Better Than a Cup o' Joe: Morning Yoga!

This morning, for the first time in a while, I woke up and went straight to a yoga class at Tranquil Space (7am class). Although I'll often do a bit of yoga at home in the mornings, it's typically after I've woken up, checked my email, eaten breakfast, done a bit of work, etc., so this morning's practice was very different for me. As always, I felt a lot more stiff than I do when I practice in the evenings--and last night's CrossFit class where we worked on split jerks didn't help--but it felt so good to start my day out on the mat. I noticed that because my mind wasn't yet occupied with all of the day's events or my to-do list, it was actually a lot easier for me to stay present and mindful throughout my practice. But I couldn't help but think, wow, why don't I do this every day?

The lovely Melissa, an amazing teacher who I've learned SO much from over the past year or so, taught class with the help of longtime TS-er & TA, Stephen. She always starts her morning classes by massaging each student's neck with some china gel, meant to awaken the nasal passages/sinuses and open the lungs for deep breathing, and it's a wonderfully energizing sensation to start the day out with! As we began to breathe and moved through Surya Namaskar A & B, I felt my body slowly heating up and awakening, and all of the early-morning weakness that I felt in my first plank pose began to melt away and turn into strength, energy, and power. What a great feeling! It was such an amazing way to start the day that I'm going to try to make morning classes (or a more-vigorous, first-thing-in-the-morning home practice) a more regular part of my schedule (meaning start out shooting for once per week or so). There's just nothing like a bit of sun salutations to get the blood flowing first thing in the morning...

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After class, I was able to come home rested, centered, and balanced. Instead of feeling my normal morning rush to get everything done, answer all my emails, and prepare for the day, I was able to come home and make myself a healthy breakfast, sit down and enjoy it at a leisurely pace, and THEN sit down to tackle my work for the day. What a nice change!

Photo and mug via www.cafepress.com

And look at that...I'm more awake than I ever was when I drank coffee  each morning :)

To ponder: how do you usually start off your day? How can you tweak your morning routine just a bit in order to set yourself up for a more balanced, relaxing day (doesn't have to be as drastic as hitting a morning class, although I highly recommend it!)?

Namaste,
Mary Catherine



P.S. OMG can you believe the picture at the top of the page? I found it here. So. Amazing. And. Slightly. Crazy.

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