The Energetics of Morning vs Evening Practice: Finding Your Natural Flow
When I roll out my mat in the morning, my body is still stiff, and my mind is soft, still floating between dream state and wakefulness. It’s the perfect moment to shape the day ahead. Our brains are shifting from the slower, more impressionable waves of sleep into alertness. What we choose to do in this window matters.
Morning Practice: Awakening the Sensual and the Subtle
A morning practice carries the solar energy, warming, awakening, and clarifying. It’s not always easy to convince yourself that the earlier wake-up time is worth it, but once you do, everything flows differently. The breath feels fresher, focus sharper, and energy steadier throughout the day.
Morning yoga invites sensual awareness, a slow, stretching reintroduction to your body. Sun salutations, gentle twists, and hip or heart openers gradually build internal heat. The movement coaxes prana (life force) to rise and expand. By the end, you’re not just awake; you’re aligned.
Even five to ten mindful minutes can turn a reactive morning into a receptive one. You start moving with the day instead of being swept by it.
Evening Practice: Unwinding the Day’s Momentum
Evening carries the lunar energy, cooling, reflective, and releasing. By the end of the day, the body is already warm and mobile, but the mind can be full. A later practice helps you clear mental residue and emotional weight, drawing the energy back inward.
Evening flows often feel quicker to get into, the muscles respond easily, yet the challenge lies in stilling the thoughts. It’s not uncommon for me to meditate at night and drift right into sleep, which honestly isn’t a bad thing. The body knows when it needs restoration.
Choose gentle, grounded movement for evenings: longer holds, forward folds, slow hip releases, or restorative shapes that invite surrender. Focus less on heat, more on ease. The intention isn’t to energize but to integrate the experiences of the day.
Choosing What Serves You
Neither time is better, only different. Morning practice builds focus and vitality; evening practice cultivates peace and integration.
Ask yourself:
• When does my body crave movement most?
• When does my mind feel most receptive?
• Do I need activation or release right now?
Some people thrive on both, a quick morning flow for clarity and a short evening stretch for grounding. Others find consistency by choosing one. The key is to honor your natural rhythm rather than forcing someone else’s.
Energetic Awareness Through Movement
Yoga, at its heart, is the practice of balancing polarities, solar and lunar, effort and surrender. When you align your practice with the energetic tone of the day, it harmonizes your nervous system and deepens self-awareness.
So whether you salute the sun or bow to the moon, let your breath guide you. The best time to practice is the one that keeps you returning to the mat, over and over, in devotion to your own energy.
About Sasha “Sassy Yoga” Spangenberg
Sasha is a 500 hour certified yoga teacher, Tantra practitioner, and Thai Yoga Bodywork therapist. She is one of many trainers at Audriasana, a space dedicated to yoga education, self-discovery, a fit lifestyle, and embodied living. Sasha hosted her first sold-out retreat in Costa Rica in 2024 and continues to guide students toward deeper awareness through yoga, pranayama, and meditation, both on and off the mat.