When's the Best Time to do Yoga?
Aside from what you are about to read, there is plenty of prescriptive information about when is it right to do yoga. Early morning and late evening are the most common recommendations. This is not intended to disagree with that information but to bring a modern and practical perspective to the question.
From a modern perspective, the majority of people are not able or willing to arise between 4-6am and do yoga for an hour or two before eating, showering, and going to work. There are plenty who have that level of discipline and commitment and that is great. As I said, this is not an argument against other advice. If you are not one of those people, this is for you, read on.
To know when to do yoga, requires some understanding about what yoga is and does for you. This really requires practice and experience, but I will share my experience with you so that you can try it in a way that may work best for you.
Yoga is a physical practice that releases our mental strain and attachments or sticking points. Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, explains it as “The restraint of modifications of the mind-stuff is Yoga.” We can all relate to mind-stuff we would like to restrain! Reflect on that for just a moment before reading on, and name or describe to yourself a few of these mental patterns you would like to change, restrain, or not have on a feedback loop.
Now that you have reflected, remember that the physical practice of yoga is about the restraint of these patterns. If approaching yoga from the mind-patterns themself, that will hardly result in the restraint of them. Going through poses vigorously in order to boast of accomplishment, pushing your body to hard which will lead to injury and then a non-stop barrage of mind stuff while you suffer the recovery, working out with a mind full of criticism for your inabilities, desires for an outcome, comparisons to others bodies or successes….. none of these are actually yoga.
Yoga focuses your mind on your sensation and present experience. It requires complete concentration, or as Joseph Pilates would say, “Supreme mental and physical efforts.” Do not let that word concentration scare you, you’re really good at it if you can remember a time someone cut you off in traffic or you were angry about something, you probably concentrated on it, focused on it, for hours, sometimes days, sometimes years. You have the ability to focus and concentrate, now lets just apply it to our benefit instead of our harm.
Let’s take that last example and use it to determine when is the right or best time to do yoga. You’re lying in bed, awake early or late, unable to sleep with your mind reeling over some drama. You want it to stop, you want to sleep. This is a great time to do yoga. Your being has an energy that needs to be worked out. Your mind is not going to solve it, all its going to do is go in circles around it. Getting up and working out that energy with the body, while you let the mind rest and be present fully to the physical sensations, alignment and adjustments of the body, will restrain the other mind-stuff, and soon you will be free from the struggle. You can then go to sleep, back to sleep, or move on with your day from a calm perspective.
What if you don’t have time to do yoga when your mind is reeling? Well, this may happen in some circumstances, but in general if you have the time to obsess over something negative, you are not presently involved in tasks that would leave the mind unable to do so, so you most likely can do even 5 minutes of yoga. But lets look even more broadly at yoga, and leave out the physical poses aspect. Lets say your mind is reeling while you’re cooking or eating or caring for children. If you treat cooking as a yoga pose, if you focus your mind whole-ly on what you are doing, the other mind-stuff will not be able to run in the background anymore. Your whole life, in this way can become yoga. When that is the case, the physical practice takes on another purpose, and will naturally become a regular part of your life. You will find it easy and fitting to wake up, do yoga and continue on your day. Or wherever you find that it fits best for you and your life.
It is in this way that you can do yoga at the best time, and also go through a process of creating a lifestyle that easily supports a regular yoga practice. When we have a natural motivation, doing things that are good for us, is not hard. So if you have ever struggled to be disciplined, or struggled to commit or be motivated, try this different approach, and begin to notice when you need to practice. As that benefits and improves your life, so will your motivation and commitment to a certain way of living.
Good Luck. I know you can do it! Share your progress or questions in the comments or in our contact us page!