prefer to ease into the day with something gentler, and yoga can be perfect for that.
It can also help to lubricate the muscles and joints after sleep, helping to ease any stiffness.
Adriene Mishler—better known to her more than 13 million subscribers on YouTube as Yoga With Adriene—recently shared a 12-minute practice designed to be done first thing in the morning.
But along with the physical benefits of morning yoga, Mishler adds a mental benefit by encouraging you to set an intention for the 10 minutes of movement that you can carry into the rest of your day.
How to do Yoga With Adriene’s 12-minute morning routine
You can follow along with Mishler’s YouTube video as she guides you through the routine in real time. Some of the exercises are done from a kneeling position, so if you have a yoga mat, it’s a good idea to roll it out to support your joints and make the routine more comfortable. If not, simply use a blanket or a towel.
How setting an intention in morning yoga has helped me
Mishler encourages viewers to set an intention at the start of this practice. She says that this should be an intention for the day, either a word or a sentence that you want to channel throughout the day. “You can always elaborate on it later,” she adds.
Setting an intention is a common yoga practice, but when I first started yoga, I wasn’t sure what this meant and found instructors could be purposefully vague, because setting the intention should be personal.
I wouldn’t want to set your intention for you, but in case an example helps spark inspiration, I’ve set an intention that’s as simple as “slow down” or “practice self-love”; or that’s specific to the day ahead, such as “take a moment for yourself” or “remember that work isn’t everything”.
I’ve found setting intentions during yoga really helpful. It provides me with some time to think over how I want to feel day-to-day and I have the whole practice to think about it and try and channel that in my movement.
For example, if my intention is to take more time to relax, I may skip some of the more difficult poses and spend more time in child’s pose.
As Mishler's morning practice is short and sweet, it’s a great way to try out setting an intention for your day if you’re new to the idea.
Of course, you can also simply focus on the stretches in the routine if you don’t feel like setting an intention and it should still help you feel less stressed, thanks to the relaxing benefits of movement.