To Start Your Day With Less Stress and More Energy, Try Sun Salutation Yoga

There is a proven way to start your day that studies show will help curb stress, boost energy and start your day calmer, happier, and with less fatigue. This ritual is a gentle, restorative Sun Salutation, which stretches your body and helps regulate your breathing as you set your intention for the day. And follow it up by sipping a turmeric drink, a curcumin-spiced tea or a non-dairy latte with turmeric creamer, which contains curcumin, a compound in turmeric that has been shown to contain. Here is how to integrate this new ritual into your morning, with the strengthening yoga flow and a natural Turmeric non-dairy creamer from Laird Superfood that transforms a latte into a functional drink.

A sun salutation is actually not a single move, but a flow of 12 connected postures with reaching and stretching movements integrated into one restorative sweep of gestures that has scientifically measurable health benefits. Simply add these movements to your morning, for up to ten minutes after you get out of bed, to feel better physically and mentally all day long.

Start in a standing pose, feet parallel, and begin a sequence of reaching up with both arms, palms facing in, fingers pointing up towards the sky, then sweep arms back down toward the earth, and allow your steady breath to open your back muscles and feel each movement work to expand your range of motion. Each aspect of your post serves a purpose as it relates to your physical and mental health, your relationship to nature, the sun, the Earth, and the air. (see the video for full details) But altogether, the movements help your body to reduce stress and improve digestion, increase healthy circulation, and boost your athletic performance, scientific studies show. Sun salutations give your entire muscular-skeletal system a chance to stretch as you awaken the spine, lower back, and shoulders.

These stretches help support a healthy lifestyle by breathing healthy energy into your body and allow stress to leave your muscles, which helps your body build a strong immune system and stave off lifestyle-driven diseases caused by stress or unhealthy imbalances, such as sitting all day, not moving in the morning, or a poorly functioning digestive system.

The 5 Health Benefits of Sun Salutations

If one of your goals is to build strong, lean muscle and improve your fitness, practicing sun solutions can improve your strength and endurance. In a study, a group of researchers had subjects perform 24 cycles of sun salutation, 6 days a week for 24 weeks. They then measured changes in upper body muscle strength by asking them to do a bench press and shoulder press and all of the subjects had gotten stronger doing the sun salutations, and while both groups lowered their overall BMI, the women lost body fat over the 24 weeks. The upshot: performing sun salutations helps to get stronger, build muscle or reach your optimal fitness level.

2. Sun salutations improves circulation and fights stress-related fatigue

Throughout the flow of a sun salutation, your body is constantly in movement, increasing your heart rate and improving circulation. The poses also "open" the heart as you raise your chest up and forward and breathe air fully and deliberately into and out of the lungs, allowing for better blood circulation.

If you're someone who feels tired all the time, then a helpful tip to boost energy levels is to start your day practicing sun salutations to get a natural boost of energy first thing in the morning. This is an easy way to stay focused without needing caffeine.

When you're practicing sun salutations, your diaphragm meets your abdomen as you lower your hands to the floor, to meet your feet, and then as you push your hips back into a downward dog position, almost as if there is a hurdle under your stomach. This healthy movement is beneficial for your lungs and chest, helping to regulate healthy breathing patterns, reducing feelings of stress, and ultimately aiding healthy digestion.

When you're feeling stressed, your digestion and nervous system are thrown off track. This can take a toll on your immune system, according to studies that link stress to digestion. and the nutrients absorbed by your body. When stress throws off your digestive system, may experience muscle spasms, according to The American Psychological Association. To avoid these painful abdominal cramps, add sun solutions to your practice or daily ritual.

The basic principles of yoga may positively impact patients with IBS, because internal organs such as the intestines (which get inflamed during IBS) can feel calmer in certain yoga poses (such as child's post), and a healthy stress-relieving yoga practice can help reduce abdominal pain that occurs with IBS, according to a study published by the National Library of Medicine. The study also pointed out that yoga helps to develop body awareness and physical discipline, supporting a healthy diet and exercise, which can reduce IBS symptoms.

If you're looking for an easy way to improve your fitness without cardio, just ten minutes of sun solutions a day could be your answer, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, which researched the effects of yoga versus cardio. The researcher zeroed in on the importance of sun solution postures, explaining that to gain fitness, sun salutations improved breathing and overall wellbeing.

For a turmeric drink, Laird Superfood's Turmeric Superfood creamer adds this natural flavor to your morning coffee, smoothie, or tea. or mix it with your favorite warm plant-based milk. Laird Superfood Creamers have naturally occurring MCTs from coconut oil and are made with all-natural, whole-food ingredients. They are vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, stevia-free, soy-free, keto-friendly, and non-GMO,  and free of any artificial colors, flavors, and additives. To shop, visit Laird Superfood's website and see the rituals that work for others. Not sure how to use Turmeric Creamer? Add it to this Creamy Golden Milk Smoothie recipe.

Serves 2

Time to Make: 5 Minutes

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