Build strength, stability, and focus using this 10-minute yoga routine and one of the best yoga mats to find your flow.
“This is a short, energizing ten-minute yoga session for strength, stability, and focus that allows you to stretch and ground,” says yoga duo Breathe and Flow. It’s a great way to start your morning or throughout the day if you sit for long periods of time at a desk.
Below, we share the short but effective 10-minute routine, along with some of the benefits of a flow yoga practice.
Watch Breathe and Flow’s 10-minute yoga routine:
Bre and Flo are qualified yoga teachers, certified in Functional Movement Screening and Animal Flow and are also Functional Mobility Specialists. In short, they know a thing or two about yoga and how to move for maximum effectiveness.
This particular routine is recommended for anyone who needs to incorporate movement into their day, Flo explains, which is not unlike the technique of snacking while exercising.
To watch
You'll start at the back of your mat in a standing position, which gives you a chance to focus on your breathing and prepare for the routine. Aptly named yoga instructor Flo recommends activating your ujjayi breath, which means inhaling and exhaling through your nose.
This is a type of purifying yoga breathing used to slow the heart rate and increase heat in the body by sealing your lips and creating a slight restriction in the back of your throat. This is one of the things I wish I had known sooner as a yoga beginner, but only use it if you feel comfortable.
I describe this practice as slow and strong rather than the fast transitions of vinyasa; it will test your ability to use your strength, control, balance and focus to drive the movement, keep the muscles under constant tension and increase stability over time.
This is a smart way to focus on form, transitions, and increasing intensity if you only have a short time to indulge in your yoga session. Moving slowly also means paying more attention to what your body is doing and how your muscles feel during each pose—something we should do more often during any exercise to improve muscle activation and contraction and strengthen our neuromuscular pathways.
Is doing 10 minutes of yoga a day enough?
While sports snacking—a trend that involves adding short bursts of exercise to your daily routine—may seem like a fad, some evidence (like this study published in Exercise and Sports Science Reviews) suggests that bursts of vigorous exercise lasting as short as 60 seconds may improve your cardio fitness.
While this 10-minute yoga session isn't considered “vigorous,” there are many benefits to a regular yoga practice, no matter how long it lasts. Yoga can build flexibility, boost mobility, strengthen joints, muscles, bones, and ligaments, increase a sense of mindfulness, and reduce anxiety and low mood, helping to build mental strength.
It’s amazing what an hour of yoga can do for your body, but consistency is key to reaching your physical or mental health goals. Making exercise more accessible can help promote consistency, whether you’re trying to build strength, lose weight, or something else. If spreading your exercise out over the day or week improves consistency, then yes, 10 minutes is beneficial.
A study published in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine suggests that yoga may be helpful in improving health and “lifestyle-related health conditions,” citing the frequency of home practice as more important than the amount of time spent practicing or the number of classes one takes. Even 10 minutes of practice can provide health benefits.
Can Yoga Help You Lose Weight?
Any form of exercise can help you lose weight, but practicing yoga alone probably won't be enough to melt away the calories. You'll need to consider other lifestyle changes, such as getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and moving more throughout the day. Plus, there are many other benefits to yoga.
If you're looking to lose weight, faster-paced exercises like vinyasa, power yoga, rocket yoga, and hot yoga can get your heart rate up and make classes more challenging. For example, a study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found that 60 minutes of vinyasa flow burned as many calories as brisk walking.