Benefits Of Early Morning Movement
By Jennifer Kelleher
I invite you to take some time connecting with the season of summer. Sit outside or near an open window. Close your eyes and bring your mind’s focus to your natural inhale and exhale. Stay here for a few rounds of breath as you gather and land in your present body. Once you feel settled, begin to tune into your senses. One by one, pay attention to sound, then touch, then sight (feel free to open your eyes and look around slowly, or keep them closed), then taste, and finally smell. Next, stack the senses, starting with sound, then adding in touch, then sight, then taste, then smell. As you sit immersed in the senses, become aware of how summer feels in your body. Let yourself linger in this mindfulness practice as long as you’d like, recognizing that this present moment is always the most exotic place you will ever be.
Summer is Rockaway Beach’s time to shine and being that it lasts only a few months each year, it is important that we take full advantage of our warm, summer days. This is why we have added four 7:30 a.m. Yoga and Pilates classes to our weekly schedule at Ocean Bliss Yoga for the summer. Exercise is an important part of health and wellbeing, and doing movement and embodiment practices first thing in the morning has been proven to hold a number of significant added benefits.
Rising with the sun and sun gazing early morning helps to regulate circadian rhythm, which is vital for proper bodily functioning, helping it to know when to perform certain biological activities throughout the course of a day. Syncing your personal biology with the patterns of the 24-hour day are also specifically important for good sleep hygiene, which in turn has its own laundry list of health benefits. Committing to a routine that gets you up early with the sun will help to keep your body and mind balanced and well.
Do you notice how when you fly, the flight attendants advise that in the case of an emergency you should put your mask on first and then help others around you with theirs? It’s the same in life. If you can figure out a schedule that allows you to fill your cup first thing in the morning with things like hydration, a good breakfast, some mindfulness, meditation, or journaling, and movement, you will feel more put together, energized, and positive all day long. Yoga and Pilates actually combine mindfulness, meditation, and movement all in one hour-long practice, which makes them well-rounded, worthwhile, and efficient.
Many studies show that doing a mindful movement practice first thing in the morning makes you more capable of managing stress throughout your day, helping you to be less reactive and more calm and collected. It puts you in a better mood and gives you more focus and energy, making you more productive. Moving mindfully first thing in the morning also helps you to make better decisions throughout your day, including decisions regarding healthier food choices. Furthermore, it has been shown to lower blood pressure, control blood glucose, boost metabolism, and increase the body’s ability to burn fat. Finally, exercising first thing in the morning weeds out possibilities to become distracted and miss your workout, making it a great thing to add into your morning routine if you want to stay consistent and stick to your health goals. And, let’s face it, if we don’t feel good in our bodies, everything else kind of stinks.
Ocean Bliss Yoga invites you to beat the heat and join us in the studio at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for Yoga and Pilates. Fill your cup early and embrace your day. We also offer later morning classes, evening classes, and workshops if those are more suitable for your schedule. Sign up at oceanblissyoga.net. Call me with any questions at 917-318-1168.
