Ideal Time to Practice Yoga: Insights from Traditional Yoga Texts and Observations from Scientific Studies: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Background: Those interested in practicing yoga often lack clarity on what would be the best time to practice yoga. This paper intends to review the ancient, scientific and contemporary literature to understand this. Ancient texts on yoga mention that the best time to practice yoga is early morning hours. Lack of information and standardization regarding timing of the yoga practice is a key indicator for us to explore current study on the influence of time on yoga practice which can set a direction for the future studies and possible outcomes that can be derived by choosing the best time to practice yoga. Methods: In this review article we searched the scientific and traditional literature to find an answer to this question. We searched Google Scholar and PubMed using the following criteria: 1) Research studies examining the influence of timing on practice of Yoga, exercise, meditation or mindfulness on various variables 2) Studies published in English language until March 1, 2024. Results: We found sixteen studies; most of them were surveys that tried to assess the influence of time of physical activity/mindfulness on various health parameters. We observed that there are studies that suggest that the best time to practice yoga could depend on the specific outcome that is attempted to be achieved. Awareness of the appropriate time to practice yoga is important for several reasons, including enhancing the effectiveness of the practice, to regulating the body's internal clock, reducing the chances of distractions and developing a consistent regimen for practice. Conclusion: Engaging in morning vigorous exercise or yoga is better than evening vigorous yoga or exercise for enhancing the state of mind/mood of the practitioner and improving sleep quality in the night. Evening yoga should be less intense, relaxing and more meditative. Intense exercise / yoga in the evening may reduce the sleep quality in night. Studies also suggest that the difference in chronotype of the individual could possibly play a role in determining the best time to practice yoga.