Yoga at home for beginners: a 15-minute morning routine that sticks

You do not need flexibility to start yoga. You need fifteen minutes, a mat-sized space and the patience to breathe slowly while your body works things out.

Before you start

• A mat or a folded blanket on a non-slip floor. Bare feet.
• An empty-ish stomach — morning before breakfast is ideal.
• No forcing. Yoga is done at the edge of comfort, never past it.

The 15-minute routine

1. Arrive (1 min). Sit cross-legged, eyes closed, and simply notice the breath.
2. Cat and cow (1 min). On hands and knees, lift the chest as you breathe in, round the spine as you breathe out.
3. Sun Salutation × 4 (8 min). Mountain, arms up, fold, half lift, plank, cobra, downward dog for five breaths, step forward, rise. Slowly the first time; let the breath set the pace after that.
4. Warrior II and tree (3 min). Thirty seconds each side. Wobbling is balancing.
5. Child’s pose and stillness (2 min). Knees wide, forehead down, long breaths.

Three beginner mistakes

• Holding the breath in hard poses. If you cannot breathe smoothly, back off.
• Locking the knees in forward folds. Keep them soft.
• Comparing. The figure on the screen is a guide, not a target.

Making it a habit

Same time, same place, every day for two weeks — even if some days are only five minutes. On Move, the Sunrise Sun Salutation class runs this sequence with a voice, a move-along figure and calm music, and the first five minutes are free. In a VR headset you can practise it on a beach at dawn.

If you are pregnant, have high blood pressure, glaucoma or a back injury, ask a doctor which poses to skip.