Yoga for Traveling: The Big Picture

by Nina

Na Pali Coast by Heidi Santschi
of Heidi Santschi Garden Design

Yes, that was me on the flight to Manchester, England standing near the bathroom doing weird stretches while everyone else was sleeping, reading, or watching videos. And, yes, that was me on the flight back to the USA doing the same thing. And I swear that even just some short asana breaks made a huge difference for me, both physically and mentally. I get so restless stuck in my seat for hours at a time. So, now that I’m back home and recovered from jet lag, I thought mid-summer in the Northern Hemisphere—vacation time!—would be a good time to provide you with an overview of the posts we have on the blog related to yoga for traveling. We seem to have quite a number of posts on the topic because, no doubt, some of us do seem to travel a lot (Ram goes to India and back quite often, for example) so we’ve been personally practicing travel yoga for many years.

In Yoga for Camping And Other Forms of Travel Baxter provides a sequence that you can use to balance your body from all different kinds of summer travel.

In Featured Sequence: Travel Mini Sequence I feature a mini travel sequence that my chiropractor designed for me.

In Yoga for Traveling I share my ideas for different types of poses you can do when you travel and include links to articles with more info on the recommended poses (Hint: There is an overlap between Office Yoga and Travel Yoga.

In Yoga in the Skies Ram describes the type of yoga practice he does on those long, long flights between California and India.

In Friday Q&A: Sleeping on An Airplane Baxter answers a reader’s question about the best position for sleeping on an airplane with a very detailed recommendation!

In Friday Q&A: Pranayama on An Airplane Baxter answers a reader’s question regarding the safety of practicing pranayama on an airplane with some commonsense advice.

In Circadian Rhythms, Jet Lag, and Yoga Ram writes about jet lag and circadian rhythms and how yoga can help you return to normal more quickly after traveling.

In The Dirty Carpet Story: Creative Travel Yoga I discuss my personal solution for practicing yoga when faced with certain, uh, challenges, and encourage you to find a way to practice in less than ideal circumstances.

In Rethinking Office Yoga I provide a very long list (with photos) of standing poses you can do in small spaces, without special clothes or props. 

And for those who can’t or don’t want to travel this summer, I have two suggestions:

In 6 Ways to Take a Yoga Staycation, I provide recommendations for using your yoga practice to rest and restore.

In Daydreaming: A Vacation for Your Brain I describe how to take a vacation for your brain while you are practicing yoga. Sometimes allowing your mind to wander is a good thing.

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