Yoga during Travel, is a series of simple yoga poses and breathing exercises to maintain optimum health and energy during your travels. Your routine is different; the time zone is different; the place is different! We all will have countless excuses not to practice yoga during travel. But what is interesting is that there are even more powerful reasons to practice yoga while you are traveling. We talk about why you should continue your yoga practice during your travel and a handful of poses that you can practice. So let’s go!
Why should you practice yoga during travel?
You do not have to stick to your usual 60 or 75-minute schedule. Spend 30 minutes a day, and you’ll notice the difference. So here are some inspiring reasons to practice yoga…
- Could help to keep your stress and anxiety under control through the Asanas and Pranayama
- Helps you remain mindful throughout your journey
- Could craft that extra time that you crave for as you’ll be embracing the moments of life
- Could help you relax and rejuvenate
- Could gift you better sleep
- Could help you stay balanced and grounded
- Could help you connect with your new surroundings in a better way
Yoga during Travel – 7 Yoga Poses you could practice
Asanas need not be always complicated. Mix and match some simple poses with two Pranayama and one Mudra and your yoga sequence is ready! Here are some suggestions.
1. Balasana – Child’s Pose
Yoga during travel starts with Balasana or the child pose. It is a relaxing posture that soothes the back and helps to unwind. Holding the Balasana for at least 5 to 7 minutes is known to offer the same benefits of a quick meditation.
Kneel on the floor or mat. Spread the knees wider than your hips, allowing the big toes to come into contact. Straighten your spine. Tuck your chin to align your head and neck with your spine. Inhale and lift your arms over your head. Exhaling, fold forward from your hips. If possible rest your abdomen between your thighs. Choose to place a bolster or pillow between your thighs for a more restorative version of the posture. Breathing in and out through your nose, close your eyes, and hold the Asana for the next 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Cat-Cow Breathing
The spine is the storehouse of stress. Move your spine and release the stress and tension through this simple, yet robust breathing process.
Come on all fours into Table Top position. Stack your knees right under the hips. Let your palms be under your shoulders, fingers spread wide. Stretch out your feet, toes pointing away from your body. Keep your spine neutral. Inhale, scoop your back, and lift your head up, Allow the belly to expand as the air fills it. Roll your shoulders back and away from your ears, opening up the heart. Feel the stretch in your upper abdominal area. Retain your breath and hold for a count of 7.
As you exhale, engage the muscles of your abdomen, pulling the belly button close to your spine. Round the back and tuck your chin to the chest. Gaze down. Suspend the breath and hold for a count of 7.
Repeat 15 to 20 more times, moving in and out of the poses in gentle, smooth motions.
3. Adho Mukha Svanasana – Downward Facing Dog Pose
It is a simple inversion pose and a whole body stretch. Practice it against a wall to soothe your tired shoulders or practice the entire version to give your body a beautiful stretch.
From Table Top, press the palms into the floor, lift your knees off the floor and push the hips up to get into an inverted V position. Separate your feet as wide as your hips. Stack your wrists under your shoulders and keep the elbows straight, but without locking them. Spread your palms wide. Push your hips to the ceiling and press your heels into the mat. Allow your head to hang between your elbows. Engage the muscles of your abdomen and lengthen your entire body. Gazing at your navel, hold the Asana for the next five minutes. Make sure that you are breathing through your nose.
4. Trikonasana – Triangle Pose
Triangle Pose is also an entire body stretch. Use a block or practice it halfway by resting your arms on the cot or a chair to enjoy a relaxing version of this Asana.
From Downward Facing Dog pose, lift your right leg into the air and place it between your palms. Adjust your feet so that they are about 3 feet apart. Inhale and straighten your torso gently. Turn your left foot out to the left. Slide the right foot slightly inward, making a 45-degree angle with your leg.
Exhale here. Breathing in, stretch your arms at shoulder level, palms facing down. Lean your torso to the left, Exhaling, bend sideways to the left, sliding the left palm down the left leg to rest it on the calf.
Roll your shoulders back and away from the ears, allowing your chest to open to the ceiling. Inhale and lift your right arm to the ceiling, stacking it above the left arm. Gaze up.
Engage your core muscles, and hold the posture for five minutes. Keep a microbend on your front leg to keep your knee safe. Engage your buttocks and thighs to feel the stretch.
Exhaling, place the right palm on the floor. Inhaling, press the palms and lift the right leg back and up in the air. As you exhale, release the right leg and come back into Adho Mukha Svanasana. Repeat on the other side.
5. Baddha Konasana – Butterfly Pose
Butterfly Pose or Bound Angle Pose is a spine relaxing pose. It also soothes your entire body.
Sit down on the mat and stretch out your legs. Rest your palms on your thighs. Bend your knees outward, bringing the soles of your feet in contact. Press your soles against each other while bringing your knees close to the floor. Adjust your feet so that there is no pressure on your knees.
Inhale and clasp your feet, tops of your palms resting on the floor. Exhale and fold forward from your hips. Place a bolster outside your feet to rest your forehead. It is okay not to fold forward completely. Hold wherever you feel comfortable. Close your eyes and hold the pose for the next five to seven minutes.
6. Ananda Balasana – Happy Baby Pose
Relax your back and release the physical and mental stress by reclining in the Happy Baby pose.
Gently recline on the back after completing Baddha Konasana. Bend your knees and bring them close to your chest. Hold your soles of the big toe using a three finger grip [Thumb resting on top of the toe and middle and index fingers beneath the toe.] Let your soles face the ceiling. Straighten your legs as much as possible, without exerting pressure on your lower back. Keep pulling your knees closer to the floor with each exhalation. Hold for five to seven minutes.
Release your legs and lie down for a couple of breaths before practicing Pranayama.
7. Anulom Vilom Pranayama with Breath Retention and Suspension
This breathing practice relaxes and de-stresses. It improves focus and concentration through its cleansing properties.
Sit down in a comfortable seated posture. Lengthen your spine. Relax your body and roll your shoulders away from the ears. Tuck your chin. Rest your palms on the thighs. Close your eyes. Shape your left palm into Gyan Mudra [tips of index and thumb in contact]. Take a slow, deep inhalation.
Lift the right palm and use it to close the alternate nostrils during the practice. Close the right nostril with the thumb. Let the index and middle fingers rest in the space between the eyebrows. Use the ring finger to close the left nostril.
Exhale completely through the left nostril. Take a slow, deep inhalation through the left nostril for a count of six. Close the left one. Hold the breath for a count of three. Open the right nostril and breathe out through it for a count of six. Suspend the breath for a count of three.
Inhale through the right for a count of six, close the right, and retain the breath for the count of three. Open the left, and exhale for a count of six. Suspend your breath for a count of three. Repeat the process 10 to 15 times.
After completing the Pranayama, relax in Shavasana for 5 to 7 minutes.
Practicing yoga during travel is easy and beneficial. So next time you are traveling, don’t hesitate to pack your mat too.