The National Institutes of Health say that yoga is an ancient practice which originated in India. Initially used as a spiritual practice, it has since become a popular regular workout. Traditional yoga focuses greatly on spiritual enlightenment and often features chanting as well as physical elements. The more modern equivalent focuses more on the physical aspects of the practice. (https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/yoga-what-you-need-to-know).
This is often a light impact way to get exercise making it a perfect early morning practice. Without expending too much energy 30-60 minutes of yoga each morning can have a number of benefits which can improve your day as a whole.
Improves Strength And Flexibility
According to WebMD light daily yoga can greatly improve your flexibility. This is because the poses and stretches work the muscles improving their elasticity. With more relaxed muscles this also helps to minimize stiffness and tiredness within the muscles as well. (https://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/the-health-benefits-of-yoga#:~:text=The%20Health%20Benefits%20of%20Yoga%201%20Yoga%20for,blood%20pressure%20and%20slow%20the%20heart%20rate.).
More intense so-called power yoga, such as Ashtanga, can help to improve muscle tone and strength. There are a wide variety of poses meaning that potentially all of your muscle groups can be worked. If performed properly most of these poses will work your core muscles along with the other targeted areas.
Helps Your Posture
The way a person holds themselves can often have an effect on how people perceive them. Poor posture on a subconscious level can cause people to judge you as lazy or unmotivated. Daily morning yoga sessions can help you develop a more proud, confident posture.
As core strength improves our ability to stand tall without excess effort grows. Additionally, as we get to know our bodies through yoga we can better realize when our posture is poor and we can consciously adjust.
Heart Health Benefits
Yoga by nature is not an aerobic exercise so you might imagine it does little for your cardiovascular system. However, there are elements of yoga that can help improve your heart health over time which is obviously beneficial.
Daily yoga helps us learn breathing techniques that relax the body which in turn help us to lower our heart rate and blood pressure. When we improve our circulatory health, this can gradually assist in fighting heart disease.
The low impact nature of most types of yoga means that they can be done easily while still receiving beneficial health boosts. People coming back from a heart attack or stroke who may not be able to work out vigorously can find yoga a gentle way to get in shape.
Stress Management
Those people who have a stressful job to face daily may find that yoga each morning could really help them cope with their day ahead. According to WebMD the benefits of yoga include not only strength, balance and flexibility but also stress relief.
It is believed that the practice’s emphasis on the connection between mind, body and spirit can have powerful emotional benefits. (https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/yoga-for-stress-management#1).
Practitioners of yoga often claim to get better sleep at night and to feel less stressed in general. When we are well rested, we have more energy and feel more capable of facing the day ahead. This combined with the release of feel good hormones in the brain post workout, make people happier and more relaxed to face the day ahead.
Final Thoughts
When you factor in the cumulative effects of daily yoga with the positive feelings of working out each morning there are a great many benefits to your day. Not only does yoga help you be more emotionally ready to face the day but it also makes you feel stronger and more energized as well.