15-minute morning yoga routine for beginners: a simple sequence to start the day

Before you start

• Wear anything you can move in, and practise on an empty or nearly empty stomach.
• Move slowly; muscles and joints are often stiffer first thing.
• Breathe through the nose if comfortable, letting each breath be slow and even. If you lose track of the breath, ease off.
• Skip or modify anything that hurts. Stretch should feel like effort, not pain.

The sequence

1. Seated breathing (1 minute). Sit cross-legged, on a cushion if your knees are higher than your hips. Lengthen the spine, close your eyes and take ten slow breaths, making the out-breath slightly longer than the in-breath.
2. Seated side bends (1 minute). Place one hand on the floor, reach the other arm overhead and lean gently to the side. Five breaths each side.
3. Seated twist (1 minute). Place your right hand on your left knee and your left hand behind you. Breathe in to sit tall, breathe out to turn. Five breaths each side, turning from the middle of the back rather than the neck.
4. Cat-cow (1 minute). On hands and knees, breathe in to drop the belly and lift the chest, breathe out to round the back. About eight rounds.
5. Child's pose (1 minute). Sit the hips back towards the heels and rest the forehead down. Breathe into the back of the ribs.
6. Downward dog (1 minute). Lift the hips up and back. Bend the knees generously and "walk the dog" by bending one knee then the other.
7. Low lunge (2 minutes). Step the right foot forward between the hands and lower the back knee. Lift the chest and, if comfortable, the arms. Five to eight breaths, then switch sides. This opens the front of the hips, which tighten after a night curled up or a day sitting.
8. Standing forward fold (1 minute). Walk to the front of the mat, knees soft, and let the upper body hang. Hold opposite elbows and sway gently.
9. Roll up to mountain pose (30 seconds). Bend the knees and roll up slowly, head last. Stand tall and take three breaths.
10. Warrior II (2 minutes). Wide stance, front knee bent over the ankle, arms out at shoulder height. Five breaths each side.
11. Tree pose (1 minute). Foot to ankle, calf or inner thigh (not the knee). Five breaths each side, using a wall if needed.
12. Lying twist and rest (2 minutes 30 seconds). Lie on your back, hug the knees in, then let them fall to one side with arms out wide. Five breaths each side, then lie still for a minute before getting up slowly, rolling to one side first.

Breathing through the routine

Easier and harder versions

• Stiff hamstrings: bend the knees in forward folds and downward dog as much as you need.
• Sensitive knees: fold a blanket under them in cat-cow and lunge, or do a high lunge with the back knee lifted.
• Wrist discomfort: come onto the forearms in downward dog (dolphin), or make fists instead of flat hands in cat-cow.
• Want more energy: link the lunge, downward dog and forward fold into a slow flow, repeating it a few times.
• Low on time: do steps 1, 4, 6, 7 and 12. It takes about seven minutes.

Making it stick

• Lay your mat out the night before so it is the first thing you see.
• Practise at the same point in your morning, for instance straight after brushing your teeth.
• Do not worry about missing a day. Picking it up again tomorrow matters more.