What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? Smash your snooze button? Groan and moan at the idea of starting your day? What if we told you that your mornings don’t have to look this way, that you could actually work toward mastering your mornings? By definition, to master something is to have or show a great level of proficiency in a skill. While you might not currently consider waking up in the morning to be a skill, what you do in the first few moments after waking up can be. But here’s the thing — mastering your mornings isn’t something that you can achieve and stop working toward. Each day we wake up presents us a new opportunity to practice taking those first few moments of our day and making them count toward a greater sense of wellbeing. So what’s the key for mastering your morning? Yoga. We spoke with Yoga Wake Up teacher, Niki Saccareccia, about how yoga has allowed her to achieve her best mornings yet.
Even masters aren’t truly masters, there’s always something new to be learned or practiced. Being a beginner in anything, especially yoga, can feel daunting. But, it’s called a yoga practice for a reason!
You don’t need any yoga or meditation experience to start a new morning routine, just download Yoga Wake Up, choose one of two new series (your first one is free!) and get started!
“As a beginner, it's so important to acknowledge that being a beginner is the most difficult part of the process, because we have no point of reference to know how we're doing and we have to learn something new which takes a lot of effort, or even harder, we are unlearning a lot of things in order to live life a different way”, Niki explains. She continues, “Yoga is not a performance - we don't do yoga, we practice yoga. Practicing implies that we are in an active state of learning and refining, not performing to reach a finite goal. It doesn't matter how well you think you've performed the actual practice, but rather that you've shown up regularly and have started to redirect your effort in a yogic way.”
Getting started is half the battle, but the best part of adding yoga to your morning routine is that you don’t have to head to a yoga studio to do so, you can start your journey toward mastery from the comfort of your bed! All it takes is waking up. But why is yoga the key to a better start to your day?
Niki explains, “These techniques have been practiced over thousands of years and by millions of people because they work. Yogis have started their days with specific rituals because it sustains a "spiritual energy" over the course of our unpredictable, distracting and stressful days. There is now so much evidence to support what our yogic ancestors understood 5,000 years ago - taking intentional time at the beginning of everyday keeps us aligned with our soul's purpose and clears our mind of unnecessary noise, freeing us from the emotional and mental burdens that are a natural part of our modern lives.”
The evidence is overwhelming and studies continue to prove the benefits of daily yoga — according to one study done by the International Journal of Yoga, regular practice of yoga resulted in a significant decrease in the time taken to fall asleep, an increase in the total number of hours slept, and in the feeling of being rested in the morning.
While the idea of beginning a new habit can feel overwhelming, it’s as simple as replacing your alarm with Yoga Wake Up. On June 5, Yoga Wake Up launched two new morning series that were designed for the two types of morning people; those that use their snooze button, and those who don’t. For the snoozers, the Master Your Morning series will teach you how to break up with your alarm over the course of 5 days. Just 5 days! It’s a small commitment to make with a big reward — happier and healthier mornings. For those that are looking for more mindful mornings, The Yogi Way series was created to teach you how to wake up the way yogis have been for years, with yoga! No matter what type of morning person you are, you’ll experience the endless benefits of taking a few moments at the start of your day to focus on your mind, body, and wellbeing. Let’s get started!
To start your new morning routine with yoga, download Yoga Wake Up, answer one question, and then we’ll suggest one of two of our new morning series for you. The best part? Your first series is absolutely free, no subscription required! Better days are just one morning away.