I tried Reese Witherspoon’s yoga routine to kickstart the morning

It’s no secret that yoga has many benefits, from improving your posture, balance and flexibility to helping you lose weight, stay in shape and get some daily movement. Yoga has a strong following worldwide and has many celebrity fans, including award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon, who recently showed off her latest yoga session on Instagram.

In an Instagram reel, Witherspoon can be seen flowing through a series of yoga moves while wearing a matching activewear set from her brand, Draper James. Captioned “This new workout gear from @draperjames has got me moving! 🧘🏼‍♀️🙏🏼💦”, Witherspoon effortlessly moves through popular yoga poses including Goddess and Warrior variations, while standing on a pink yoga mat.

Aside from this quick yoga flow, Witherspoon is very vocal about her love for yoga and breathwork. She regularly shares yoga and workouts on her social media pages, and she’s stated that she always does a yoga flow before she gets ready for award shows. In these sessions that are led by celebrity instruction Kirschen Katz, Witherspoon notes that she focuses on easy moves and breathing practices as a way to release stress and calm the nerves before hitting the red carpet.

As a beginner yogi who wants to get into yoga this year, I decided to give Reese Witherspoon’s yoga routine a try. Considering her reel has gained over 150,000 likes since posting, I figured I was in good hands so I grabbed one of the best yoga mats, pulled on a pair of the best yoga pants and gave it a go…

Reese Witherspoon’s yoga routine: The moves

Trying to narrow down the moves in Witherspoon’s video was a bit of a task because it’s very quickly sliced together! But once I’d jotted down the moves, I quickly got into the routine which is a series of standing exercises that focuses on stretching the body and testing balance. If you want to try it yourself, I’ve broken down each move below and explained how to do it:

Warrior 1

Witherspoon starts with her legs spread wide and reaches her arms up over her head before bending into her right knee, keeping her left leg remaining straight and coming to a lunge position. This Warrior 1 is nice to hold as it lengthens and stretches the body while working the thighs and calf muscles.

Standing knee to chest

From the Warrior 1 position, Reese brings her left leg forward, bending her knee and bringing it into her chest while balancing on her right leg. This standing knee to chest pose is a real test of balance and strength and as someone who can barely walk in a straight line without tipping over, this was the hardest pose for me! However, I found focusing on my breathing and closing my eyes definitely helped me stay more centred. I moved back to Warrior 1 before switching legs and doing the standing knee to chest pose with my right knee.

Warrior II

From Warrior 1 position, Witherspoon transitions into Warrior II, keeping the torso upright, her right arm reaching out in the front of her body while her left arm does the same behind her. Doing this pose, I really felt my legs and torso stretching and opening up. I came back to the centre before doing the same on the left side of my body.

Warrior II stretch

In the video, Witherspoon (on her left side) drops her left arm down to rest on her left thigh while her right arm reaches up and over her head in a stretch. This was definitely my favourite pose as I felt a nice stretch down my side and enjoyed leaning into my legs to deepen it.

Goddess 

In her reel, Witherspoon does the Goddess pose towards the start of her video but I decided to do it at the end of my flow to round up all the moves. With her legs wide and arms above her head, Witherspoon bends her knees into a wide squat position with her toes pointing outwards and her arms out to the sides. As she comes down into this pose, she bends her elbows and keeps her palms upwards.

Reese Witherspoon’s yoga routine: Verdict

As a beginner yogi, I really enjoyed Reese Witherspoon’s yoga routine and thought it was a fun quick flow to do in the morning to wake you up and prepare you for the day. While it does look simple, this flow definitely tests your muscles and balance and stretches out your body, so I think it’s a great routine to do after getting out of bed to shake off sleep.

For more celebrity workout routines, check out how Harry Styles uses Pilates to stay fit or kick off your day with this energising yoga flow.