This is yogi Tara Stiles’ perfect wake up ritual

All it takes is a few minutes of your time: yogi Tara Stile’s favourite morning ritual. It sets the tone for a beautiful day. 

The days are getting shorter, and you’ve probably noticed it too: it’s a little harder to get out of bed. American yogi Tara Stiles found a simple, but very effective solution: an in-bed ritual. ‘First thing in the morning, sit right up in bed, close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath. When you notice attention’s starting to wander towards the tasks of the day, simply guide attention back to your breath. Having that brief moment for yourself to connect and find ease and calm can really set the tone for the day.’

A sense of ease and calm

Tara was one of the first yoga teachers who started to teach on YouTube. She has been into yoga from a very early age. She set a mission: to help people find ways to do yoga that are fun and accessible. For her, yoga means ‘a sense of ease and calm.’ ‘If I feel off, I know what to do to get back. That’s a huge gift that yoga has brought me.’

The body as a road map

Yoga can teach us a lot about our body and how we’re feeling, Tara says. “How we’re living in our bodies is how we are in our lives. It’s a sort of a road map of what’s going on. If you have tight hips and shoulders, it could be you’re sitting in the office for too long, but it could also be that you’re closed off for certain things. If you just tell people ‘open up a little bit’, people come back and share these miraculous transformations. It can simply be because they’re doing this practice of evening out and balances, in a compassionate way, that’s not so self-critical.’

Photo: Kinga Cichewicz

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