5 Yoga Poses to Boost Energy
May 26, 2021
Hectic, busy lifestyles are the norm these days, and most of us wish we had the energy to check a few more things off our to-do lists each day. When you add a lack of sleep and chronic stress to the mix, it’s no surprise that many of us turn to caffeine and sugar to get through that afternoon slump.
But there’s actually a natural alternative that will provide long-lasting energy while helping you manage all that stress at the same time. Yoga can have an invigorating effect on the mind and body, combatting both mental and physical fatigue.
In this article, we’ll highlight five yoga poses that can help you feel more awake and energized all day long.
5 Yoga Poses to Practice Daily for More Energy
According to Dr. Jill Blakeway, author of Energy Medicine and founder of The Yinova Center Acupuncture, our energy, or life force, can become stagnant or blocked. This is often due to stress, lack of sleep, illness, injury, or a variety of other factors.
Practicing these five yoga poses every day will help your life force you to flow more naturally, improving focus, physical energy, and emotional stability.
It’s a good idea to warm up your spine with a few Cat and Cow poses before moving into the more intense sequence below.
1. Sun Salutations
Sun Salutations are fantastic for energizing the body and mind. The point is to move your body in rhythm with your breathing, which boosts your oxygen level and circulation. This not only increases your energy level, but also lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, and even supports immune function.
For optimum results, keep your breathing even and deep as you move through the salutations. Coordinating your body’s movements with your breathing has a meditative effect that will leave you feeling relaxed and refreshed.
2. Warrior II
As you move into Warrior II, lengthen your spine, engage your core, and drop your hips. Keep your shoulders broad and extend your arms as long as possible. All this wideness increases oxygen flow to give you an energy boost.
Your posture can have a direct impact on your mood. Going big and open with this pose can be empowering. In fact, “power postures” like Warrior Pose may even lower stress hormones like cortisol while raising testosterone, which can help you feel more optimistic and confident.
3. Tree Pose
Tree pose is another energizing power posture. Balance poses like Tree Pose require both deep mental focus and an engaged core. This makes Tree Pose one of the most effective postures for boosting energy.
The deep mental focus required for this pose reduces activity in the part of the brain that responds to stress, called the amygdala. When you free up the energy your body would be using to cope with stress, you can invest that energy into other things.
4. Headstand
Inversion poses are amazing for boosting energy, and Headstand is one of the most invigorating of all inversions in a variety of ways. Not only do you get a shot of adrenaline from being upside down, but you’re also engaging your core. Headstand also requires extreme balance and mental focus.
Because Headstand also has a small center of gravity, they are especially powerful for alleviating mental and physical fatigue. For an even greater effect, you could move into a Handstand, which incorporates raised arms to boost self-confidence and motivation.
5. Full Wheel
Deep backbend poses like Full Wheel stimulate the adrenal glands, giving a nice boost of energy. Be sure to use the proper form. Your knees shouldn’t be wider than your hips and your elbows shouldn’t be wider than your shoulders. This will give you the most benefit and reduce the potential for spinal injury.
Finishing Up
Once you’ve completed these five energizing poses, finish out the routine with some deep breathing exercises like Breath of Fire. Do a series of short, rapid inhales and exhales while your core engages.
Breath of Fire is fantastic for raising your heart rate and oxygen levels, but be careful not to overdo it or you could undo the benefits of the focus-based postures above. Three rounds of 50 breaths is a great starting point but adjust it according to what feels best for you.
And finally, don’t overlook the value of meditation for increasing energy levels. When we’re unfocused, we end up doing the same tasks over and over again, which wastes energy. That’s why we often feel exhausted at the end of the day, even when we haven’t been physically active.
Short meditation sessions throughout the day can improve concentration and lower stress levels. This allows you to think and work more efficiently without using as much energy.
Want to start a meditation practice but don’t know where to begin? Try our Flow + Meditation Yoga Classes at our Uptown, Dallas location. We start with 45 minutes of vinyasa flow to let go of your day and then settle into 15 minutes of mind ease and guided meditation practice. It’s the perfect combination for energy lift yoga poses!
