Can you think of any better way to start your day than a sunrise morning yoga flow? The sun breaks just as you gently move into your day, creating a moment of silence and bliss. To generate this tranquility and peace, start your morning sun yoga flow with a grounding mini-meditation, followed by inspiring affirmations and journal prompts to create the most magical day possible!
Morning Sun Yoga to Energize Your Core
Before moving into your yoga flow, consider starting with:
- A spoonful of Chyawanprash. Known as The Yogis Breakfast, Chyawanprash is an ancient Ayurveda superfood that offers a variety of physical, mental and spiritual benefits for yoga practice.
- This 15 minute morning meditation practice.
- An intention. Establish what you’d like to bring into the day. It can be general, such as loving-kindness towards everyone or to feel good within yourself, or you can focus on more specific goals, such as generating courage in your voice for a tough conversation. Whatever you’d like to focus on throughout your day, or even just your yoga practice, call attention to it now and speak it out loud to declare it to the universe.
Warm-up
The intention behind this morning sun yoga warm-up is to embrace slow movements. As you step onto your mat, your body may be a little tight from sleeping during the night. That’s why it’s essential to start with gentle, slow movements to open the joints and build heat in the body. Remember to breathe deeply and aim to hold each pose for 5-full breaths. During the vinyasa, you may link your breath to each new movement to create a quicker flow and build your body’s heat.
- 5 minutes meditation to ground
- Neck rolls
- Cat/cow pose
- Downward facing dog
- Standing side body stretch R/L
- Standing forward fold + hands interlaced, chest expansion
- Forward fold
Vinyasa – Sun Salutation A
- Mountain pose
- Backbend
- Forward fold
- Halfway lift
- High plank
- Low plank
- Upward facing dog
- Downward facing dog
- Forward fold
- Mountain pose
Standing
During sleep, your whole body goes into “rest” mode. So, upon waking up, your internal organs need to be awakened in addition to your joints. To invigorate your organs, you can practice yoga poses that ignite the core, such as twists and holds. These standing postures for this morning sun yoga practice will help wake up your internal organs, sparking your digestive process as well!
- Chair pose
- Revolved chair – R
- Revolved high lunge – R
- High crescent pose – R
- Chair pose
- Revolved chair – L
- Revolved high lunge – L
- High crescent pose – L
- Chair pose
~ option to repeat two or three times ~
Core
- High plank + low plank push-ups
- Dolphin pose
- High plank spider crunches
- Boat pose hold
Cool-down
Relax and restore by re-centering your spine to cool your body and mind down.
- Bridge pose
- Shoelace pose
- Easy pose + deep breathing
Affirmations to Inspire Your Day
To further brighten your morning sun yoga practice, recite one or all of these affirmations. You can state them out loud while in a meditative state or to yourself while gazing at your eyes in a mirror. Feel free to mix some of these up or bring in your affirmation to make you feel lit up!
- I feel happy, healthy, and strong
- All of my challenges are opportunities in disguise
- I am creating the life of my dreams
- I am the one I have been waiting for
- The patience and kindness I offer the world return to me in abundance
Journal Prompts
To further elevate your morning sun yoga practice, complete your practice by journaling.
- List 10 things you are grateful for and why
- Who inspires you today and why
- Describe a moment that has made you feel proud of yourself
- Explain your ideal day and how you want to feel
I hope you enjoyed this morning sun yoga flow. Feel free to add this into your morning routine or practice on its own. I wish you a beautiful, energizing day!
Clare Michalik, Ayurvedic Practitioner
