10-Minute Morning Yoga for Midlife: Energy, Calm & Clarity

This gentle morning practice is designed for women in midlife who want to begin the day feeling more energised, grounded, clear and connected to themselves.
Using Kundalini Yoga-inspired movement, breathwork and meditation, we’ll gently wake up the body, move some energy and create a little space before you step into everything your day is asking of you.
You don’t need to be flexible, you don’t need any previous yoga experience and you certainly don’t need a perfect morning routine. Come exactly as you are and give yourself these few minutes.

Transcript

Sat Naam and welcome to this 10 minute morning practice for energy, For calm and for clarity so we can move through our day gracefully, Beautifully, Elegantly and with peace and joy in our hearts. We're gonna begin by tuning in because this is primarily some Kundalini Yoga and we always tune in and connect with ourselves first. So just take a moment just to be very still. Sitting in easy pose. You can do all of this practice in a chair if that is better for you. But just come into a comfortable seated position, Hands on knees, Spine is tall. And close your eyes. Breathing deeply all the way down into your belly. Letting yourself land here, Letting whatever has gone before, How was your night's sleep? Was it a good one? Was it a bit disturbing? Letting that just go now and bringing yourself to this moment. And in Kundalini Yoga, We always tune in with Aung Namo, Guru Dev Namo. It means I bow to the divine wisdom within me. When we do yoga meditation, We connect to our inner wisdom and we're all born with the wisdom that we require. It just gets covered up by expectations, Rules, Society. Playing a role, So we come back to ourselves. Bring your hands together, Rub your palms. Place them together at your heart centre and already feel that energy within your hands. We're going to chant it three times. Inhale to begin. ONG NAMOH GURU DEV NAMOH Aum Namo Buddha Thank you. Aum Namo Gurudev Namo. Inhale deeply. Hold the breath. Let the vibrations of the mantra Move to every cell of your being. Exhale. All right, We're going to begin by waking up our spine this morning. So bring your hands to your shins. We're going to inhale as we bring the heart forward. Exhale as we go back. Inhale, Exhale. Gently waking up the spine and waking up the energy, The kundalini energy that lives What are you all about? Sleepy at the base of the spine. It's our life force. We want that awake so we can experience today. In the best way possible. We're here to live, We're here to have experiences. This is our purpose. Inhale forwards, Exhale back. And you can practice as much of this as you like with your eyes closed. It gives you a greater sense of your inner world. Come to the center, Inhaling deeply. And exhale. And then we're going to move up a little bit into the middle of the spine. So bring your hands onto your knees. Sufi grind. So taking your heart around the front. And to the back. Inhale when your heart is at the front, Exhale at the back. Next time you're at the front you're going to stop and change direction. And slow it down. So spiral yourself into the centre, Sitting up tall. Let's take another deep breath in. Hold the breath. Exhale. So as we're waking up the energy, We're now going to do one of my favorite, Favorite pranayamas. This is called Fists of Anger. So you're going to bring your thumbs over to the base of your little finger and wrap your fingers around your thumbs to make little fists. And the movement is simply this. I think I might take my microphone off here because there might be some t-shirts. So you're going to be. Hopefully you can still hear me. And breathe through an O-shaped mouth. Close the eyes, Focus them up to your third point. This is gonna create some real energy and wake us up. Inhale, Stretch your arms wide, Spread those fingers, Stretch, Stretch, Stretch, Hold the breath. Make yourself huge! Exhale, Lower the hands, Let them rest on your knees, Palms facing up to receive. Be very still. Notice what you notice. Let the calm settle over you like a freshly laundered beautiful linen sheet. Now that the calm is settled and the clarity is coming through. Set your intention for today, Not what you want to get done, But how you want to feel today. And when you've got your intention for the day and your feeling. Please feel free to share it with me. I would love to know. Bring your hands onto your heart center. Inhale deeply to absorb that energy. Bringing it into your heart space. Exhale, Bring your hands together at your heart centre. We're going to tune out our short practice today with a long Sat Naam. Inhale deep to begin. SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU Sat Naam