When Is The Best Time of Day to Practice Yoga?
One of the questions that haunt the mind of those who start practicing yoga for the first time is: what time is it best to start practicing yoga?
There is usually no fixed rule, but there are times of day that are more appropriate than others.
The fundamental rule on which yoga practice is based is simply one: practice the asanas on an empty stomach. Therefore, this requires us to practice yoga away from meals.
Why is it essential to practice yoga on an empty stomach? Because digestion begins 30 minutes after each meal. The digestive process involves a large blood supply that will flow from the whole body to the gastrointestinal tract. You can therefore imagine how complicated it is to do yoga for your body and then force it to devote itself to the intense physical effort while it is already busy completing digestion.
Also, when you perform the asanas, especially those of twisting or forward bending, you compress and massage your internal organs. Therefore, doing yoga on an empty stomach would bring numerous benefits, because you will bring oxygen and blood to the organs you are massaging and compressing.
Furthermore, the vital energy, the prana, which flows through different channels in the various parts of the body, while digested, is focused on the abdominal tract, specifically in the third chakra called Manipura. Therefore, since each asana is designed to interact with one or more chakras, doing yoga during the digestive phase would compromise the effectiveness of the practice. So, it would be good for everyone to take the time to digest and recharge.
That said, the most appropriate time to practice yoga should be in the morning, right after waking up and before breakfast. This is because the body wakes up and it is good to give it a charge that sustains us throughout the day.
Furthermore, the mind is fresh, and poor compared to the billions of thoughts that occur at the end of the day and the physical activity you are going to do can only activate and accelerate your metabolism, bringing you infinite benefits.
If, however, it becomes impossible for you to practice yoga in the morning, because you are full of commitments, then the ideal time is the evening.
As for the practice of yoga in the evening, the advice is to practice it as soon as you return home and before dinner. Practicing yoga in the evening could be useful to remove the thoughts of the day for a while and thus prepare you for a better and more peaceful rest.
The important thing, in any case, is not to do it too late, because intense physical activity risks keeping you awake for longer.
In summary, the perfect times or even better, the best times to practice yoga could be:
• Before breakfast.
• Before dinner.
• Away from meals.
• When we have more energy.
In any case, definitively establishing what time to do yoga is not at all easy, since each of us has different rhythms and habits. There are no moments when it is not recommended to practice: you have to listen to your body, as with everything, and your head.