## 20-Minute Morning Yoga for a Full-Body Stretch
Published August 12, 2025 08:08AM
This 20-minute morning yoga practice is what I consider a sweet release. It’s one of my most popular full-body stretch practices and helps you get into your hips and hamstrings and also your shoulders and upper back.
The practice is designed for those with some yoga experience given that some of the hip-opening stretches are fairly intense. It’s a mix of familiar yoga poses, some static and some dynamic, so you’ll hold some shapes for a little longer while you move in and out of others a little more quickly. I think you’ll feel differently at the end of the full-body stretching practice than you did before.
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## 20-Minute Morning Yoga for a Full-Body Stretch
Props aren’t required although if you’d like, you can have a block close by to help make some of the poses more accessible.
### Turtle Pose
This pose is similar to Bound Angle (Baddha Konasana), in which you have your heels pretty close to you.Even though for Turtle, you’re going to walk the feet out a little more into this diamond shape, so that your knees are bent a little less than a 90-degree angle, and then you’re going to fold forward from here. Depending on your range of motion, you can always prop yourself up with your hands on the ground or, if you’re able and wont to go deeper into the pose, you can reach your arms underneath your legs, palms facing upward.
You’re not pushing yourself into the pose. You’re letting gravity pull you farther into the forward fold. Take the time to find a version of th### Seated Pigeon Pose or Figure-4
Come back to sitting and bring your feet flat on the mat with your knees bent. Bring your hands behind you to prop yourself up and lean back a little as you cross your right ankle over your left knee. Bend your left knee and slide your left foot closer or farther away from you as needed. The closer you bring your knee toward your chest, the more intensely you’ll feel this stretch through the outer right hip and into your glutes. Conversely,the more you straighten your left leg,the less intense the stretch.
Try not to round and slouch your back. I’m also pushing my hands into the mat to get a little more length along the spine. You may want to rock a little side to side here.
### Reverse Tabletop
Release Seated Pigeon Pose and bring both feet flat on the mat again. Plant your palms behind you with your fingertips pointing toward your heels. Press into your hands and squeeze your glutes as you lift your set up into Reverse Tabletop. you want to push into your heels to lift through the chest.You’re stretching through the front and top of the shoulders. You can keep your chin slightly tucked or gently let it hang. D### Low Lunge
Step your right foot in between your hands and lower your back knee to the mat in Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana). Lift your chest and arms and engage through the core. Bend your elbows, squeeze your shoulder blades behind you, and take a little backbend with cactus arms. Press your hips forward and down, but not so much that you feel pinching in our lower back. You want to be able to maintain a slow, steady breath rhythm here.
### Pyramid Pose Variation
Interlace your hands behind your lower back and lift your chest a little more. Tuck your back toes under, lift the back knee off the mat, and lean your chest forward and down in a variation of High Lunge that’s similar to Pyramid Pose with your back heel lifted. Stay low toward the mat. Bring your hands to the mat, your front shin, or blocks and straighten your right leg in this wider variation of Pyramid Pose. relax your neck and let your head hang. It’s entirely normal if your left heel hovers off the mat. Try to keep pushing int### Cat-Cow Pose
Begin on your hands and knees, aligning your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. As you inhale, drop your belly toward the mat, arch your back, and lift your gaze toward the ceiling for Cow Pose. As you exhale, round your spine toward the ceiling, tuck your chin toward your chest, and draw your navel toward your spine for Cat Pose. Continue moving between these two poses for five breaths.
Thread the Needle
Table of Contents
From tabletop, inhale and reach your right arm toward the ceiling. Exhale and thread your right arm under your left, bringing your right shoulder and ear toward the mat. You can keep your left hand extended overhead or wrap it around your waist. Hold for five breaths, then repeat on the other side.
Remember to breathe deeply throughout each pose. If you find yourself holding tension, consciously relax and stretch and let gravity do most of the work for you. But this is only possible if you haven’t gone too far into the stretch. So if you have a hard time relaxing your shoulders, quads, glutes, and belly, it usually means you need to back off a little.Take one more big, slow breath here.
tabletop Hip Circles
Transition to your hands and knees and take a few hip circles by tracing circles with your hips.Do that twice in each direction.
When you’re ready, find your Downward Dog and repeat Three-Legged Dog, Low Lunge, Pyramid, Pigeon, and Tabletop Hip Circles.
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