A morning yoga sequence
Fifteen minutes that take a body from lying down to standing without demanding range it does not have at 6am.
15MINUTES ON THE MAT · 11 POSES
The whole practice, posted the way a timetable is posted: 11 poses across 15 minutes, each one holding for as long as the ruler below says it holds. At 2.5 MET that is about 46 kcal for a 70 kg adult, at once through.
स्रोत·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s · ruler spans the published 15 min·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
A morning body is stiffer than an evening one — the spine has been unloaded for eight hours and the tissue is cold. So this sequence starts on the floor, uses movement rather than long holds for the first half, and only asks for range once something is warm. Nothing here is a stretch you have to work for.
The sequence, in order
Every pose name links to its full page — steps, muscles worked, common mistakes and who should skip it.
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1
Supine Abdominal Stretch Supta Udarākarṣaṇāsana
1 minute each side
Before getting up: knees to one side, then the other.
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2
Knees-to-Chest Pose पवनमुक्तासन
1 minute
Draw the knees in and rock gently side to side.
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3
Cat Pose Mārjaryāsana
10 rounds
Hands and knees: move the spine with the breath.
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4
Downward-Facing Dog Pose Adho Mukha Śvānāsana
1 minute
Lift the hips back and pedal the heels for the first few breaths.
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5
अश्वसंचालनासन Aśva Sañcālanāsana
प्रत्येक बाजूला 45 सेकंद
Step forward into a lunge and let the back hip open.
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6
Standing Forward Bend उत्तानासन
1 minute
Feet together, fold, knees soft, head heavy.
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7
Raised Arms Pose हस्त उत्तानासन
3 breaths
Rise and reach overhead with a small chest lift.
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8
Chair Pose Utkaṭāsana
30 seconds
Sit back into chair pose.
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9
Warrior I वीरभद्रासन I
प्रत्येक बाजूला 30 सेकंद
Step back into Warrior I on each side.
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10
Tree Pose Vṛkṣāsana
प्रत्येक बाजूला 30 सेकंद
One-legged balance to finish upright and awake.
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11
पर्वत आसन Tāḍāsana
5 breaths
Stand still for a moment before the day starts.
Before you start this sequence
- Read the cautions on the individual pose pages. Between them, the poses here rule themselves out for pregnancy, high blood pressure, glaucoma, and neck, knee, shoulder and wrist injuries — the details differ pose by pose.
- A sequence is an order, not a prescription. Leave out anything that hurts and the rest still works.
- If you are pregnant, recently post-surgical, or managing a health condition, get your doctor's view before starting, and learn from a qualified teacher in person.
General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.
Notes on practising it
Fifteen minutes is the version that actually happens on a weekday. If there is more time, add three to five rounds of Surya Namaskar A after the standing poses.
How the ruler above was set out
- Each pose gets the stay time it is taught with — a count of breaths, or an inhale and an exhale where the movement is the transition.
- Breaths become clock time at one stated convention: one breath ≈ 5 seconds at an even practice pace. Nothing else on the ruler is assumed.
- The stays are laid across the published 15 minutes in proportion, so the seconds spent moving between poses sit inside the poses rather than vanishing.
- The energy figure uses the nearest published style code in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities — 2.5 MET here — through the standard ACSM relationship for a 70 kg adult.
kcal = MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200 × minutes
= 2.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 × 15
= 46 kcal for the whole practice
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·2.5 MET · 70 kg reference adult·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
The wider activity dataset, covering everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How long does the Morning practice sequence take?
About 15 minutes for 11 poses at the stay times listed. Suggested volume: once through. At 2.5 MET — the nearest published code in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities — that is roughly 46 kcal for a 70 kg adult.
Do I have to do the poses in this order?
The order is the point. Sequences are arranged so that each pose prepares the next one and answers the one before it — a backbend followed by a forward bend, a long hold followed by something that unloads it. Reordering them is fine once you know why they sit where they do.
Is the Morning practice sequence suitable for beginners?
Yes. Every pose in it is a beginner-level shape with an accessible version, though you should still read each pose's own cautions — a beginner pose can still be wrong for a specific pregnancy, knee or neck.
What do I need for it?
A mat, and for several poses a block and a strap — a folded blanket and a belt do the same job. Nothing here needs a studio.
Other hours on the timetable
Asana names are traditional. Every step, benefit and caution on this page is written for YogaPath rather than reproduced from any book, studio or other library — see how this site is written आणि what it is written from. General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.
स्रोत·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
The people behind these sites
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This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
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