We know how stressful and uncomfortable travel can be. Sitting in a car, plane or train for hours or even days on end can take a major toll on the mind and body. The good news is that yoga can help alleviate some of the physical and emotional discomfort that a lot of us feel before and after traveling.
This week’s featured classes will help support you before, during, and after your travels.
- Take It All in Travel Practice with Elena Brower: When you travel, you become more sensitive to changes in atmosphere and environment. Use this practice to stay aware but fortified and to keep your body vibrant. Move through various forward folds for your hamstrings and your low back, moon salutations to recalibrate and a few cooling seated side stretches. Ease into pigeon before resting in savasana. Use a belt or scarf if you do not have a strap. Props Needed: A strap.
- Clear the Mind & Unwind After Travel Practice with Stephanie Snyder: This practice will help you unwind after travel. Let go of your journey and let your body and mind know that you have arrived! In this class we begin with savasana and end with a breathing kriya that will clear the mind and leave you ready for whatever awaits whether it be relaxing or a business meeting. Prop: Strap
- Pre-Travel Practice for a Long Flight with Tiffany Cruikshank: A quick pre travel class to stimulate the circulation, digestion & immune systems to prepare for a long flight. I’ve added a couple poses for the pineal gland as well to help ease jet lag symptoms when you arrive. A perfect medley of poses to prepare you for your fun filled adventures. Prop: Blanket
- Post-Travel Survival with Jo Tastula: Just landed from a long trip, or a long week cramped into a small space? This class isn’t about technique or performance… it’s about survival! Reclaiming range of motion and circulation is key for the maintenance of health and vitality. We touch the whole body with rhythmic movement and slow gentle transitions. If you have props, use them for the beginning sequence (blocks, bolster and strap). The legs in particular do get some extra love as we stretch into the hamstrings, hips and quads. Welcome home or happy trails!
- Pre-Flight Yoga with Dice Iida-klein: Traveling soon? Take this tutorial with you and practice near your gate, pre-flight! Done from a seated position, we use wide-legged fold (upavistha konasana), bound-angle pose (baddhakonasana), forward fold (paschimottanasana) and seated twist (marichyasana C) to open our inner groin, hamstrings, hips and low back. Find a space that’s clear – nevermind your fellow travelers. They’re just looking because they wish they could feel as good as you do before the flight.
- Counteract the Compression of Traveling with Felicia Tomasko: Whether our travels take us across the planet or across the room, travel increases the energy of movement, the quality of the vata dosha, as described by Ayurveda. The antidote is to get grounded. This slow but sweet active practice is focused on grounding, lubricating the joints, counteracting the compression of sitting in a seat for a long time (whether an airplane, car, boat, bus, bicycle, or even a desk chair). We roll through some slow standing grounding poses, sweet half sun salutations and then some lunges paired with twists. Cobra, locust, and even a simple bow pose continue to counteract the compression of traveling. A short savasana helps us reset our connection to our corner of the earth.
- Establish Your Roots When Traveling with Claire Missingham: In this class, you will experience a super grounding class using the philosophy and asanas for the root chakra. We try out standing balances, arm balances for strength & stability and variations on Upavishta Konasana and toe stand. We close the class with a grounding meditation perfect for establishing your roots, even when you’re on the road.
