Gentle Morning Yoga Routine To Ease Into Your Day

This gentle yoga practice is designed to ease you into your day with softness and care. Through slow, nourishing movement and mindful breathwork, you will gently awaken the body and settle into presence before the day begins. The practice opens with a moment of inner listening, inviting you to connect with the quality of nourishment your body and spirit are calling for today, and that intention is woven throughout.

Each pose is accessible and unhurried, making this a perfect morning ritual for all levels. Leave your mat feeling grounded, open, and deeply nourished for the day ahead.

Transcript

Namaste, My name is Julia Barkley and I'm so happy to be here with you. This is a nourishing, Gentle practice that will support you to start your day just opening your body, Opening and aligning your energy so you can have a great day. Obviously, You can use it at any point during the day if you just want to come back home to a state of inner peace and clarity. So let's begin by lying down. On your mats. And we'll start with the soles of the feet on the ground. Have them as wide as your mat and your knees resting against each other. Take a deep breath in. Big sigh out with a long ha. Nice. And then inhale, Reach your arms overhead and rest them on the ground behind you. If that's not comfortable, You can rest them out to the side. Keep your feet exactly where they are. So don't move your feet. Inhale. And as you exhale, Keeping your feet where you are, Just let your knees roll down to the right like windshield wipers. Press through the feet as you inhale the knees come up to center and then exhale knees over to the left. Inhale, Knees come up to center. Exhale knees over to the right. Just feeling your lower back, Noticing how your hips are today. Inhale, Knees come back up to center. Exhale over to the left. Inhale knees back up to center and exhale just rest the knees against each other bring the arms down alongside the body rest one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest As you inhale, Inhale into your hands, Feeling your belly rise, Your ribs expand and your chest lift, Feel your hands rise. And then exhale slowly, Feeling your chest soften, Your ribs slightly contract and your belly lower. Breathing smoothly in through the nose into your hands, The belly, The ribs and the chest. Pausing at the top. And exhale through the nose, Softening chest, Ribs and belly. Inhaling for four, Three, Two, One. Pause for two, One. And exhale for three, Two, One. Pause for two, One. Inhale, Four, Three, Two, One. Pause for two, One. And exhale smoothly, Four, Three, Two, One. Pause for two, One. Inhale smoothly, Four, Three, Two, One. Exhale, Soften into your heart as you exhale for four, Three, Two, One. Inhaling into the heart centre. And as you exhale, Feel your fingertips dropping into the center of your chest. Feel all your awareness and energy coming into your heart space. Inhale into your heart center. And let the exhale be an opportunity to really arrive in your heart, In the centre of your chest, Where your fingers are. Beautiful. Just letting all your energy just rest into your heart space as you begin your day. Letting go of the mind and just asking your heart this question. What is the energy that would most nourish me today in this moment? Don't think about it. Just let that answer come from your heart. What is one word that holds the energy that would most nourish you in this moment? When that word comes to you, Maybe it comes as a feeling or a color or an image or a word. Just find one word that holds that nourishing energy. And then breathe it into your heart. Give it to yourself as if it's already here. Maybe it's something like love or play or peace. Inhale that word. Inhale the energy of peace. Or whatever your word is. And exhale, Feel it expand through your whole body. Inhale that nourishing energy. Give that to yourself. Exhale, Let that energy expand. Beautiful. One more like that with a little smile. Like you're drinking in the medicine you need right now. Bring the palms of your hands together, The thumbs rest at the third eye. And as a way of beginning the practice, Calling on any support on any realm to align with this energy. I'll take the sound of OM. Exhale for OM. Inhale for OM. Beautiful. And then just extend your legs and your arms in opposite directions. Take a nice big stretch as you inhale. Good morning stretch. And then exhale and bring the knees in towards you. Just gently hugging the knees in. Take a big breath into the lower belly. Exhale. Nice. And then keeping hold of your right knee, Let your left foot come down. Hold the back of your right thigh, Interlace your fingers behind your right thigh, Extend your right foot up to the ceiling flexing your right foot. Inhale, And as you exhale, With your hands on your right thigh, Draw the right thigh in towards your chest, The knee bends. And the toes point away from you Inhale, Straighten that leg, Flexing the right foot. And exhale, Point the toes away from you. Draw the knee into the chest. One more time. Inhale, Flex the right foot as if you're standing on the ceiling. And exhale, Point the toes, Bring the knee into the chest. Beautiful. Inhale, Straighten that leg. And exhale, Lift the head up towards your right knee. Extend your left leg straight and slide the hands up the right leg so they're above the right knee. Just taking a stretch into the back of that right leg. Deep breath in. And then exhale, Just drop the head, Keeping that stretch in the back of the right leg. Long, Deep breath. Nice. And then exhale and just release that right leg down, Arms overhead, Lengthening the whole body and feel the stretch to the right side. Deep breath in. Right leg is long, X. Beautiful. Bring the knees into the chest. Hug the knees and just wobble a little side to side, Massaging your lower back. Nice breath in and out. Beautiful. And then just holding on to the left knee, Let the right foot come down onto the mat. Slide and interlace your fingers behind your left thigh and flex your left foot up to the ceiling. Left leg is straight. Deep breath in. Exhale, Bend the left knee in towards you, Point the toes away from you. Inhale, Straighten that left leg, Flex the left foot. And exhale, Left knee bends into the chest. Again, Inhale, Straighten that left leg. Exhale, Bend the knee into the chest. And inhale, Straighten. Flexing the left foot, Lift the head up towards your left knee. Slide the hands above the left knee towards the calf. Extend your right leg straight. Long, Deep breath in here. Beautiful exhale and then keep the hands where they are if you can just lowering the head down and breathing into the back of that left leg deep breath in Deep breath out. Lower that left leg, Reach the arms overhead and feel long through the whole left side of the body. Left leg, Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Beautiful. Bring the knees into the chest, Slide the hands behind the backs of both thighs and then rock backwards and forwards a couple of times. Awakening the spine. Beautiful. And then coming all the way over and we'll cross. The legs and just come on two hands and knees. So just finding the wrists underneath the shoulders and the knees underneath the hips. And then we'll slowly with the breath, Inhale, Lift the chin. Exhale, Rounding chin to chest. Inhale lifting the chin. Exhale through the nose smoothly, Breathing in and out through the nose. Moving with your breath, Inhale gently, Smoothly, Quietly as you lift the chin, Roll the shoulders back. Exhale smoothly, Softening the spine. Chin to chest. One more time. Inhale gently. Look up. Open the heart. Roll the shoulders back. And then exhale rounding. Toes touch, Maybe the knees have come wide, Come back into a child's pose, Resting the forehead either on your hands or on the ground. And take a big breath into the belly, The ribs and the chest, Pausing and holding at the top of your inhale. And then exhale with a sigh, Just letting go. Any tiredness, Any heaviness. Inhale that energy that nourishes you today, That word. Inhale, Fill up with that medicine. Exhale, Releasing anything in the way of that. With a little inner smile, Inhale fully. Belly, Ribs, Chest, Upper back. Breathing in that nourishing energy. Exhale, Let that energy expand through every cell of your being. Beautiful. One more breath like that. Breathing in that word, That nourishing energy. Exhale, Expanding. Inhale, Come up on two hands and knees. And then exhale, Tuck the toes under. And lifting the hips for downward dog. Let's bend the right knee, Drop the left heel, Take a long breath into the back of your left leg. And then bend the left knee, Drop the right heel, Take a breath into the back of the right leg. And just walk it out a little bit side to side, Just stretching in any way that feels good. Maybe you drop the hips, Bend the knees and then come back to center. And again, Just taking that deep breath, Inhaling that nourishing energy. Exhale. Inhale, Look forward and then walk your feet up to your hands. Gently lengthen the back as you come onto your fingertips, Look up, Inhale and exhale, Folding over. Maybe the arms dangle, Maybe the hands find the opposite elbow. Draw the navel in and up. Deep breath in. Exhale, Drop the head down. One more breath here. Beautiful. And then soften your knees. And let the arms dangle, The head is heavy, The chin comes up last. And you slowly stack each vertebra. And find your way up to standing. Inhale, Reach the arms, Palms touch, Lift the heart. And exhale, Bring the hands down in front of you. One hand on the belly, One hand on your chest. Beautiful. Just tuning into your breath, Taking a long, Deep breath in from the belly to the ribs to the chest. Feel your heart lifting. And as you exhale, Draw the navel in, Relax your shoulders down your back. Breathing in just like we did at the beginning, Belly, Ribs, Chest, Full breath, Pausing at the top. Exhale, Draw the navel in, Relax the shoulders, Root down through your heels. Breathing in that nourishing energy, That word that came to you, Give it to yourself. Exhale, Let it expand. So every breath is an opportunity to fill up with that nourishing energy. Inhale, Lift the arms, Look up. Exhale, Folding forward. Beautiful. Inhale, Look up and step back with your right foot. Drop your right knee down onto the ground. Inhale, Lift the chest. On no breath, Place the hands on the ground, Step back into a plank position, Hug muscles in around the bones, And then exhale, Drop the knees, Hips slightly back as you bend the elbows, Come onto the chest and the chin, Come onto the belly, Tops of the feet down to the ground, Inhale, Lift the heart. Nice. Exhale, Downward dog. Deep breath in. And out. Look forward as you inhale. Bring your right foot between the hands. Drop the back knee. Inhale, Look up. Exhale, Tuck the toes under and step forward, Folding forward. Beautiful. Inhale, Strong legs. Reach the arms up. Lift the chest. Exhale, Thumbs touch the heart center. Take one breath in here, Filling up with that nourishing energy. And exit. Inhale reach the arms up. Exhale folding forward. Stepping back with the left foot this time. Inhale look up. On no breath, Step back into a plank position, Body in one straight line. Exhale, Knees, Chest and chin to the ground. Coming onto your belly, Inhale, Lift the heart for Cobra. Exhale, Downward dog. Beautiful. Inhale. Step forward with your left foot. Place your right knee on the ground. Inhale. Look up. Tuck the right toes under, Exhale step forward. Inhale, Lift the arms, Lift the heart as you reach up for the sky. And exhale, Bring the hands down to touch the centre of the chest. Take a deep breath in and out. Stay where you are. And we'll inhale, Reach the arms up. Interlace the fingers and exhale lean over to your right. Breathing all the way through the left side of the body. Opening this energetic pathway. Inhale up to centre. Lift and exhale over to the left. Deep breath into the right side of the body. Draw the navel in as you exhale. Beautiful one more with breath with a smile. And then inhale, Come back up to center. And exhale, Bring the hands down. We're going to do an activating breath and then we'll fold forward. And when you fold forward, I want to give you the opportunity to interlace your fingers, Extend your arms overhead and bring the hands and the arms overhead. This will open the heart center. But if you don't like that, You can just let the arms dangle. Okay, So I'm just telling you that. When we finish this movement, You can take your pick. So the way we do this is we inhale, We lift the arms up, The fingers are spread. And then as you exhale, You make a fist around your thumbs and bring your elbows in to your waist. So inhale through the nose, Lift the arms, Exhale through the nose, Make a fist around the thumbs. So just start and join me when you get this. Beautiful. Keep going. Breathing through the nose. This is a powerful breath for awakening prana, Awakening chi, Life force through your whole body, Clearing out stuck energy, Low vibration, Activating your radiance. Five. Four. Three. Two. One inhale look up spread the fingers breathe in a bit more feel the vitality in your body And then exhale, Fold forward. Either just let the arms dangle or interlace fingers behind your back and squeeze the shoulder blades together. Take a long deep breath into the heart centre. Beautiful. Again, Inhale into the heart. Let the head drop. Exhale. And one more breath here. Beautiful release the hands fingertips on the ground just bring the feet a little wider coming onto the toes so that you can find a squat any version of a squat that works for you some people might like to sit on a block or just take a slightly higher stance but breathe into the hips here say good morning to your hips deep breath in Deep breath out. Nice. One more deep hip breath. Exhale and then find your way down onto the ground. And we'll extend the legs out and just shake them out a little bit. There we go. And we're going to take a twist. So let's begin by placing your right foot on the outside of your left thigh as if you're trying to stand on that foot. And then you'll inhale, Lift that right arm up and bring the fingertips behind you as you hug this right knee in towards you. Keep the shoulders over the hips. Keep lifting up nice and tall. Inhale. Exhale. Draw the navel in and look behind you as far around to the right as you can, Breathing in through the nose, Lifting up. Both feet are engaged and flexed. Exhale, Look behind you. One more breath here, Lengthening through the spine, Twisting, Drawing the navel in as you exhale. Inhale look forward and exhale just looking over to your left. Bring this right foot into the inside of your left thigh. And then inhale, Reach the arms up, Lengthen out of your hips, And then come forward 45 degree angle. Exhale, Release the hands down to wherever they come to and then just drop the head forward towards that left knee. So you might walk the hands further forward. You might not come down very far. That's fine. Wherever you are, Just allow the head and the neck to go. The idea is to release the head. Exhale. If you need to bend the knee a little bit, You can. Inhale through the nose for three, Two, One. Exhale, 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold for 2, 1. Inhale, 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold for 2, 1. Exhale, 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold for 2, 1. One more full, Deep breath in. And out. Beautiful. And then inhale. Walk the hands back towards you. Extend the legs straight. And hands either side of your hips. Exhale. Just pausing for a moment. We'll take the other side. So bringing your left foot, Placing it on the outside of your right thigh. Really standing on that foot. And then holding your left knee in towards you. Lift that left arm up and exhale. Bring the fingertips behind you as you twist. Keep the shoulders over the hips. Lift up nice and tall. And as you exhale, Draw navel into the spine and look behind you as far around as you can. Inhale, Gentle smile. Lift up tall. Exhale, Twist. Keeping that right foot flexed and engaged. Inhale, Lift up tall. Exhale, Look behind you. Inhale, The head comes back to center. Exhale, To the right. Nice. Bringing that left foot to the inside of your right thigh. Inhale, Reach the arms up. Lift up out of the hips. And exhale, Reach 45 degrees forward, Lengthening through the spine. Bring the hands down either side of that right foot. Draw the navel in and up so you can lengthen the spine. Maybe the hands walk forward, The head towards that knee. Or maybe you're up higher and you just drop the head down. Wherever you are, Be okay with that today. And then exhale. Inhale through the nose. Four, Three, Two, One. Hold for two, One. Exhale, Four, Three, Two, One. Hold for two. One, Inhale, Four, Three, Two, One, Hold for two, One, Exhale, Four, Three, Two, One. And one more breath, Breathing in that nourishing energy, Whatever it is that's nourishing for you today. And exhale, Rest into that. Walk the hands towards you as you inhale, Come up. And then exhale. And we're going to just lie down onto our backs. Let everything rest. Long deep breath in. Big sigh out. Let it go with a big sigh. Beautiful. Again, Inhale, Big breath. Exhale, Sigh it out, Let it go. Placing one hand on your lower belly, One hand on your heart space. And we'll inhale just as we did at the beginning for 4, 3, 2, 1. All the way from the belly to the heart. Holding and then exhale, Softening. Four, Three, Two. One and pause for two. One, Breathe in that nourishing energy as you inhale into the belly. Ribs, Chest, All the way up to the collarbones. And then exhale, Let that nourishing energy just. . . Really infuse every cell of your body as you let go. Breathing in fully that nourishing, Healing energy from the belly to the ribs to the chest, All the way up to the collarbones. Exhale, Let it expand. Release the hands. Take another deep breath in. And out. Let the breath completely relax. Let the body get heavy. Relaxing the legs, Soles of the feet. Hips. The back body, The shoulder blades melting into the earth. Back of the head is heavy. The arms are heavy. Palms of the hands soften. Feeling a softening in the centre of the heart. As you rest into the heart space. And into that nourishing energy, Just letting it flow through every cell of your body. And see yourself moving through your day nourished and supported and relaxed and open and available for all the gifts life wants to bring you. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Gently wiggle your fingers and your toes. And then inhale, Take a big stretch. Exhale, Knees into the chest, Lifting the head, And then just bringing yourself up to sitting. And just for a moment sitting with a nice tall spine, Thumb and index finger lightly touch, Extending the other three fingers out. Let the eyes gently close. Deep breath in and out. And just rest into this moment, Just noticing anything that feels good to you in this moment. Let yourself rest into that goodness. Bring the palms of the hands together. We'll send out a prayer of peace for your day and for all beings everywhere with one arm and three shanties. Exhale first. Inhale for OM. Om. Shanti, Shanti. Shanti. Namaste. Have a beautiful, Happy day.