Morning yoga benefits: I Did 15-Minute Morning Yoga for a Year, Here’s How Yoga Changed My Life

By now, we all know how sitting is considered a slow suicide. 

Morning movement worked as bodily relief, easing away the aching lower back, stiff shoulders, and immobile spine that the long days of sitting cause. 

I felt more at ease in my body, and blood circulated better. 

Sounds obvious that we should move, yet sometimes it’s hard when there are constant load of tasks and goals to reach at work. So, this 15 minutes to do before the day was realistic place to begin with. 

The movement did give me a better energy boost than a specialty coffee. 

Oxygenating the body and moving away from the stiffness after sleeping just set the day for a good tone.

The feeling you get when you finally have some non-negotiable structure in your days, even if it’s just 15 minutes, gives a feeling of determination.

As a digital nomad, places, people, cultures and daily routines change. So for me the 15 minutes purely for myself every morning adds deep groundedness from the stability.

Morning yoga benefits transformed life in general; 15 minutes of predictability is very welcome amidst the constant changes of a nomadic lifestyle. 

Some mornings, due to poor planning I simply did not have time for my 15-minute morning yoga. 

As I got quite addicted to the practice, in a sense that the day ahead was much worse if I didn’t do the practice, I started to plan better. 

I would just wake up 15 minutes earlier. 

In super early mornings I did the practice a little bit later. Days with flights I would do it at the airport, or if I had a meeting at 8 (who sets meetings at 8!) I would do my morning yoga after the meeting. 

So there was a way once I found the will from the uncomfort on missing out on the practice. 

This may sound lazy, but some mornings you just don’t feel like waking up energized to do some sun salutations.

Then I would choose a seated breathwork, or gentle stretching instead. 

For me it was not about repeating the exact same routine every morning, but always showing up for myself for 15 minutes. 

For me easiest way is to move along with a video, where someone clearly demonstrates what I need to do. 

So instead of making the movement plan intuitively by myself when I’m barely awake, I most often chose a video. 

You can start with this free 7 mornings of clarity challenge to find the perfect morning routine for you.

It includes 7 different videos, varying from energizing flows to effective breathing techniques and stretches. 

I recommend having a spot for your yoga mat at home, or wherever you are staying. You know already the evening before where you will do your morning practice. 

This is your safe space, and you can just roll out of bed to your sacred space.

Even though the physical benefits of feeling at ease were great, what really got me addicted to and kept me coming back month after month, was the sense of clarity in mind that the 15 minutes mindful movement caused. 

So personally I can say yoga changed my life with the benefit of clarity and lack of brain fog.

There is only one way to find out if it works out for you: test it yourself, for a long enough time! 

You don’t need to aim for yoga for a year, but I recommend sticking to the habit for at least 30 days. 

Personally I started doing the same practices over and over again, as I wanted some predictability and simplicity, instead of a new flow every morning. 

If you are ready to start experiencing the morning yoga benefits yourself:

Start with 15 minutes of morning yoga for 7 days with free 7 mornings of clarity challenge.