Strengthen your body and soothe aching muscles with this five-minute yoga routine

Gardening burns calories, increases muscle strength and helps with flexibility. It’s also a great activity to do with children.

Like other weight bearing exercise, gardening builds strong bones and can help prevent osteoporosis which affects 28 million Americans. In addition, bending, pulling and pushing movements in a yard work session increase calorie burning.

Adding a bit of mood-boosting movement into your day doesn’t have to involve a gruelling run or sweat-drenched HIIT session.

Yoga can be a more gentle way to get active, but still holds the key to plenty of health benefits such as strengthening your body, boosting your flexibility, easing muscle aches and even relieving stress.

yoga mat (opens in new tab) or block to make some poses more comfortable, but these are only optional extras.

This quick practice from qualified instructor Adriene Mishler (best known for her YouTube channel Yoga With Adriene (opens in new tab)) takes just five minutes, and contains exercises designed to “work with the brain and body to help relieve stress and tension”.

Follow along with Mishler’s video below to give the routine a go. Listen out for her handy cues to help you mirror her movements and reap the benefits of the session.

Watch Yoga With Adriene’s five-minute full body stretch

This short routine is a great way to get away from your desk and unwind if you’re working from home. It’s also a top option if you usually opt for a more intense form of exercise, offering the chance to mix things up and soothe your hard-working muscles.

But, just because it won’t leave you breathing heavy like a session on one of the best treadmills (opens in new tab) or a high-intensity resistance training (HIRT) workout (opens in new tab), that doesn’t mean it won’t have a positive impact on your body.

Yoga can improve strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, posture and flexibility, as well as boosting your heart health, according to the Harvard Medical School (opens in new tab). It can also benefit your mind, as our writer found out when they tried yoga every day for 30 days (opens in new tab).

If you want to try more sessions like this, consider giving these eight anti-aging yoga moves (opens in new tab) a go. Or, if your neck and back feel sore after spending too long sitting at your desk, why not unroll your yoga mat for this six-minute tension-relieving session from Yoga With Adriene (opens in new tab).