Good Morning Exercises and Workout Routines| Herbal Goodness

Rise and shine.  It’s going to be a wonderful day! 

You are a beautiful person that’s going to help make a difference in this world today!  Get your day off to a great start with these twelve morning yoga stretches to help get rid of pain, stiffness, and excess fat. 

Plus, this is more than just a morning stretch routine.  It’s also a mood booster, like you’ve awoken on the right side of the bed!

So, put your cell phone down and hop out of bed.  Let’s get started with 12 minutes of stretching to give you a good morning lift.  Begin in standing position, and then take a few nice deep breaths.

1.  Stand in mountain pose.

Your feet are a shoulder’s length distance apart, and your knees are soft, with a slight micro-bend.  The palms of your hands are facing forward.  Inhale, and raise your hands up to the sun.  Make yourself long and tall.  Imagine you are a lovely flower, growing from seed to blossom.  Exhale and bring your arms back down.  Repeat for 7 breaths.

2.  Take a lovely swan dive.

Inhale and raise your hands up to the sun once again.  But this time, swan dive down into a forward fold.  Your arms will be gracefully outstretched like the open wings of a swan as you head down towards your feet.  Remember to keep a slight bend to the knees as you fold down to your comfort level.  Embrace your elegance.  Repeat for 7 breaths.

3.  Walk your dog.

Next, on your last swan dive down, place your hands onto the ground or a bolster, and walk your feet back into down dog pose.   Pretend you a jolly dog, happily walking for some good morning exercise.

4 & 5.  Flow with cat & cow. 

Now, get into table pose, on your hands and knees.  Inhale into cow pose, letting your belly drop towards the ground while your face smiles and looks out to the room, bright and cheery.  Then, exhale into cat pose, arching your back up to the sky while your head tucks down.  Repeat for 7 deep breaths.

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6.  Thread the needle.

While still on your hands and knees in table pose, take one arm up to the ceiling, and then thread it under and thru to the other side while twisting your torso.  Take a few deep breaths and then resume back into table pose.  Then do the same thing for the other arm, then return into table position.   You are now prepared for all the twists and turns today may bring.

7.  Find your inner strength and plank.

Now get into plank by walking your feet back from table position.  You should look like you are about to do a push up.  Focus on staying strong while you stay in plank position for 7 long deep inhales and exhales.  Wow!    

8.  Frogs are fun.

Get in a seated squat position, balancing your weight on your toes with your feet facing outward and heels touching.  Inhale, and rise upward into a forward fold.  Exhale back down into frog pose.  See how many times you can do this in a minute.  This will surely get your blood flowing!

9.  Hug yourself.

Now rise back up into standing position and give yourself a big hug because you are so very awesome.  Plus, you’re stretching the rhomboid muscles of your back!  Turn your torso from one side, and then to the other to increase the stretch.  While loving the wonderful person that you are, give yourself a long hug for a whole minute.  

10.  Open up your chest.

Next, it’s time to open the chest with a pec stretch.  Reach the arms above the head and retract the shoulders back to feel the chest lengthen.  Take 7 long deep breathes.  With each breath, think of something for which you are grateful.

11.  Sunny side-bend.

On inhale, reach your arms up to the sun and clasp your hands together.   On exhale, side bend as you imagine tracing one side of the rising sun.  Inhale back up.  And then exhale with a side bend on your other side.  Repeat seven times.

12.  Set a positive tone for the day.

Finally, return to mountain pose and take one last minute to think about making this a beautiful day.  Take seven long breaths.

Now that you’ve had your morning stretches, you feel more limber and alive.  Remember to stretch in a way that is safe for your body.  If something hurts, it’s time to reduce the intensity or modify the stretch.  Pace yourself, while noticing the improvements that each day of stretching brings.