Morning Yoga With Expert Rolf Gates

This video is part of the 30-Day Couch-to-Fit Challenge designed to help you improve strength, cardio, balance and flexibility. Start the challenge here: aarp.org/CouchToFit

This gentle series of poses with yoga pro Rolf Gates will invigorate your morning and help you get your day started off right.

Key takeaways

• Experience increased morning energy and focus with Rolf Gates’ expert-guided gentle yoga routine.
• Build flexibility and balance through intentional movement and foundational poses led by Rolf Gates.
• Reduce stress and start each day calm with easy, accessible breathwork and mindful practice.

Summary

Morning yoga can transform the start of your day by boosting energy, improving flexibility and bringing mental clarity. Guided by yoga expert Rolf Gates, this gentle morning yoga routine focuses on intentional breathing, mindful movement and blending enthusiasm with grace. You’ll move through foundational poses like mountain pose, incorporate breathwork that melts away tension, and finish feeling spacious and calm — setting the tone for a vibrant, centered day.

Practicing morning yoga is especially beneficial for improving balance, focus and stress relief. Rolf Gates emphasizes small, accessible movements and easy-to-follow breathing techniques, so you can begin exactly where you are, no matter your experience level. Adding morning yoga to your routine provides a healthy foundation for the day and supports your progress through the 30-Day Couch-to-Fit Challenge, designed to enhance strength, cardio and flexibility.

The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Full Transcript:

[0:00:00] AARP’S GET MOVING! Wherever You Are

[0:00:02] MORNING YOGA WITH Yoga Expert Rolf Gates

[0:00:06] Hi there!

[0:00:07] Welcome to your morning yoga sequence.

[0:00:12] My name is Rolf Gates, and I’m incredibly honored

[0:00:15] to be invited by the staff of AARP to offer you this class,

[0:00:19] and I’m incredibly honored that you’re willing to take it.

[0:00:22] Let’s start just by how we’re going to breathe.

[0:00:27] So I’d like you to imagine that your torso is a glass of water.

[0:00:31] The base of the glass is at your hips, and the top of the glass at your collarbones.

[0:00:35] And as you inhale, the glass is going to fill.

[0:00:39] Your hands are going to bring that air up to the top of the glass.

[0:00:43] And as you exhale, the glass is going to empty from the top down.

[0:00:51] Inhale, fill the glass, breathing through the nose.

[0:00:57] As you exhale, you’re going to breathe out through the mouth,

[0:00:59] fogging an imaginary mirror.

[0:01:05] Inhale, fill the glass;

[0:01:11] exhale, empty.

[0:01:16] And now, do this on your own, breathing in a way that is full,

[0:01:24] but it doesn’t create any tension.

[0:01:26] In fact, as you’re breathing, the breath is very patient.

[0:01:34] And with each breath, there’s just a little less tension in your body.

[0:01:43] Exhaling out all that tension.

[0:01:46] Let’s take two more breaths.

[0:01:49] Two more movements.

[0:02:02] Patient breath in.

[0:02:09] Patient breath out.

[0:02:13] And then we’ll stand in what’s called mountain pose.

[0:02:17] And now you’re imagining your whole body

[0:02:19] is a glass of water with sand stirred up in it, and you’ll allow your sand

[0:02:23] to settle and your water to clear.

[0:02:29] So we’re beginning our day with a little clarity.

[0:02:35] Just take a breath in

[0:02:40] and a breath out.

[0:02:44] Let’s bring your left hand to your left hip.

[0:02:47] Make a cactus with your right arm.

[0:02:50] And as you inhale, you’re going to root to your right foot

[0:02:53] and come up and over with the right arm.

[0:02:56] And as you exhale, you return.

[0:02:58] So let’s begin with a little enthusiasm.

[0:03:02] On your own now, moving enthusiastically,

[0:03:07] but there’s also a quality of grace.

[0:03:11] We’re combining enthusiasm at the beginning of our day with gracefulness.

[0:03:17] And so to move gracefully is to move without an ounce of extra effort.

[0:03:25] So full effort but not an ounce of extra effort.

[0:03:30] Let’s take two more breaths, two more movements,

[0:03:33] so there’s no tension.

[0:03:36] We’re finding that fullness without tension.

[0:03:43] And then we’ll transition to mountain pose. And just check in between

[0:03:46] the right side and your left side, and notice the difference,

[0:03:51] how you’ve created all this space on the right side.

[0:03:54] And you can really see how doing a yoga pose or two at the beginning

[0:03:58] of the day is a good idea, how spacious that right side is.

[0:04:02] Now, let’s bring your right hand to your right hip.

[0:04:04] Make a cactus with your left arm.

[0:04:06] And as you inhale, bring it up and over; as you exhale, return.

[0:04:12] Inhale, up and over;

[0:04:17] exhale, return.

[0:04:19] On your own now, combining that enthusiasm that you want

[0:04:23] to bring to your day with that grace, that gracefulness,

[0:04:32] to take an action without an ounce of extra effort.

[0:04:35] Imagine living without an ounce of extra effort,

[0:04:42] showing up and shining brightly but without an ounce of extra effort.

[0:04:48] Let’s take two more breaths, two more movements,

[0:04:51] practicing a full effort without an ounce of extra effort.

[0:05:02] And then we’ll come back into our mountain.

[0:05:06] And feel how now both sides are spacious and bright.

[0:05:12] Let’s take a breath in

[0:05:16] and a breath out.

[0:05:20] Awaken the hands.

[0:05:22] Now, inhale and sweep the arms high.

[0:05:26] As you exhale, bring your palms together in front of the heart.

[0:05:30] Inhale, sweep high.

[0:05:35] As you exhale, palms together.

[0:05:39] On your own now, finding that enthusiasm and balancing that

[0:05:48] with grace,

[0:05:53] coming into a full effort without tension.

[0:06:01] And so in yoga, we believe that if there’s no tension in the body,

[0:06:09] there’s no stress in the mind.

[0:06:11] The mind is calm and clear.

[0:06:15] So if we let go of tension in the body,

[0:06:19] the mind becomes calm and clear.

[0:06:21] Let’s take one more breath, one more movement.

[0:06:25] I want to save time for the last movement.

[0:06:28] And then transition into stillness.

[0:06:32] So release the hands.

[0:06:34] Imagine you’re that glass of water with sand stirred up in it.

[0:06:38] Just allow your sand to settle,

[0:06:44] remembering our ability to be calm and clear,

[0:06:51] standing in the world in a way that is calm and clear.

[0:06:57] Just take a breath in and a breath out.

[0:07:04] One more movement. So you’re going to have your right palm

[0:07:08] facing down to the ground.

[0:07:09] And as you inhale, you bring your left knee up and your right palm up;

[0:07:14] and as you exhale, you bring it down.

[0:07:17] And then inhale, switch it over;

[0:07:21] exhale, bring it down.

[0:07:22] Remember that breath that we’re doing at the beginning,

[0:07:25] that smooth, patient breath;

[0:07:30] and a smooth, patient movement.

[0:07:37] So we’re learning to take an action

[0:07:41] without creating tension.

[0:07:47] This is that grace.

[0:07:48] The action is enthusiastic, it’s purposeful,

[0:07:53] it’s meaningful, but it’s also graceful.

[0:08:00] We’re learning to act without creating any harm to ourselves,

[0:08:09] to be in the world

[0:08:14] but not lost in it.

[0:08:16] Let’s take two more breaths, two more movements.

[0:08:24] Then coming into your mountain, you’re going to finish

[0:08:27] with that original breath.

[0:08:29] Let’s inhale, the glass filling;

[0:08:33] exhaling and emptying.

[0:08:37] We’re just going to do that two more times.

[0:08:39] Inhale through the nose as the glass fills;

[0:08:44] exhale through the mouth as it empties.

[0:08:51] One more breath in,

[0:08:59] one more breath out.

[0:09:05] And now, we’re going to become still by letting go of moving.

[0:09:09] We’re just going to let go of moving.

[0:09:19] We’ll allow the stillness within us

[0:09:24] to be held by the stillness all around us.

[0:09:38] Let’s take a breath in

[0:09:42] and a breath out.

[0:09:47] And so I’d like you to have just a beautiful day,

[0:09:51] a day full of enthusiasm and grace.

[0:09:55] And our next video will offer you some movements

[0:10:00] you can do at the end of your day

[0:10:02] to prepare for a beautiful night’s sleep.

[0:10:05] Thank you so much for coming. Take care.

[0:10:09] AARP