When is the Best Time to Do Yoga?

Whether you’re a yoga beginner or not, you might wonder when is the best time to do yoga? With yoga, like most things in life, you’ll get different answers depending on who you ask.

Accordingly, I take the view that the best time to do yoga, as in asana practice, is when your mind and body are willing to let you take up space on your mat.

Sure, sometimes our body says (or screams), noooo, I don’t want to do yoga. Or our mind says (or screams loudly), nooooo, I don’t want to practice yoga. Sometimes our mind and body are totally out of sync.

However, ultimately, the best time to do yoga is when it’s right for you.

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When is the Best Time of Day to Do Yoga?

Different yoga teachers, yoga schools, and philosophies have different ideas about the best time of day to do yoga.

For example, B.K.S. Iyengar advises that early morning yoga or late in the evening yoga offers advantages. Brahma Muhuratam, or the last quarter of the night, between 3:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. might be the best time of day for yoga practice for some yogis.

Many die hard, Mysore Ashtanga yogis probably would vote for early morning, like 5 a.m., and well before they’ve even considered eating breakfast.

Of course, there’s the practical aspect to early morning yoga that goes beyond the spiritual, like connecting with the first rays of morning sun. For example, bodies tend to be tight in the morning. Yoga can help prepare the body by limbering it for the day ahead with a healthy dose of stretches.

Times to Avoid Practicing Yoga

Many yoga practitioners would probably agree that the time to avoid practicing yoga is when your stomach is full. So, for some, that would rule out yoga after meals. In fact, some yoga schools of thought believe you need to wait several hours after a meal, until food is fully digested, before practicing yoga.

Practically speaking, however, some people only have time for afternoon yoga or mid-morning yoga, sometimes after they’ve already eaten and long before all food has had time to digest.

This is where I personally take the view that if you want to practice and it feels good with your body, why not? Perhaps it’s not ideal for digestion. However, I think practice is better than no practice. 😉

Yoga Days Off During The Month

Some yogis, such as Ashtanga yogis, don’t practice on certain days of the month or modify yoga practices depending on the calendar. For example, some Astanga yoga practitioners won’t practice on a new or full moon.

Some yoga practitioners also won’t practice during their menstrual cycle (or at least won’t do inversions).