We so often read and hear about when we should or should not practice yoga:
You should get up early and meditate before sunrise - or: before going to bed.
You should practice Yin late in the evening before going to bed. Or early in the morning.
Practice Restorative in the evening so you can relax before sleeping.
Do this and do that. Don't do this and don't do that. And especially do it (or don't) at a certain time.
But. Few lucky ones can actually structure lives around the yoga clock, the yoga year and follow the truly sensible ayurvedic suggestions about the practice and how it could be linked with the doshas, according to seasons and time of the day.
Our lives are often hectic, full of things to be done, appointments to keep. And if it is not our appointments, it might be those of our kids or elders to be accompanied to different places - or even the schedule of our boss which unluckily imposes on our time, too.
We are too often running out of time, that precious resource that nobody is able to recycle and to give back to us. It is then very difficult to squeeze in something new. Were we to apply strictly all of the above in terms of yoga and when to practice it, we probably should give up our yoga practice even before starting one.
Just like our body is not made to adapt to a particular asana (quite the opposite), so it is quite safe to say that we can adapt the practice to fit our life. It is better to practice a bit, when possible, than not to practice at all. Maybe later on, once we have established a practice, we will be able to squeeze in more of it. Maybe there will also come a time when we will think that getting up with sunrise for a 5-minute meditation is worth the while.
But. As far as I am concerned, I tried meditation in the evening and it doesn't serve me well. I am just falling asleep. I prefer to meditate in the morning - without forcing myself to ungodly hours, though. Maybe I shorten the time under the shower (which, by the way, is also an environment-friendly decision), or leave out the gossip section in the news. And meditate instead, preparing myself for the day ahead. I have noticed that in this way I am more focused, ready to start my day in a better set of mind.
As for Yin, it is especially good whenever I can follow my favourite teacher - she actually teaches at 6:30am NYC time, but due to time difference around the globe, for me it is 6:30pm. So what? And when I will move to another part of the world, it will probably be around midday for me. And I do not intend to give her classes up just because of the time of the day.
I tried Restorative in the morning, after a one-hour vinyasa flow and it feels absolutely great. It's probably even better in the evening but, as I said, I am not good at not sleeping and to be completely honest, I prefer reading before going to bed. That's another type of relaxation!
As for my students, they love their yang practice even in summer. They come in at lunchtime and they need to move, after sitting half day. And they need to bring back new energy for the second half. And I do not see why I shouldn't meet them there. I just avoid heavy sweaty practices, that's all.
This is my practice, and I am not selling the idea that mine is better than anybody else's - or that what Ayurveda teaches is wrong. But. The final objective of the practice is to still the mind, to calm the mental chatter. So if you reach your goal, does it matter what the time is, or the season, or the day of the week?
Of course there are some practices that are meant to happen at certain times, like morning kriyas (tongue scraping, eyes washing, nauli...) but it's just common sense, things that we would do in the morning even if we are not connecting them to yoga.
There is always margin for improvement and maybe one day you and I will be able to follow the yoga/ayurvedic clock and the yoga/ayurvedic year. But till then, just make some space for your practice, make it a habit, a part of your daily routine, experience yoga when you can. The rest will come.
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