Maybe the closest you get to yoga is wearing a comfy pair of yoga pants, or if you’re like I used to be, perhaps you think your temperament isn’t quite Zen enough for it, but the myriad of health benefits this ancient practice offers are difficult to ignore. The good news is whether your health goals aim to increase your flexibility, sleep more restfully, improve your balance, reduce stress and inflammation or even ease arthritis symptoms and back pain, adding yoga to your daily routine can quite literally put you in the right position to accomplish them. The better news is incorporating more yoga into your days is easy with tips for even a beginner curated from yoga professionals.
Mandy Enright, MS, RDN, RYT:
- Use your surroundings as props to help sneak in some stretches in your day.
Your chair, desk, walls, and anything else that surrounds you during your workday can all serve as helpful props to do some stretches. Even if you sit a lot during your workday, you can do a wide variety of stretches right from your chair including twists, neck/shoulder rolls, figure 4 hip openers, and even take a forward bend to get some fresh blood to the brain. You can use your desk to do stretches in the wrists, shoulders, legs, and even hip openers, or use a wall to help get some deeper stretches or to help do some balancing poses. You don’t need to hold those poses a long time but staying in them for at least 10 deep breaths can help you reset and get great benefits.
- Do restorative yoga or meditation at bedtime. A lot of people think of yoga involving movement and postures, but practicing gentle forms of yoga can be extremely beneficial, especially as we wind down in our day. I’m a huge fan of habit stacking: the practice of adding a new habit onto something you’re already doing. Since you’re going to bed anyway, why not consider heading towards bed a little earlier and doing some gentle yoga like restorative yoga, breathing exercises, or even listening to a meditation as soon as you get into bed? You’ll create calmness in the body and mind, which will help you to get a better night’s sleep.
- Put on some music and let your body move. Yoga absolutely does not have to be done in a formal class setting. Apps are certainly helpful, but sometimes our body is our best teacher. Put on a fun playlist, roll out a mat, and see where the body goes. You may feel like doing some stretches that focus on certain areas of the body that have been asking for attention. Or perhaps you just want to chill in a child’s pose for 10 minutes. Whatever your body is asking for, give it what it needs in that moment.
In addition to being a Registered Yoga Teacher, Mandy is also a worksite wellness dietitian and author of 30-Minute Weight Loss Cookbook: 100+ Quick and Easy Recipes for Sustainable Weight Loss: You can learn more about Mandy at The FOOD + MOVEMVENT® Dietitian and you can find her at @mandyenrightRD on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube.
Caroline Young, MS, RD, RYT:
- I love to remind my clients that yoga is not just the physical postures (or “asanas”), but it in fact includes seven other aspects (also known as the “eight limbs of yoga”). One of the other limbs is breath (or “pranayama”)—a tool we have available to us at all times. Breathing practices can be easily integrated into our days to help us increase our well-being within a matter of minutes. For example, you may wish to be more present during your day and less caught up in mental stories, and simply becoming aware of your breath can help you to do that. More specific breathing techniques, like the extended exhale breath or alternate nostril breath, can help you to regulate your nervous system, better manage anxiety, and increase your focus.
Caroline is the Owner of Whole Self Nutrition. You can follow and learn more about Caroline on Instagram at @wholeselfnutrition.
Jordyn Eyre, RYT, RD, LDN:
- When it comes to yoga, I think about combining breath and movement. Breaking it down like this takes some of the pressure off and makes fitting it into my life so much easier. On my daily walk to work, I pass three parking curbs on the sidewalk. Before stepping onto the first one, I take a deep breath and steady myself to walk up it with as much ease as I can muster. Intentional breaths and thoughtful steps not only get me across them, but usually without falling, too!
Jordyn is a multi-hat-wearing health professional and former AmeriCorps member whose work has been featured on youaligned.com and Quills & Pixels. You can learn more about Jordyn at https://jordyndarling.ghost.io/ and you can follow her on Instagram at @fancypantsdarling
Kimberley Wiemann MS, RDN:
- I am a firm believer that food and movement can have such a powerful impact on both physical and mental well-being. When people think of yoga they frequently think about the Instagram-worthy photos of poses, headstands, and beautiful-to-watch vinyasa flows. However, breathing exercises, known as pranayama, are a great way to incorporate yoga into your daily routine, that can be practiced anywhere and at nearly any time! While these techniques all may have their own purposes, generally speaking pranayama practice can help to relieve stress and anxiety. Incorporating pranayama into your day can be very simple because you can do it nearly anywhere and do not need any space to move around. If you finish your lunch break just a few moments early, you can squeeze in the breathing exercises to your day to help lower stress and anxiety. Or, spending 5 to 10 minutes when you wake up in the morning can help get your day off to a great start!
Kimberley is a registered dietitian, owner of Kimberley Wiemann Nutrition LLC, and nutrition consultant for Consumer Health Digest and has completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training. You can follow and learn more about Caroline on Instagram at @kimberley.dietitian
Lisa Mignosa, CYT500:
- Try some simple moves like Child’s Pose. Get on the ground and spread your knees and let your forehead find the floor. Let your belly melt down and stretch your arms long in front of you, and let your hips melt down towards your heels. Or an option to keep your knees together as well as keeping hips raised so your head can feel the ground. Some benefits of this position is you can do it at home whenever you have a spare few minutes and it will help open up your hips, relax the muscles in your back, stimulate your digestive system and even help relieve constipation.
- Another straightforward position is the Standing Forward Fold/Uttanasana. Start in a standing position and hinge your upper body from the pelvis and reach as far forward as your body allows, draping your upper body over your legs. Your knees have a soft bend. Let your head gently fall forward towards your thighs and set your gaze towards your legs wherever your head lands. Your hands can be placed on the food, on your shins or even onto a yoga block. Listen and be kind to your body and melt down into the position. This pose offers improved flexibility, helps stretch and lengthen the entire body, back, spine, hamstrings and calves. It is great for stress relief, circulation, digestive benefits and anxiety and depression. Much like Child’s Pose, it can be done virtually anywhere.
Lisa is a 500 Certified Yoga alliance Yoga Teacher, a Certified Personal Trainer and Health Coach. You can follow and learn more about Lisa at: https://coastalhotyogawinthrop.com/ and on Instagram @CoastalYoga2021 and on Facebook at @CoastalYoga
Alyssa Breslin, PT, DPT, NCS, CYT200
- As someone who is always busy, I’ve been aware for a long time that an in-studio yoga practice is not always accessible. Add in times where I have been injured or flat out broke, and it’s taken a lot of practice and creativity to maintain my yoga practice over the past 15 years! While I still love getting to my local studio whenever possible, I place a high value on incorporating my practice throughout my daily life. Some of my favorite strategies are finding a morning and evening routine that can be done from the comfort of bed, or a quick seated flow you can do on a break or at lunch (especially for everyone with a desk job!) I love that the benefits of yoga can be felt in as little as a few minutes of intentional breath and movement, without the commitment of paying for or traveling to a studio all the time.
Alyssa is a Physical Therapist and Accessible Yoga Teacher and the founder of Where the Mind Grows Physical Therapy. You can learn more about her at: www.growwithdoctoralyssa.com and can follow her on Instagram at @alyssa_breslin
Jamie Adams, MS, RD, 200-RYT, RPYT:
Incorporating yoga into your daily routine can bring numerous physical, mental, and emotional benefits. As a busy mom of two littles, women’s health dietitian and prenatal yoga teacher, making time for a 60-minute yoga class (plus the 20-minute commute) is not as easy as it once was. To continue to receive all the benefits yoga can offer, I have found ways to seamlessly integrate yoga throughout my day that I share with my clients, moms, and busy women too. Here are some of my top tips to incorporate yoga into your daily routine so you can receive the health benefits too:
- Make it a part of your morning routine: Start your day with a short yoga session. Whether it’s 3-5 rounds of sun salutations (Surya Namaskar), following along a YouTube yoga channel or yoga app, even 10 – 15 minutes of stretching and breathing can set a positive tone for the day.
- Start a family yoga session: Practice yoga alongside your littles (or better yet, get the entire family involved!). If my little ones wake up before me, I will have them join me in my morning yoga session. Evening yoga with the family is also a great opportunity to unwind before bedtime too!
- Find mindful moments: Take advantage of idle moments (waiting for your coffee, while in line for school drop-off/pickup, or as dinner cooks in the oven) to practice mindfulness, breathing exercises, or simple yoga poses.
Jamie is a women’s health dietitian, prenatal yoga teacher, founder and owner of Mamaste Nutrition. You can learn more about Lisa at: https://wellnourishedmamas.com/prenatal-dietitian/
and you follow on Instagram: @wellnourishedmamas and on Facebook at Mamaste Nutrition
Try incorporating some or eventually all of these tips into your daily routine and you’ll find that yoga doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming to be worthwhile. You don’t need to be a yogi or even to take a formal class to reap the many health benefits yoga has to offer! Give it a try, and of course, a comfortable pair of yoga pants certainly can’t hurt!
