Many people have asked me what the best time in the day to practice yoga is. I always tell them that the best time is the time it’s convenient for them, because that’s when they are most likely to be available to practice. Scheduling morning practices before an early workday is not too ambitious for some, but subject to last minute snooze button decisions for others.

Having said that, my new year’s resolution is to practice in the morning, before I start teaching or doing other work related things. I know from experience in the past that I don’t like getting up early and my body is quite stiff in the morning. Morning practices make me feel dizzy and I can’t express poses as deeply as I would like to without having had nourishing meals throughout the day and much more time for my body to wake up. Nevertheless I resolved to wake up early and practice.

Because the sun was shining, I was able to easily wake up before my alarm went off. I arrived on my mat shortly after and found that, as I should have expected, my sun salutations were lackluster, my standing poses were stiff, and my seated poses were my excuses to rest. This was supposed to be my home Ashtanga practice, and for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, there is supposed to be a vinyasa/flow/movement in between each seated pose. Not today!

While today’s practice should have been fine, since we must listen to our bodies and let the present moment dictate the direction of our practice, I don’t want to continue practicing in this way because I feel so limited. But I can accept today’s practice, even though it was quite humbling. I accept it because it was humbling.

I recall 2 of my best home Ashtanga practices of 2017. One was after I had taught an energizing Yoga with Spinning class (plug: Mondays and Sundays at Kerrisdale Yoga 11am-12:15pm. Wear running shoes.) after which I was inspired to practice without taking easier variations that I often do when I’m not practicing with my instructor. The other was one early evening after I taught a class. I wasn’t quite hungry for dinner yet, I still had some energy, and I had the whole day, plus the Vinyasa Power class I taught, for my body to warm up. I practiced almost as energetically as I had that day after the Yoga with Spinning class.

For me, the best time of day to practice is right before dinner, or, apparently, after spinning. I have my best practices then. I will continue to experiment with mornings though. Tomorrow I plan to wake up and shower or take a bath before practice (sounds weird, I know, but both Deepak Chopra and B.K.S. Iyengar say you should do this before your practice, and I have found that it warms the muscles up in a very nice way). I will probably still perform slow sun salutations and poses to avoid the dizziness that could surface, but perhaps I will get a practice closer to the one I seek.

The point of this entry is to encourage anyone who reads this to experiment practicing at different times. It might be inconvenient to practice before work. Or, you may feel a bit too fatigued after work to have your practice. But if you try doing yoga at different times of the day, even on different days of the week, you might find that at the oddest times (after spinning, perhaps?) you can find your most beautiful practice. Pushing through a bit of inconvenience, fatigue, hunger, or anything else discouraging you from practice, might give you exactly the great practice you don’t even know you can have.

About Author:

Jim Battle is a brand manager in the best thesis writing service and deals with public relations. He has been practicing yoga since 2009. He plans to become a yoga trainer and release his autobiography book.