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Before you jump out of bed in the morning (or drag yourself, if you’re not an early bird) and startle your body out of its resting state, take some care to wake up properly and you’ll be able to go through the day more smoothly.

If, before getting up and before opening your eyes, you spend one minute doing the following things, you will preserve your health and prevent disease.

1. Clench your fingers.
2. Move your shoulders in a circle.
3. Tense and release your lower back.
4. Point your toes.
5. With your hands flat at your sides, stretch your whole body.
6. Curl around sinuously like a snake, three inches left and right.
7. Put the palms of your hands over your
eyes, open your eyes while your hands are covering them, and then slowly move your hands forward and away from your eyes. In this way your eyes become gently introduced to the first light of day.
8. Massage your mouth and face with the palms of both hands.

9. Cat stretch left and right. [Lie flat on the
back with arms outstretched. Bend one leg and twist it over the other leg, keeping the shoulders on the bed. The knee of the bent leg stretches over and down to the bed on the other side, if possible, but the back stays flat. This movement is repeated with both legs, as many times as is comfortable.]
10. Raise your head up slowly and pull your knees up to your chest.

Now get up and enjoy your day.

This routine is very helpful on those days when you have to get up and you don’t want to.

For Energy and Rejuvenation

This set is to be done at the bathroom sink or someplace where you have a bar or a support to hold on to.

1. Grab the edge of a sink and, using it for support, walk your feet backwards until you are holding your body at a 45 degree slope from heels to head. You will feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Begin raising and lowering alternate heels, walking in place without lifting the toes off the ground. Your arms and legs are fully extended and the body bends slightly in the middle. As you walk, you may lower your head, it does not have to be held up. Walk vigorously and work up a sweat. 11 minutes.

2. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and extend your arms above your head with the palms facing forward, the elbows slightly bent, and the fingers spread wide apart. Swing your arms from side to side, keeping the hands above shoulder level. The momentum of the arm swing will cause the hips to swing if you are doing the movement with enough force. Continue 11 minutes.

3. Once again grab the edge of the sink. Bend at the waist with your head down between your arms. You will feel a stretch in your lower back and in the backs of your legs. Relax and stretch for 11 minutes.

This set keeps one absolutely healthy, keeps the metabolism moving for the day, and keeps one in shape.

—Yogi Bhajan

These exercises were prepared by Yogi Bhajan; the exercise for Energy and Rejuvenation can be found in the yoga manual Physical Wisdom. Both are reprinted with kind permission from the Kundalini Research Institute and 3HO, which brings the ancient science of Kundalini Yoga to the public, and may be reached at yogainfo@3ho.org.