Morning Yoga | 4-Minute Wake Up Stretch

This short morning yoga practice is designed to gently wake up the body and release tension after sleep. In this 4 minute sequence, we move through cat cow, side stretch, and thread the needle to mobilise the spine, open the shoulders, and stretch the side body.

This is a gentle way to wake up the body, improve mobility, and start the day feeling more awake, stretched, and refreshed.

Perfect to do in the morning, before work, or anytime your body feels stiff and needs a quick reset.

Move slowly, breathe deeply, and enjoy waking up the body.

Transcript

Welcome, We're going to work our shoulders today. Coming around onto all fours, Hands underneath the shoulders, Knees underneath the hips, Cat and cow. Press the back up, Chin in toward the chest and then release. Bend the elbow slightly, Lift the chin and then maybe lengthen through the arms. Chin in toward the chest, Rounding and arching and once more, Rounding and arching. Walking the hands forward and sinking the bum down toward the heels, Child's pose. Lift the head, Walk your hands off one side of the mat and across the other side. Come back to centre and come to sit on your heels if you can, If not you can go higher and hands to the shoulders, Elbows forward and back. Inhale forward, Exhale back and once more. Good and releasing. Walking one hand out and reach the arm up overhead, Reach out to your fingers, Draw the hand back to the shoulder, Reach out through the fingers and the arm, Hand back to the shoulder and once more, Reaching across the other side, Hand to the shoulder, Reach the arm out and back to the shoulder, Reaching and back down once more and come back up. Okay, So we're going to reach up again, This time draw the hand down and back up. Now if kneeling doesn't work for you, If you want to do cross-legged, You can. Reaching forward and up and once more, Across the other side, Reaching over, Hand toward the floor and back up. So you always listen to your body, Going at a pace that works for you, Going within your limitations and releasing. Coming back around onto your mat, Slide the hands out, This time bring the palms together in prayer. Lengthen through the arms if you can and dropping the forehead down toward the floor. Take a nice deep breath in and away and in and away and coming up onto all fours. Weight into the left hand, Right arm out to the side, Take a deep breath in, As you exhale, Thread the arm through, Side of the head down toward the floor. Coming back up, Cat and cow and then across the other side, Left arm out, Threading through, Rising back up, Sinking back, Child's pose, Rising up and rolling out through the shoulders. I hope your shoulders feel a little looser. Thank you for watching, My name's Sandhya, See you again.