Priya Raman
Founder and yoga lead
RYT 500
Twelve years teaching beginners. Priya built Softstart because most yoga videos assume you already know what a chaturanga is.
Yoga and healthy habits
Start small. Keep going.
A twelve week programme for men and women who are starting from zero. Ten minutes of movement, one habit at a time, and nobody telling you to overhaul your life by Monday.
No gym, no kit, no experience. Roughly half our members are men.
Written by a yoga teacher, a strength coach and a registered nutritionist.
12 weeks from first session to habit
4 habits move, eat, sleep, breathe
10 min is a complete session
No subscription pay once, keep it
10 to 20 minutes a day
You do not need to touch your toes.
Beginner yoga and mobility filmed from the front and the side, so you can actually see what the shape is. Every pose has an easier version, and we show that one first.
- 10 min Day one, no experienceThe eight shapes the rest of the programme is built on.
- 15 min Desk back and stiff hipsFor anyone who sits for a living and feels it by Wednesday.
- 20 min Strength without a gymBodyweight work you can do in a hallway, no kit at all.
One change at a time
No diets. No food you have to pretend to like.
We do not count calories or ban anything. You add one habit a fortnight, keep the food you already cook, and let the changes stack up over a few months.
- Week 1 Protein at breakfastThe single change most people feel within a week.
- Week 3 Build a plate, not a recipeA method for dinner that survives a bad day.
- Week 5 Drinking, honestlyWhat alcohol does to sleep and training, without the lecture.
The hour before bed
The hour before bed decides the next day.
Short wind-down routines and the boring practical things that move the needle: light, temperature, caffeine timing, and what to do at 3am instead of checking your phone.
- 12 min Wind-down sequenceSlow shapes and breathing you can do on the bed.
- Guide Your caffeine cut-offWorking out the time that actually suits you.
- 8 min Awake at 3amA breathing pattern for the night you cannot switch off.
2 to 10 minutes
For the tight chest at three on a Tuesday.
Breathing is the fastest lever you have and the one nobody teaches you. These are short, unfussy practices you can use at a desk, in a car, or before something you are dreading.
- 2 min The resetTwo minutes to drop your shoulders and slow your pulse.
- 6 min Before something hardFor the meeting, the scan, the difficult call.
- 10 min Sitting still, first attemptMeditation for people who find meditation annoying.
Week 2
You stop negotiating with yourself
Ten minutes is too short to argue about. The habit tends to stick here, well before anything visible happens.
Week 4
Sleep moves first
The caffeine cut-off and the wind-down hour usually land before anything else. Most people notice their mornings before they notice their body.
Week 8
Stiffness stops being the default
Getting off the floor, reaching a top shelf, sitting through a long meeting. The small things quietly stop costing effort.
Week 12
You keep three things
Nobody keeps twelve habits. You keep the handful that fit your actual life and drop the rest without guilt.
Weeks 1 to 4
Foundations
One habit at a time and nothing more. Ten minute sessions.
Weeks 5 to 8
Building
Sessions get longer. Food and sleep stop being theoretical.
Weeks 9 to 12
Keeping
Strip back to the habits that survive a bad week.
How it works
Three steps, twelve weeks.
01
Tell us the honest truth
Four questions about how you sleep, move and eat now. No step counts, no scales.
02
Get one week at a time
A short daily session and one habit to add. Never four things at once.
03
Keep what works
At twelve weeks you keep the handful of habits that stuck and drop the rest.
Who this is for
Not a women's class with a men's version bolted on.
Built for beginners, not for photos
Nobody in our videos is doing a handstand. The people demonstrating are the same age and the same stiffness as the people watching.
Men and women, same programme
The habits that make you sleep better and move without aching are not gendered. Roughly half our members are men, most of whom had never done yoga before.
No weigh-ins, no before and after
We do not ask for your weight and we do not photograph anyone's stomach. You measure this by how you sleep and how you feel on the stairs.
"I had not exercised in nine years and I was not about to walk into a gym. Ten minutes in my living room I could do. I am on week eleven."
Marcus, 41, Manchester
Who made this
A yoga teacher, a coach, a nutritionist.
Daniel Okafor
Movement and strength
S&C coach, 10 years
Works mostly with men in their thirties and forties who have not trained since school. Daniel writes the strength sessions and keeps them honest.
Elena Marsh
Food and sleep
Registered nutritionist
A registered nutritionist who reviews every food and sleep guide on the site, and removes anything that sounds like a diet.
Before you begin. Softstart gives general movement, food and sleep guidance. It is not medical advice and it does not replace your doctor. Check in with a GP first if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, a recent injury or surgery, or if you are pregnant, and stop if a movement causes pain.
No card needed
Two weeks free. Ten minutes tonight.
Try the first fortnight, see whether it fits a normal week, and decide after that.