Gentle yoga for tired bodies, stiff mornings and slower days

Gentle yoga is slow on purpose. Poses are held a little longer, transitions happen on the floor rather than in a series of jumps, and your breath sets the pace instead of a playlist.

It suits older beginners, people coming back to movement after a long break, desk workers whose backs have gone quiet and stiff, and anyone who left a busy class feeling two poses behind. It's also a sensible place for most beginners to start, because you learn how a pose should feel before you learn how it can look.

Our gentle routines run between five and twenty minutes, list any props before you begin, and tell you which poses to drop if you're short on time. Restorative yoga, where the body rests fully on pillows, bolsters or folded blankets, lives in this section too.