When is the Right Time to Roll out the Mat?

Early Morning, morning, afternoon, evening, late evening, all is possible. It just depends on what we want to get out of it. There are few things we need to consider from Hatha Yoga Pradipika Chapter 1. 15-16:

Yoga is useless because of these six things: overeating, overwork, talking too much, doing unnecessary austerities, socializing, and restlessness. Yoga succeeds with these six: enthusiasm, openness, courage, knowledge of the truth, determination and solitude.

Yoga in the morning

Any exercise at this time helps for a fresh start to the day and gets your body moving. To prepare our minds and set an intention for our day. Start with gentle postures. Never skip warm up, because our muscles are still stiff from the night before. 

Yoga in the afternoon

At the time that we would normally give up, and need support from caffeine, it is wonderful to do some movements. It also has a beneficial effect on our digestion and the last hours of the day will get better after this. Try some open-heart postures, as open chest is known as coffee for yogis and easy inversions (such as Dangling and Downward Facing Dog) to increase blood flow to the brain, provide more oxygen and nutrients, and make better brain function. This improves concentration, memory, observation and stimulates clear thinking. Perfect for any stuck-and-uninspired moment during our work time.

Yoga in the evening

This is when our body naturally comes into resting mode. Practice in the evenings has the added benefit of preparing our body and mind even better for sleep. It is therefore recommended not to choose yoga exercises that are too exciting. We are more flexible in the evening than in the morning, so we can use this to go deeper in our relaxed yet stimulated poses.

Everyone is different, everybody is different. Basically, the most important thing is to just start feeling good about what works for us at the moment. In the end, it is not about the right timing of the practice, but in the fact that you step on your mat and do it mindfully. Enjoy your practice

By: Epsi Hapsari