Yoga Warm-Ups That Help You Ease Into Your Daily Exercise Routine

by Riya Roy · April 6, 2019

I have been practicing yoga for 11 years now, and so, feel the need to tout the mental and physical benefits of it. I want to spread the advantages that I have reaped from this practice so that more people can improve their physical and mental health. Not many know this, but just adding a handful of yoga poses into the mix can improve your well-being in unbelievable ways.

If you are someone who is passionate about yoga, like moi, you must already know how yoga benefits us; from sleeping better to seldom falling sick; practicing yoga can help you in numerous ways. It increases your energy levels, and literally fills you with more life by improving the flow of breath or prana.

Today, I want to share with you the yoga warm-ups that I personally practice to ease into my daily workout regime. I hope this helps.

Yoga Warm-Ups To Ease Your Way Into Any Exercise Routine

Breathing

Breathing (1/3)

Stand straight
Form a fist with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Focus your eyes at a point in front of you
Relax your shoulders and your neck
Breathe deeply five to six times

Note: While breathing make sure you breathe from your chest. Do not move your shoulders.

Breathing (2/3)

Stand straight
Form a fist with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Bring your chin down
Focus your eyes at a point on the ground
Relax your shoulders and your neck
Breathe deeply five to six times

Note: In this exercise, you need to bring your chin down and not your neck.

Breathing (3/3)

Stand straight
Form fists with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Tilt your head to face the ceiling
Focus your eyes at a point on the ceiling
Relax your shoulders and your neck
Breathe deeply five to six times

Neck Rotations

Neck rotation (1/4)

Stand straight
Form a fist with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Breathe in and touch your left shoulder with your left ear
Breathe out and come back
Breathe in and touch your right shoulder with your right ear
Breathe out and come back
That is one rep
Perform 7 such reps

Neck rotation (2/4)

Stand straight
Form a fist with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Breathe in and twist your neck to face the left wall
Breathe out and untwist it
Breathe in and twist your neck to face the right wall
Breathe out and untwist it
This is one rep
Perform 7 such reps

Neck rotation (3/4)

Stand straight
Form a fist with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Breathe in and face the ceiling
Breathe out and face the floor
This is one rep
Perform seven such reps

Neck rotation (4/4)

Stand straight
Form a fist with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Bring your chin down to touch your chest
Take a deep breath and rotate your neck from the left
After one rotation breathe out
Breathe in again and rotate your neck from the right
This is one rep
Perform 7 such reps

Shoulder Movements

Shoulder movement (1/3)

Stand straight
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Breathe in and lift your hands on either side to form a T
Breathe out and raise your hands toward the ceiling (clench your stomach)
Breathe in and again form a T
Breathe out and bring your hands down
This is one rep
Perform 7 such reps

Note: This should be done very slowly.

Shoulder movement (2/3)

Stand straight
Form a fist with your thumbs clasped in
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Breathe in, hold the breath and rotate your hands clockwise twice for 15 times each
Take a 10-second break
Breathe in, hold the breath and rotate your hands anticlockwise twice for 15 times each

Shoulder movement (3/3)

Stand straight
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Place your hands on your shoulders
Now breathe in and rotate them clockwise
Half way through the rotation, breathe out
This is one rep
Perform 7 such reps
Repeat the rotations anticlockwise

Stretches

Stretches (1/4)

Stretch your legs to form an inverted Y
Your feet should be parallel and your toes inward
Extend both your hands in front of you parallel to each other
Breathe in while twisting your body to the left
Breathe out and come back
Breathe in and twist your body to the right
This is one rep
Perform 10 such reps

Note: Only your upper body should twist. Make sure your hips don’t move.

Stretches (2/4)

Stretch your legs to form an inverted Y
Your feet should be parallel and your toes inward
Extend your hands sideways parallel to the ground
Breathe out and stretch your left hand toward your left toe
Fold your right hand over your head
Breathe in and come back right up
Breathe out and stretch your right hand toward your right toe
Fold your left hand over your head
This one rep
Perform 10 such reps

(These need to be performed continuously. Do not stop in between. Also, keep your eyes open and do not bend your knees)

Stretches (3/4)

Stretch your legs to form an inverted Y
Your feet should be parallel and your toes inward
Breathe out and stretch your left hand toward your right toe
Your right hand will extend toward the ceiling
Breathe in and come back
Breathe out and stretch your right hand toward your left toe
Your left hand will extend toward the ceiling
This is one rep
You should perform 10 continuous reps

Stretches (4/4)

Stand straight
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Breathe out and touch the floor (do not bend your knees)
Breathe in and extend your arms toward the ceiling and bend backwards
This is one rep
Perform 10 such reps

Note: The aim of this exercise is to loosen your body and not stretch stiffly!

Kapaalbhaati with Movements

Kapaalbhaati with movements (1/3)

Keep your hands on your hips
Stand straight
Breathe out with your nose and touch your buttock with your left heel
Repeat it with your right heel
Keep breathing out with a sound and kicking your back

Kapaalbhaati with movements (2/3)

Repeat the previous exercise but faster
Jog while kicking your buttocks with your heels
Keep breathing out loudly with your nose
Do it for more than 30 seconds
Perform two sets of this

Kapaalbhaati with movements (3/3)

Stand straight
Keep your toes together
Tighten your thighs
Extend both your hands toward the ceiling
Open your palms to face the front wall
With every exhale open your fingers wide apart and then close them
Keep doing this 20 times
Extend your arms sideways to form a Y
Repeat the exercise 20 times
Bring our arms down and extend them parallel to the floor to form a T
Repeat the exercise 20 times

Churning the Belly

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
Place your hands on your thighs
Bend slightly forward
Keep your back straight
Loosen your neck
Focus your eyes on the floor
Breathe out completely
Hold the breath out and churn your stomach
Perform three to five sets of 10 churns
Slowly increase the churns to 50

That is all we have on today’s post on yoga warm-ups. Let us know if you found this helpful. You can also leave your queries, if any, in the comment section below.

Featured image source: Google, copyright-free image under Creative Commons License

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