10-Minute Yoga Routine

Hi. I'm Beth. I'm a certified yoga instructor. And I'm going to show you how to do a 10-minute yoga routine that's perfect to do in the morning. It's going to center your mind, stretch your entire body, and give you energy to take on the day. All you need is a mat. And no prior experience necessary. Let's get started.

We're going to begin in Child's Pose. Take your knees as wide as your torso. Place the big toes together. Stretch your hips back to your heels. And stretch your arms forward. Let your forehead rest on the floor.

Find a couple of deep breaths here. Then lift your head, look at your hands. Lift your wrists up high off of the floor. Continue to stretch and pull your hips away from the hands. And begin to engage your navel up into the spine. From here, we're going to walk the hands over to the right, keeping the wrists high off of the ground and feeling the length along both sides of the body.

Walk the hands back through center, and take them over to the second side. Still lifting the wrists high off of the ground, still engaging your navel by lifting it up into the spine, lengthening both sides of the body, waking up the body.

Your hands walk back to center. Place the palms flat on the ground. Lift up onto all fours. Coming into some Cat-Cow stretches. So this is a lovely way to open up and lengthen the spine, continuing to engage the core, warming the body. So we deepen in the Cat-Cow poses by bending the elbows and stretching the chest further towards the floor and higher up in the air.

From here, we're going to slide one arm underneath the other. Come to rest on top of your shoulder. Take the opposite hand up and over your head. And feel the opening between the shoulder blades. You can begin to stretch the hips back a little bit further at the same time. Returning back to center, the second side. So slide the arm underneath, resting on top of the shoulder. Your hand comes over the head and, again, lifting the wrist high off of the ground.

Back to all fours. We're going to come into a Downward Facing Dog. So bend your elbows a lot. Bend your knees a lot. Stretch your chest back towards the thighs as you slowly straighten the arm. And then stretch your heels towards the ground.

Downward Facing Dog is your go-to pose in yoga for engaging and working every muscle of the body. Come into a Plank position with the knees to the ground, bending the elbows, keeping them close to the sides of the body. Shoulders pull away from the ears.

You're going to lift up into an easy Sphinx Pose. So the forearms support you as you pull the shoulders back. Hands on your shoulders. Lift one leg. And then lift the second leg. Engage your abdomen as you're doing this as you stretch the leg back and fully extend. Continue to engage the abdomen as the leg lifts. Tuck your toes. Come back to all fours. And stretch back into that Downward Facing Dog.

Walking the feet forward now. Place the big toes together. Place the heels together. Place your knees together. Reach the arms up and overhead as you bend the knees deeply into Chair Pose. Stretch all the way up. And then we're going to fold right in. Let the head be heavy and lengthen the sides of the neck as well as the shoulders. Stretch up half way.

Placing the hands back to the floor, step back. Downward Facing Dog. Pull your chest back towards the thighs. Straighten the legs. Straighten the arms. Come forward again to your Plank. Knees down. Chest down. Stretch the forearms onto the ground as you lift up and pull back.

Hands under the shoulders, come up to all fours. Stretch one leg forward between the hands. Take the hands to the quadricep and lift the chest. Either stay here or lift the arms up into the air. Hands release to either side of the front foot. Step back.

Second side. Hands to the quadriceps. Lift your torso up. Stretch the arms up. Straight arms. Long spine. Hands releasing to the ground. Pull that foot back, and step right into Downward Facing Dog.

Take as many steps as you need to walk yourself forward. Forward fold with the feet together. Knees bending, lift right up into your Chair Pose. So all of these are really wonderful for warming the body, warming all the muscles. Folding forward again, hands to shins as you lift and lengthen the spine.

Once again, hands place onto the floor. Step back. Straight arms, straight legs, strong core, strong legs. From here, we're going to lift one leg straight up in the air for One-Legged Downward Facing Dog. Try to level your hipbones towards the floor. When you lift the second side, you have to remember to reengage your core as you stretch your chest back towards the thighs.

Come forward to Plank. Knees down, lower down. And now we can take it a little deeper now into a Cobra Pose. Stretch back hands and knees. And back into a Downward Dog. Right foot forward. Back knee to the ground. Lift up. Low Lunge.

And we're going to lift into a Higher Lunge now. So one hand on the floor, one hand on the quadriceps. Straighten the back leg. And slowly turn your chest towards the bent knee. Lift the arm in the air. Hands release to either side of the front foot. Step it back. Come to all fours. And step the opposite foot in front.

Low Lunge. Arms lifting high and strong. Navel pulling back to the spine, shoulders away from your ears. Hands to the ground. Stretch your back knee up. Turn the chest. And extend the top arm. Release, and step it back. Downward Facing Dog.

Take a few deep breaths here, continuing to engage the muscles in the arms, the abdomen, the legs. Walk yourself forward. Feet together, bend the knees. Lift all the way up into that Chair Pose. Straighten the legs. And then one more time, we'll fold forward. Knees can be bent as needed. And then have a seat on the ground.

So lie on your back. Straighten the legs. Bend one knee into the chest. And extend up through the heel, interlacing the fingers behind the hamstring. And then push up through the ball of the foot. Pull your shoulders back away from your ears and press them into the ground. Release. And try the second side. So interlace the fingers behind the hamstring. Lift and straighten the leg. Push through the heel and then through the ball of the foot. Push the shoulders into the ground. Release. Bend both knees. Take the feet wide. Extend the arms out to the sides.

Keeping the shoulders anchored into the ground, turn and twist the knees over to the side. Turn the head as available. Lift the knees back up. Come through the middle and over to the side, gently turning the head, continuing to keep the shoulders anchored and a gentle twist of the spine. Come back to center.

Coming into Savasana, the final pose. So let the feet just relax out to the sides. Rest the shoulders on the ground with the palms up. Feel the back of the head as it rests on the ground. Let the face be soft. Let the eyes be soft. Let the breath be smooth and easy. See if you can simply focus on your breath here.

This is a good place to set your intention for the rest of your day. Continuing to follow the breath. Soft-faced, soft eyes, soft throat. To come out of the pose, bend the knees one at a time. Roll to your side. Push into your hands to help you lift up to a seated position. And then very easily, stand up and begin your day.