Most people wonder what time is the best to do yoga.
Should you go for your aerial yoga sessions in the morning or after work in the evening?
Well, the answer will depend on your goals, needs, and personality.
Regardless of the time you get on your aerial yoga swings, you will still receive all the great benefits that aerial yoga brings. With that said, there are several unique and important benefits of practicing yoga in the morning.
Here are the special reasons you should incorporate an early morning aerial yoga workout into your routine.
Set Your Purpose for the Day
Going for an early morning yoga session is a great means of taking control of your day, with a thoughtful and clear intention.
The intention may be stepping outside your comfort zone and doing a new yoga swing pose, developing confidence and self-trust, or practicing calmness and mind focus.
Whatever it may be, the intention that you set during your early morning aerial yoga practice will give you focus throughout the entire day. It’s kinda like setting New Year’s resolutions.
But this time you will be setting a 24-hour resolution, which is much easier to achieve, as opposed to 365 days. As you probably know, most of the things in our daily lives are out of our control.
However, spending 30 minutes to 1 hour in the morning where you are focused and intentional, allows you to set your mood positively and creates momentum for the whole day – You determine how your day will go.
Jump-start Your Day
Mornings can be stressful and hectic. And one of the easiest ways of eliminating this morning stress in your life is to start your day with at least 30 minutes to one hour aerial yoga session. Waking up and practicing on your aerial yoga swing will enable your nervous system to relax.
As a result, you will eliminate the morning stress and start your day feeling energetic and refreshed.
During the morning, cortisol (stress hormone) levels are high. And this is designed to give you the boost that you need to wake up. But if you take this stress to your workplace, you may not have a productive day.
So, when you start off with a morning yoga session, you will switch off the stress that you wake up with, and you will find yourself more calm and focused throughout the day.
Boost Your Immune System
Your body’s white blood cells perform best when there is optimal blood and lymphatic flow.
By doing yoga swing poses in the morning, you will be boosting your body’s circulatory systems, thus giving your immune system a boost.
In case you don’t have time to do a full aerial yoga practice, you can just opt for some targeted yoga swing poses such as the downward-facing dog, which boosts blood flow to your body’s sinuses.
Another targeted yoga pose you can do is the standing back-bend aerial, which strengthens your lungs, detoxifies the adrenal glands and opens the nasal passages.
Inverted poses like the bridge pose, the flying plow pose and the shoulder stand are equally effective when it comes to boosting the lymphatic system, which helps to keep colds and coughs at bay.
Alleviate Back Pain and Tension
If your work involves prolonged sitting or standing, then there is a high chance that you may experience occasional back pain and back tension.
Fortunately, doing an early morning aerial yoga workout can help to alleviate some of this pain and tension.
Doing stretching poses such as cat-cow pose or any inversions first thing in the morning can provide relief for back pain and tension, which you may experience during the day.
As you stretch, breathe and move various parts of your body, your blood flow and circulation will increase, thus helping the stiff muscles to relax.
Furthermore, yoga hammock swing poses involve lots of balancing and steadying the body, which will eventually strengthen your back and help to prevent future lower back pain.
Create Some Personal Time
If you are a manager or your career involves you always being called into meetings and staying back late after work; or perhaps you are a parent spending most of your time looking after your kids and weekend activities and so on, then you barely have time for yourself.
However, just because you lead a busy lifestyle doesn’t mean you should abandon your personal needs.
An early morning aerial yoga session, is just what you need, to create some me-time. During these morning sessions, you will have time to review your goals, plan your future, or just meditate.
And considering that you will be all alone, your mind will have increased mental clarity, which will, in turn, help you manage your daily life better and to work at maximum efficiency.
Conquer Procrastination
Adopting a healthier lifestyle is usually very difficult for people, and so it gets put off and time marches on until it is too late.
If you are in this category, then you can start with something as simple as early morning yoga. You just need an anti-gravity yoga swing in your house and you are good to go.
By starting your mornings with a yoga swing workout, you will not end up with regret or guilt for not having trained that day.
It may be a bit challenging during the first few days, but with some personal discipline, you will eventually master it and procrastination will be long forgotten in your life.
And if you follow this routine, you will transfer it to other areas of your life, which will go a long way towards building a sense of self-worth and confidence.
Clear Your Mind
A morning yoga session doesn’t always have to be physically demanding. For instance, you can alternate the yoga hammock swing poses with various meditative activities.
As you probably know, meditation comes with incredible benefits, both short term and long term. When you are meditating, you become more aware of your inner-self.
By observing your thoughts as opposed to getting caught up in the chatter in the morning, it will be easier to determine whether those thoughts are worth paying attention to or not.
Also, learning how to observe your feelings is, without a doubt, one of the most important skills that you can obtain, and by mastering this skill, you will become a grounded and calm person, capable of making the right decisions every day.
Boost Your Digestive System
Gut health has been found to be a determining factor of your overall health. You can take all the supplements you want, eat organic meals, or drink green smoothies…
But if your body can’t absorb and use those nutrients properly, then you are simply wasting your time.
It’s just like buying expensive food and throwing it in the trash bin.
The good news is, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive medications or treatment. Something as basic as early morning yoga can be enough to correct your ailing digestive system.
By doing yoga swing workouts in the morning, you will boost your digestive system significantly. And when your digestive system is working efficiently, your body will absorb and assimilate all the nutrients.
Furthermore, an efficiently working digestive system will also help to get rid of toxins from the body.
Get Into a Morning Routine
If you are the type of person that struggles to get out of bed every day, then you should consider early morning yoga sessions.
Having an ongoing morning aerial yoga workout gives you something interesting to look forward to and encourage you to get out of bed.
Also, doing morning yoga sessions will force you to wake up earlier and ease into the day. From your yoga session, you can take a shower, have breakfast, and get on with your day.
With a dedicated morning practice, you will find yourself making the most of your days, which may have otherwise gone to waste. You will also get more work done when you have a morning routine.
Minimize Coffee Consumption
Most people start their day with a cup of coffee to give you a kick start in the morning.
The problem is, coffee can become addictive and in an attempt to boost brain function and alertness in the morning, you may find yourself consuming more coffee, sugar and milk than you should.
But, you don’t always have to rely on coffee or turn to other sugary energy drinks in an attempt to activate your brain in the morning. Instead, you can opt for a yoga hammock workout early in the morning.
A morning aerial yoga workout can serve almost the same purpose as a cup of coffee in a healthier way, making you feel more alive and awake.
Morning Aerial Yoga Workout
As you can see, incorporating an early morning aerial yoga workout into your daily routine offers a wide range of physical, mental and spiritual self-care benefits.
It will get blood circulating, stretch your muscles, boost mental clarity, and prepare your body and mind for the day ahead. With a morning aerial yoga practice, you’ll find yourself making better decisions and productive.