NEW n Feel more flexible n Boost your energy 10 minute - YOGG m orning Easy moves to wake up your body and mind 50 POSES & SEQUENCES TO START YOUR DAY Plus n MORNING MEDITATIONS n BREATHING EXERCISES ln a o t i it g i d i D E FIRST EDITION n Beat stress n Get stronger n Embrace the day 10-MINUTE MORNING YOGA IS SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE, WHATEVER AGE OR FITNESS LEVEL. Welcome Want to wake up every morning feeling energised, happy and eager to embrace the day? It’s time to start doing yoga. Research shows a regular yoga practice can transform your daily life, boosting your energy and focus, reducing stress and anxiety and improving your strength and flexibility to make everyday tasks so much easier. Morning yoga is the perfect way to start your day and reap maximum rewards from this incredible system of mind and body exercise. Not convinced you have enough time in your schedule? The good news is, you only need 10 minutes! Just a short session of yoga first thing can transform your daily life – and this book will show you how. 10-Minute Morning Yoga offers an expert guide to practising yoga at home. Just follow the step-by-step poses and sequences, specially designed for mornings by top yoga instructor Laura Gate-Eastley. You’ll also find morning meditation and breathing exercises to deepen the benefits even further. Start today and you won’t look back! 2 3 10 -minute YOG m orning Future PLC Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA Editorial Editor Mary Comber Art Editor Kelly Flood Chief Sub-Editor Sheila Reid Compiled by Sarah Bankes & Lora Barnes Senior Art Editor Andy Downes Head of Art & Design Greg Whitaker Editorial Director Jon White Cover images Danny Bird Photography Danny Bird All copyrights and trademarks are recognised and respected Retouching Colin Beagley Hair & make-up Lisa Waite (@lisawaitemakeup) Yoga model Zoe Thresher at WModel Yoga instruction Aki Omori Advertising Media packs are available on request Commercial Director Clare Dove International Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw [email protected] www.futurecontenthub.com Circulation Head of Newstrade Tim Mathers Production Head of Production Mark Constance Production Project Manager Matthew Eglinton Advertising Production Manager Joanne Crosby Digital Editions Controller Jason Hudson Production Managers Keely Miller, Nola Cokely, Vivienne Calvert, Fran Twentyman Printed in the UK Distributed by Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU www.marketforce.co.uk Tel: 0203 787 9001 10-Minute Morning Yoga First Edition (LBZ4712) © 2022 Future Publishing Limited We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. 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Future plc is a public Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne company quoted on the Non-executive chairman Richard Huntingford London Stock Exchange Chief financial officer Penny Ladkin-Brand (symbol: FUTR) www.futureplc.com Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244 C O N T E N T S “ Morning is the best time to practise yoga as your body “ is rested 6 Contents 8 How to use this book 10 Introduction 12 The benefits 22 The magic of morning yoga 24 How to be an early bird 26 THE BASICS 28 Breathing basics 30 Perfect posture 32 Tips for morning yoga 34 Your yoga kit 38 THE POSTURES 40 Standing poses 94 THE SEQUENCES 72 Backbend poses 96 Warm-up 82 Sitting poses 102 Sun salutations 88 Reclining poses 108 Energise your day 110 Ground yourself 112 Find your focus 114 Morning stretch 116 TAKE IT FURTHER 118 Breathe into being 122 Morning meditation 126 Embrace the day 130 Meet the experts 7 How to USE THIS BOOK Ready to discover the magic of morning yoga? Follow the steps below to get the most from your guide 10-Minute Morning Yoga offers all the expert instruction you need to create your own morning yoga practice. For the best results, begin at the start of the book and work your way through each section. This way you’ll gain a complete grounding of yoga and the techniques needed to enjoy your sessions and stay safe. Once you have the foundations in place, you can then dip in and out of the book, choosing poses and sequences to suit your daily needs, or tailor your own morning sessions. Here’s how to get started. 8 Before you start p22 p12 p26 2 Meet your instructor Top yoga teacher Laura Gate-Eastley explains why yoga is the perfect way to start your day and offers her tips and favourite poses for morning practice. 1 Discover the benefits 3 Get started We reveal the amazing mind and body Understanding the foundations of benefits of practising morning yoga. yoga will ensure you enjoy your daily Discover how it can help you ease stiff practice to the full. In this section, p102 muscles, kickstart your metabolism you’ll discover the breathing and and sharpen your focus, then discover posture techniques you need, plus some of the best poses for every goal. handy yoga props and kit. p38 p116 5 Try the sequences Once you’re familiar with the poses, you can combine them into flowing yoga sequences. In this section, you’ll find energising Sun salutations plus four therapeutic sequences for 4 Learn the poses 6 Deepen your practice daily life created by teacher Now it’s time to try the yoga poses that Breathwork and meditation Laura Gate-Eastley. will form the basis of your sessions. exercises are also a key part of yoga. Each pose comes with step-by-step In this section, meditation teacher Ali instructions; read these first to avoid Roff Farrar and breathwork injury or strain. You’ll also learn the expert Hanna-Jade Browne offer benefits each pose offers so you can easy exercises to enhance tailor your practice to your needs. your sessions. 9 MORNING MIRACLE Sunrise yoga is an ancient tradition that will transform your life for the better P icture the scene: it’s day begins, you do a short session Yoga SOS morning and the first of yoga, then shower and enjoy a The idea of adding yoga into rays of sunlight are healthy breakfast while catching your busy morning may seem shining through your up on the morning’s news. unrealistic. You’re probably bedroom window. You wake up Doesn’t sound like your average wondering how you’d find the gently, feeling happy, refreshed morning? Don’t worry, you’re not time – after all, yoga is often and ready to embrace the day. alone. Unless you’re an early bird, associated with rest and Your body feels supple and mornings can be a stressful time relaxation. But think again! energised, your mind calm and of day, as you scramble out of Traditionally, yoga is practised at alert and the face that greets you bed and rush to get ready for work sunrise because this is when the in the bathroom mirror is glowing or organise the family. Sometimes, mind is most still and there are and radiant. With plenty of time on the day feels exhausting before least distractions. Furthermore, your hands before your working it’s even begun! far from just being relaxing, yoga 10