Are you an early bird or a night owl? If you are a night owl, maybe you won’t feel interested in doing anything in the early mornings.
A lot of people choose to go to the fitness center after their working hours because they can’t get up earlier than the time they go to work.
However, some decide to exercise at 5 am or 6 am since they want to spend the evening time taking care of their family.
Yoga is good for your health and your mind. Nobody denies this. However, “what time should we do yoga” is perhaps the question that many people always wonder about.
Should we do yoga in the morning or in the afternoon, or even in the evening before going to bed?
Actually, you can practice it at any time of the day. No matter what time you exercise, it will still bring about certain benefits.
Below are 10 special health benefits of yoga in the morning that you would be surprised by.
#1. Bring about better sleep and balance hormones
Have you ever found it so difficult to get up early in the morning? Do you really want to change your biological clock by trying to get in bed before midnight but you couldn’t because you have been familiar with the night owl lifestyle?
If yes, you should really consider morning yoga as the first thing to do of the day.
Once you make it a daily habit, your body will automatically adjust the time to get up, as well as the time to fall asleep itself, and you will wake up with more energy and inspired feeling.
The reason for this is that while practicing yoga, you have to focus strongly on breathing, meditation, or the poses in Asana.
This will create positive effects on the endocrine system, which generates hormones and is responsible for long-term body maintenance.
Some yoga poses even help to stimulate the pineal gland that excretes melatonin hormone and help us sleep better. Then your new sleeping habit will gradually be created.
#2. Boost metabolism
This is one of the greatest health benefits of yoga in the morning. When you practice it as the first thing you do after getting up, you will be able to wake up your body and foster the metabolism for the whole day.
You can do some special twists in your yoga flow to stimulate the digestive system. It will help to remove all the bloating caused by the previous day’s dinner and set you up for a new day.
#3. You will be toned up
You don’t need to go to the gym and use every available device as well as machines to get a good-shaped body and good health.
You can totally try doing yoga at home, with a yoga mat and something connected to the internet for the tutorial videos.
Practicing yoga in a long run will make the whole parts of your body stronger, from your arms, your back to your legs.
Everything will be better from the inside to the outside look. Those who are too thin will tend to get a more vital look. Those who are overweight will absolutely burn some calories to get in shape.
The important thing is that if you practice yoga in the morning, before having any meal in the day, you will obtain more positive results.
So, try it for a several-month period. You and your friends will be surprised!
#4. Reduce the need for caffeine
You may wonder how this relates to your health. A lot of people are using caffeine to wake them up in the early morning because they can’t be ready for work after a long night staying up late.
In fact, using caffeine in a low-to-moderate amount does not lead to any serious effects on your health.
However, if you use it too much, you may confront many health problems like insomnia, digestive issues, muscle breakdown, high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, etc.
To limit the effects of caffeine, the best way is to get rid of it. And doing yoga in the morning can help to make your mind more awake and alert.
You will be able to get ready for the rest time of the day without any help from caffeine. You can try some specific postures to build energy including Sun Salutations, backbends, and twists to see the difference.
#5. Make your body energized
Doing yoga in the early mornings will provide oxygen and increase blood circulation.
It helps to balance your breath and push the blood to go through veins, improving the functions of internal organs and making your body always full of energy.
In addition, the amount of oxygen provided to your brain will help you feel more inspired, and happy and increase concentration for the whole day.
#6. Improve flexibility
To many people, sitting down on a chair at the office all day is a nightmare because it makes them become less flexible.
Exercising in the early morning with some yoga poses can help you to solve this problem. Moving and stretching your body will make you feel more energetic and get ready for a busy day. It brings a greater range of motion to tight areas.
You’ll be able to gain flexibility in your hamstrings, back, shoulders and hips. Sitting too much can result in pain and immobility, so try to practice yoga every day to prevent this process.
#7. Drain your lymph and boost immunity
When you stretch your body and move all the organs around during your yoga flow, you will increase the drainage of lymph (a kind of fluid rich in immune cells).
This helps the lymphatic system to avoid infection, remove cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.
#8. Improve heart rate
Some yoga flows can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range. This would help to lower the risk of heart attack and relieve depression.
However, even other normal exercises that don’t get your heart rate up that high can improve your cardiovascular conditioning.
It has been found that practicing yoga will lower the resting heart rate, increase endurance and make your body absorb oxygen at the maximum level during exercise.
#9. It’s good for your lungs:
Doing yoga in the morning is extremely useful to give your lungs more room to breathe.
Since you have to stretch and move your body parts combined with deep inhalation and exhalation, you will be able to improve your lung function.
Besides, yoga also promotes breathing through the nose, which helps to filter the air, warm it and humidify it, and remove dust or pollen or any other harmful components you shouldn’t take into your lungs.
#10. Ease your pains
Have you had bad back or neck pain due to lying in the wrong posture during the previous night? Yoga can help you. It can ease your pain immediately.
You can start your day with a flow of asana or meditation to make you feel better without having to use much medication. That’s also a great health benefit of yoga in the morning.
