Five Yoga Poses For Traveling

November 19, 2015

As the busiest season for travel gets underway, you can expect to spend many hours crammed into a compact seated position. Not the best for your posture, your back or your mood!

If you’re lucky enough to travel by car, you might have a somewhat comfortable seat, or as a passenger, the ability to at least lean it back as far as you like. If you go by air—unless you fork out the big bucks for First Class—you’ll be stuck in a seat-designed-for-the-worst-posture-ever.

To help your body through the challenge of travel, here is a list of yoga poses that:

don’t require your bum in the air
can be done in any attire
are beginner and non-yogi friendly
are perfect to do before, during and after travel

You can do one, all, or any combination of these yoga stretches in any order and two of them can even be done in your seat. Bonus: they’re great for the office too!

Shoulder Clock

Stand in front of an open wall, pillar or other vertical surface
Turn your left side toward the wall and reach back with your hand behind you, at about 2-3 o’clock
Press your hand into the wall to lift your chest and roll your left shoulder back
Turn away from the wall more, if you want to increase the stretch
Hold for at least thirty seconds to about a minute before releasing to the other side

Overhead Arm Stretch

Interlace your fingers all the way to the webs
Spin them palm up, then push your arms straight overhead
Squeeze your elbows straight
Reach up so high that the sides of your waist lengthen and your entire ribcage lifts up
Press your fingers into the backs of your hands and spread through your palms
Take three to five slow, deep breaths

Standing Quad Stretch

Use your right hand for balance, then shift your weight to your right leg
Flick your left foot back and catch your foot with your left hand
Stand up straight and draw your belly in and up
Pull your left knee back so it’s in line with your hip, not wide or forward of it
Hold for at least thirty seconds, then switch sides

Note: If you can’t reach your foot with your hand, hook it on the seat of a chair or your car’s door frame or step it back into a lunge instead.

Seated Backbend

Scoot towards the front edge of your seat so you can sit up straight
Place your hands on the back of your head with fingers interlaced
Keep your elbows narrow, so you can see them peripherally
Puff your chest up and press your head back into the headrest of your hands
Lift your chin, look up, and continue to push your head back and chest up, so you feel the muscles in the back of your neck and your upper back engage
Breathe deeply into the top and sides of your ribs, not just into your belly
Hold for minimum of thirty seconds or as long as it feels good

Seated Twist

Scoot forward to the edge of your seat
Bring your head back over your hips and sit up tall
Keep the length and twist your whole torso to the right
Grab on to the armrest, car door, seat (whatever you can) with your hands
Twist from your belly but also pull gently with your arms
Hold for about three breaths, then turn back to center before twisting to the left