Starting your morning with intention is a game-changer. It’s so easy to roll over as your alarm sounds, grab your phone, and start scrolling. But by just adding a few minutes of intentional movement and breath to your morning routine, you can shift your energy and mindset for the entire day. Here's a short routine to help you get started.
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1. Cat/Cow Pose
Move into a tabletop position and arch your spine, lifting your gaze as you inhale, then round on your exhalation, drawing your navel toward your spine. After a few cycles you might try an energizing Kundalini variation moving quickly with the breath. Move for about two minutes total.
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2. Downward-Facing Dog
From tabletop, roll your toes under and press up and back into your first downward-facing dog. With your hands shoulder distance apart, take a few breaths to peddle out your legs and gently shake your head side to side, releasing your neck. Pause with your gaze resting between your feet for six to eight breaths. You can lower to your knees and rest in child’s pose anytime.
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3. Forward Fold
Step forward to the top of the mat with your feet hip-distance apart. With a slight bend to your knees, interlace your fingers behind your back and fold forward. Hold for one minute, then slowly round up to standing.
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4. Crescent Twist
Step your right foot forward and rise to crescent pose, standing high on the ball of your back foot. Draw your hands to your heart in prayer, pressing your palms together. On an exhalation, draw your left elbow to the outside of your right thigh. Use your inhalations to lengthen and your exhale to revolve a bit more. Hold for eight breaths, but lower the back knee to the earth if you need to. (Repeat on the other side.)
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5. Reclined Bound Angle Pose
Relax on your back with the soles of your feet together making a diamond shape with your legs. Place your hands on your belly and slow down your breath, infusing a sense of intention into your breath. Rest here for two or three minutes breathing deeply.
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- If You Only Do 5 Yoga Poses, Do These
- Stretch Your Entire Body With This 60-Second Yoga Sequence
- Find The Yoga Asana To Match Your Astrological Sign
Mary Beth is a yoga teacher, writer, and lover of avocados, homemade chai tea, and hip hop. She’s an Iowa girl living blissfully in Venice Beach with her husband and their lovable English bulldog, Rosy. You’ll find her riding her bike, going to the farmers’ market, taking road trips with her fam and teaching at Wanderlust Hollywood. Whether it’s through a sweaty yoga practice, a gratitude meditation, or a conversation over coffee about life goals, her mission is to lead people toward their bliss. Sustainable, fulfilling bliss.
During her journey of teaching yoga for almost a decade, she's traveled the world teaching yoga to professional cyclists, she's shared a stage with Michael Franti and even designed custom yoga programs for rehabilitation centers, homeless shelters and the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles. She truly believe in the power of connection — vulnerable, raw and real — and believes our most powerful and potent practice happens off of our yoga mat.