5 Simple Yoga Practices to Reset Your Energy

(Even When You’re Short on Time and Motivation)

Spring often brings talk of fresh starts and new energy.

But in real life, many of us feel tired, stretched or slightly scattered. Work is busy. Home is busy. There isn’t a spare hour waiting for the perfect yoga practice.

Resetting your energy doesn’t mean doing more. It means shifting your state really simply with clear intention.

The five practices I’m sharing below are deliberately straightforward. No complicated sequencing. No pressure to “lead yourself” through a full flow. Just small resets you can use any time of year.

I want these to be so do-able that there’s no excuse not to give them a try!

1. The Two Minute Reset

Woman standing in front of open window with blue sky.

Energy is environmental as well as physical.

After you get up in the morning, open a window. Stand tall. Take three slow breaths, lifting your arms as you inhale and lowering them as you exhale. That’s it.

Fresh air, deeper breathing, a moment of awareness. It’s a small action, but it often creates an immediate shift.

How to do it:

• Open the window.

• Inhale, sweep your arms wide and up.

• Exhale slowly and lower them.

• Repeat three times.

2. Shake It Off

Woman doing cat-cow pose.

When energy feels stuck, the simplest solution is movement.

Start by gently shaking out your arms and legs. Roll your shoulders. Loosen your jaw. Spend a good minute (or more!) doing this - it’s surprising what you can release!

Then come onto hands and knees and move through a few slow rounds of cat–cow rolling through the spine. You may even go for a “funky” version that combines more movement into the hips and shoulders.

You’re not aiming for perfect alignment, just go with the flow and what feels good for you. You’re increasing circulation and creating momentum. You’ll honestly feel so much better for it!

How to do it:

• Shake your body for a minute or so - perhaps go top to toe or work up from your feet if you prefer.

• Move into 5 slow cat–cows, matching breath to movement if you can (exhale to cat, inhale to cow)

• Keep it steady and unhurried.

3. Five Gratitude Sun Breaths

Woman with hands raised above her head.

Energy follows attention.

Standing tall, sweep your arms overhead as you inhale. As you lift, quietly name one thing you’re grateful for. Exhale and fold forward.

What you are grateful for doesn’t need to be profound. Something small is enough.

Pairing breath, movement and a simple shift in focus can noticeably change how you feel. You can do this seated or standing, and it works wherever you are!

How to do it:

• Inhale, arms lift out and around. As you do this name one thing you are grateful for (in your head or out loud if you prefer)

• Exhale, and forward fold. Tip - keep your knees generously bent, especially if this is the first time you’ve moved or stretched today!

• Repeat five rounds - you may want to start with just the movement for a couple and then add the gratitude element.

4. Back Body Wake-Up

Woman doing locust pose with arms in front.

When we’re low on energy, posture often collapses. Shoulders round. Breath shortens. We end up feeling hunched and often achy / tense.

Strengthening the back of your body creates a subtle but powerful lift. Locust pose can help you do just that.

This pose doesn’t need to be high off the ground. Just engaged and steady.

How to do it

• Lie on your belly with your arms alongside you.

• Gently lift your legs from the hip (press your pelvic bone down into the floor). It should be a very small movement keeping the entire leg straight rather than bending at the knee.

• Gently lift your chest and possibly your hands. (As you build up your strength you may lift them so they point behind you, and as you continue to build strength you may end up holding your hands behind your head or even out in front.)

• Lift for 3 breaths. Lower. Repeat 3 times.

• Tip: Start by working with just the lower body, then the upper body with one breath per movement and then both together. Then go to holding the pose once you are strong enough.

5. Legs Up the Wall

Woman doing legs up the wall pose.

Not every energy reset is about stimulation.

Sometimes you don’t need more drive. You need recalibration. This pose is perfect for “wired but tired” days.

This helps regulate the nervous system and often leaves you clearer than pushing through another task.

How to do it

• Sitting next to a wall, bring your bum as close as possible to the wall (so it is pressed against it).

• Then swing your legs up and extend them so they are stretched out and resting with their weight fully on the wall. (You may need to shimmy yourself closer to the wall if there is a gap between your bum and the wall).

• Let your shoulders soften. Try to allow your legs to be floppy/ heavy against the wall.

• Keep your breath slow and steady. Perhaps let your exhale be slightly longer than your inhale.

• Stay for 3–5 minutes.

If You Have a Little More Time…

You could add one or two gentle Sun Salutations, building gradually. But you don’t have to.

(If you are unfamiliar with sun salutations then check out my YouTube video here that breaks it down for you.)

Five minutes done consistently is more powerful than waiting for the perfect hour.

You don’t need a complicated home sequence to reset your energy.

You need a breath. A little movement. A moment of awareness.

Start small. Keep it simple. Even a few minutes can make a difference.

If you’d rather not practise on your own, you don’t have to.

Sometimes the biggest energy shift comes from being guided - turning up, unrolling your mat, and letting someone else hold the structure for you.

If you’re ready for that, you’re very welcome in our classes.

Whether you need something steady and grounding or a more energising flow, there’s space for you.

You can view the timetable and book your next class here:

Even one session can reset more than you expect.