When Is the Best Time to Do Yoga?

Check with your doctor before starting any exercise routine.

You can do yoga in the morning and / or in the evening, but you need to understand that the goals of the morning and evening classes are different. By exercising in the morning, a person prepares for the day ahead, recharging with energy.
Evening classes serve general health and recovery functions. Therefore, since the tasks are different, then both the morning and evening practice should also look different!

☀ Morning classes.
It often happens that in the morning we are in a hurry. If you do yoga in the morning, remember not to rush! At this time, especially immediately after sleep, you need to take the warm-up very seriously – in the morning the flexibility of the body is lower and the likelihood of injuries to the ligaments, joints and spine is high. Therefore, we warm up the body, we warm it up very well. If there is no time to warm up, it is better to postpone the session.

How to recharge in the morning for the whole day?
The key is to get our sympathoadrenal system to work.
If you have slept well, then in the morning there will be enough adrenaline to actively spend the day. If your body and psyche have not sufficiently recovered, there will not be enough adrenaline and, as a result, performance will decrease and you will feel sleepy during the day.

You probably know or have heard about such a morning set of exercises as Surya Namaskar – “Salutation to the Sun”. This is a really good morning energy sequence to help activate the sympathoadrenal system.
Sometimes, however, one is not able to perform this sequence due to poor flexibility or age.

Some people can wake up quickly, and it is easy for them to get up and complete the complex, while for others it takes a long time to get active, so morning exercises becomes more dangerous in terms of injuries.

However, people who find it difficult to wake up and people with low flexibility also need to increase their adrenaline rush. They should use milder stimulation of the sympathoadrenal system. For example, they may do Uddiyana bandha (Abdominal lock) several times until the heat wave rises. A slight increase in body temperature will indicate an adrenaline rush, which is necessary for alertness in the morning.
So, in the morning, Surya Namaskar or Uddiyana Bandha will be the best practice, they will raise adrenaline and help restore the strength of our body.

? Evening classes.
Evening classes have a different goal – shortly before bed, we do not need extra vigor. The advantages of this time are that the body is more flexible (more complex asanas can be performed) and that the effect of evening exercises lasts longer. Evening yoga is very beneficial in terms of recovery and rejuvenation of the body.

You can perform the following complex to activate Kundalini and rejuvenate:
Shirshasana (Headstand). If you are a beginner, replace it with
Ardha Kurmasana (Half turtle pose),
Paschimottanasana (Sitting forward bend),
Bhujangasana (Cobra) and
Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-wall pose).
Try these poses in the evening and notice how you feel.

There are many subtle differences, the same asana in the morning and in the evening can have different effects: performing Bhujangasana (Cobra) in the morning as part of the Sun Salutation activates the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system and provides energy for the whole day. However, this same pose in the evening activates the parasympathetic system for a powerful recovery of the body.

TODAY’S TIP: The optimal time for MEDITATION is the transitions of the day when the lunar and solar breathing are in balance (sunrise, sunset, noon and midnight). The goal is to try to meditate at the same time every day, be it in the morning, late at night, or in the evening.