“The nature of yoga is to shine the light of awareness into the darkest corners of the body.” -–Jason Crandell
For some people, it looks hard to take a break to stretch the body a little bit or meditate and get focused on what they want and who they really are, to get motivated. But if you really want to make a big change in your life with, just 10 minutes of meditation and yoga daily can be the best solution you may ever take to boost your happiness.
The best option would be to practise it in the morning to tune your mind to be successful during the day, and at the sunset to start getting relaxed and reduce the revolutions of the mind before going to bed.
Because of this we bring you two 10-minutes sets. The first one is designed to be practised in the morning and the second one is for the evening. You can choose if you want to practise both or start with just one. You can also be creative and use these sets as models to build your own routine. You may also include a Mantra to chant for the opening and closure of your practice.
Here we go:
Yoga set for the Morning
Pranayam to wake you up!
If the hardest part for you to start your practice is the lack of energy or maybe the laziness to move to a place in your house to do yoga, a single pranayama can bring that energy back to you. If it’s not your case, a good pranayam (energy control techniques through specific breathing patterns) also helps your mind to reduce the noise of your thoughts and focus better on the practice.
For the morning, ideal pranayamas are those that are active and dynamic. One easy example is inhaling completely in 4 short times and exhaling 1 long time.
There’s also a breathing technique called Agnipran or Kapalabhati (translated as Breath of Fire), which consists of exhaling dynamically (2 or 3 breaths per second) as you push the navel in. The inhalation comes automatically.
Time suggested: 3 minutes.
Surya Namaskar
(Sun Salutations)
This is the most known sequence of exercises/asanas in yoga as it produces a really good stretching of the body and adjustment of the nadis (subtle energy channels), meaning ‘sun salutation’ that with this sequence, we are able to absorb and use prana (vital energy/Inner Power) from the Sun, air and food more efficiently.
Time suggested: 3 minutes. Depending on your pace, you may do it from 8 to 15 repetitions in a sequence. There are a lot of variations of it in the most of the styles of yoga.
Meditation about your Goals
After you finish the past 2 sequences, it is important to meditate about what you (your soul) really want and what can you do and how to organize your activities to achieve that. Intuition during meditation can also give you some good suggestions or even subtle premonitions, which could be crucial to stay happy and successful during the day.
Time suggested: 3 minutes.
Yoga set for the Evening
Alternate Nostril Breathing
This therapeutic pranayama can bring to you a deep peace of mind, emotional balance and quietness for the night. Seated comfortably (with legs crossed if possible) and with one of the hands resting on the knee, close one nostril with the thumb of your other hand (that one of the same side of the hand you’re using). Then, inhale through the free nostril and for the exhalation, change to the opposite nostril, blocking it now with the index or little finger and exhale.
If you choose to inhale through the right one, it will have a better effect on relaxing and being more receptive to other people’s ideas and emotions. Inhaling through the left nostril will promote attention and focus.
Time suggested: 3 minutes
You may use some background relaxing music to improve your focus and calmness during your practice. Muscular contraction in the whole body
A wonderful and easy exercise that will help you to de-stress and leave problems away before going to sleep is inhaling at your full capacity, and thereafter contracting all your muscles as hard as you can while you hold the breath in. Include your face, your hands, your gluts, your shoulders and everything. You may also apply these contractions with the breath out.
Repetitions suggested: 4-5 (10 seconds each)
If you want to know better how these muscle locks work, read about them in our post about meditation techniques
Stretching Asanas
It’s really important to stretch our body, because this way we release tensions in our muscles that also impacts our nervous system and it will make easier going to sleep and fighting anxiety.
Some of the basic Asanas you may choose are:
- Cat Cow Pose (Bitilasana)
- Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
- Camel Pose (Ustrasana)
- Cobra (Bhujangasana)
- Boat Pose (Navasana)
- Dog N° 1 (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
We sequenced these exercises from the simplest (1 and 2) to the hardest (5 and 6) for flexibility and balance. We suggest to select 1 of each pair (3 in total) for your set, taking one minute for each asana.
Total time: 3 minutes
Child’s Pose (Balasana)
After you finish all of them, kneel and sit on your heels. Then, let your forefront relay on the floor/yoga mat. Your arms are gently stretched at both sides, parallel to the body. Use a cushion in case this position is uncomfortable for you. The purpose of this is to let the mind leave all tensions away as it connects with the strength of Mother Earth, and in this pose you’re sending both vital energy and nutrients to your head so your brain should work properly, so harmony will naturally blossom in your life.
Suggested time: 2 minutes
Here is a beautiful Yoga Music for Healing and Positive Energy
