In the last year and a half, I moved my base from Los Angeles to Bali, and then from Bali to to the world. After spending so much time in hotel rooms, I realized that these amazing little spots around the world are check points of potential to further us on our journey. Below are five things that are amazing about staying in hotel rooms for your yoga and your life…
- #1 Breaking patterns. The coolest thing about staying in a new hotel, whether for business or pleasure, whether the room is a dump or high-end, is that it re-patterns your patterns. The layout, the design, the shower size, the bed, the windows, the view, and the people are all stimuli for the brain to accept a new paradigm and shake up an old one.
- #2 The liminal space. In the space of a hotel, I’ve had amazing transformations. Maybe it’s the pads of paper laid out everywhere, the free stationary, leaving behind friends and family, and having dedicated alone time—whatever it is, there is permission to use the room as a place to lay down all the “stuff” of your usual place and come into a neutral comfort zone and see what you really are.
- #3 The mirrors. I don’t know what your house or apartment set up is, but I never have as many mirrors as I have in hotels. Usually there are two offering the rare profile view, and sometimes the even rarer back view. This is not about vanity—just seeing, a new perspective. Knowing about my shoulders helps me study them in a mirror, or trying out some yoga in front of a mirror is a different experience in order to SEE what your body is doing. You then get to see what a teacher sees in class. The mirror in this case becomes the teacher—just one. Can you do it without judgement and simply observe in awe and wonder at this body that wishes to know itself.
- #4 Walls. Ok, let’s face it, maybe you have a wall at home, and maybe you don’t think you can kick up into handstand, or try L pose on. But every hotel I’ve stayed in has plenty of wall space. And usually, the wallpaper is stain proof. You’re alone, in a hotel, might as well kick up to handstand, try out L pose, put on music or yogaglo, and find a class that utilizes wall space.
- #5 You can create your own personal yoga retreat. This is your room, you decide. You have YogaGlo, your travelling studio. One busy person I know just told me that what is great, is that rather than do an hour and a half class, she takes 10 and 15 minute classes throughout the day. Even if you’re travelling on business, you can do a half hour of yoga in the morning, night time yoga before bed, and meditation the next morning. You can choose to make this liminal space an advance, where you take advantage of alone time in order to nurture yourself.
Tara Judelle is a certified Anusara yoga instructor who has taught both nationally and internationally for over 10 years. Inspired by the work of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s Body Mind Centering approach, as well as her in-depth studies with Sally Kempton, Carlos Pomeda and Paul Muller-Ortega, Tara utilizes the tools of experiential anatomy, along with a lucid and creative presentation of the yogic tradition, to discover our movement vocabulary, leading students on a progressive and co-creative journey within the multi-faceted play of perceptual awareness. You can practice with her on YogaGlo.
