10 Minute Morning Yoga Routines with Java Yoga

Like coffee? Me too. How about yoga? Me too. How about both together? Wait. What? Yes, you read me right. Java Yoga brings together two things you love—coffee and yoga, together at last.

My two kids may be 14 and 9 now, but I still remember those early days when I had neither the time nor the energy to get myself out the door to a yoga class. But oh how I missed it! Well that’s the same frustration Niki Inglis felt many years ago when she was a stay-at-home mom to three girls under the age of five. One morning, while drinking the cup of coffee that she always made time for, she thought to herself “What if? What If I just sat down . . . cup of delicious steaming coffee in hand and did a few minutes of gentle yoga?” And so, Java Yoga was born.

Fast forward to today. Niki’s daughters are now all in their teens and anyone can practice along with Niki at javayoga.ca. After years of continuing a daily Java Yoga practice and introducing the concept to friends, Niki has finally made her dream of bringing Java Yoga to the world a reality.

Coffee and yoga together still doesn’t sound right to you? Think of it as Niki does: “a little bit of what we need linked to a little bit of what we want.” As busy moms, we rarely take time or make time for ourselves. But I’m willing to bet that most of you take some time in the morning to scroll through social media (or the newspaper if you’re old school) while you drink your morning coffee and at some point during the day or week bemoan the fact that you haven’t had time to work out. To you I say, just give Java Yoga a try. If you already have the habit of lingering over your morning coffee then it’s not much of a stretch (no pun intended!) to add a little yoga to the mix.

Pour your favourite morning beverage (it doesn’t even have to be coffee, let alone hot!) roll out your mat and click on over. No prior yoga experience is required—it’s that easy—but you can find the detailed instructions to the first video posted on the website. If you’re new to yoga, you may want to take a moment to read them over and watch the video once before beginning.

The first video is a series of seven seated yet dynamic postures guaranteed to shake off the last vestiges of sleep and get your body ready for the day. You don’t even need a lot of room. Any space where you can roll out your mat and find a bit of peace is all that you need. For ten easy minutes. While you drink your coffee. How clever is that? Drinking something that energizes you while doing something that energizes you! And because it’s easy, you’ll soon see how easy it is to do it every day. You’ll find that starting your morning with Java Yoga will be as addictive as starting your day with java alone. And that’s a good habit to have. In fact, the creation of a healthy habit is at the crux of the Java Yoga concept.

Watch for Java Yoga to expand in the future with more videos. Niki’s goal is to give followers a different option for every day of the week, each video focusing on a particular major joint. The first video concentrates on the back.

It’s amazing how little time it takes to energize the body. After ten minutes I feel taller and looser. A short ten-minute practice has become part of my morning ritual, even when I’m on vacation. It’s a rare day that I skip it.

Healthy habits are as easy to fall into as bad ones. Start tomorrow with a different kind of morning.

A little about Niki:

A 200-hour certified yoga teacher with 80-hour hot yoga and 36-hour restorative yoga qualifications, Niki has been practising yoga since 1999 and teaching since 2008. If you’re in Vancouver, you can practise with her at East Side Fitness. In addition to teaching locally, Niki has partnered with Andrina Tsi to run annual yoga retreats in Switzerland and New Brunswick, and this fall Niki is partnering with Lucy St. John to run a Full Moon retreat on Bowen Island.

Influenced by Vijñana and Kundalini yoga, Zen meditation, somatics, burlesque dance and myo-fascial manipulation, Niki incorporates dance moves, pilates and tensegrity sequences, all linked with the breath, into a traditional yoga practice. You can reach out to Niki at javayoganiki@gmail.com and follow her on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Watch the first Java Yoga video now!

 

This is not a sponsored post, but the author (Kiki) and Niki are good friends, and Kiki is excited to spread the word about Java Yoga!