Overseas travel and yoga, part 1

The Road Trip

Car to plane to bus to train to plane — and so on and so forth. Getting from the U.S. to Europe can be grueling, as spinal immobility is the body’s worst enemy. I am a practitioner and sometimes teacher of yoga for a number of reasons, first and foremost being self-realization. But while traveling, yoga is my practice for restoration. It is for survival.

I was accompanying my youngest daughter to France. Her first job out of college as an assistant English teaching position at a primary school in the small town of Compiegne required finding lodgings and setting up banking, phone service, and all of the things needed for contemporary living. Since she was moving, not vacationing, we packed heavy and the journey took its toll as we lugged heavy bags over a variety of terrains. We missed an entire night’s sleep and spent hours in cramped transports of many kinds, but my yoga tools helped me get from point A to point M with as little stress as possible.

Yoga is such a gift and I am happy to have these skills to work with, so I have documented the trip — specifically how I managed the stress and aches and pains of travel — to pass the information along for anyone who might want to make use of it. Of course, I packed my trusty yoga mat for practice while away, but the travel between here and there called for on-site practice. After 3 hours in the car to reach the Atlanta airport, my body was already tired of being curled up into a C-shape. The parking lot pavement and dirty airport floors available for a quick practice weren’t particularly appealing. What to do? I could feel my low back scolding me, so I leaned on the asana work that counters the dreaded hunched position I had been in and would be stuck in for the next many hours, and my hands needed never touch the floor.

First off I knew my minor and major psoas groups, a set of muscles that run from the side of the lower spine over the hip bones to the upper inner thigh, would need frequent lengthening. Maintaining the psoas group is very important to body health. 

There is a lot of lumbar pain out there caused by the shortening of these important muscles. Performing a nice virhabdrasana I (warrior I) pose and then anjaneyasana (low lunge) was like a lovely little massage for the low back. I held virhabdrasana I for a moment and then rotated the heel of the back foot up off the floor to maneuver onto the ball of my foot to settle into the lunge.

Then (this is the most delicious part), holding the low lunge, I bent the back knee slightly to encourage the tailbone to tuck inward. Holding that tuck steady, I straightened the back knee again. ‘Wow, thanks!’ I can almost hear my lumbar say.

After enjoying this bit of work on both sides, I returned to virhadrasana I to begin parsvattonasana.

Being careful to move slowly into the pose, I moved my front leg toward straight and folded my torso forward with a flat back until it came to parallel with the floor.

I then rested my hands on my shins (avoiding resting the hands on the knee). I took care to keep my hips level and my back flat while easing my torso toward the front leg slowly to invite lengthening to the hamstrings.

I wanted to feel the hamstrings and challenge them just a bit, not torture them, so I went only just past feeling them come alive! Knowing the hamstrings can be easily injured and recovery is slow, I listened to my body to only gently challenge them without overdoing it. Using my breath again, I focused on breathing into the tightness and exhaling the muscles to softness. I held this for several breaths and then prepared my muscles before I gently lifted my torso to standing and stepped forward. This bit of work just made me go ‘ahhhhhhhh’.

Our spines are nourished and cleansed through movement, and air travel inhibits this, so I practiced several spinal movements before boarding. Standing tall and erect, I clasped my hands together behind my back, interlaced my fingers, and rolled my shoulders up and back, reaching my hands downward while the crown and chest lifted. I kept the back of my neck long and enjoyed this gentle backbend and chest opener for 5 or 6 deep breaths.

Next, I reached my hands toward the ceiling to lengthen my spine and bent sideways on the exhale. I held that pose for several breaths, opening the ribs on the side opposite the bend on the inhale and folding more deeply into the bend on the exhale. I performed this for several breaths and then repeated the movement on the other side.

Following the side-bending work, I held my hands out to the sides with palms up and twisted the entire spine around to the left, starting from the lumbar and moving up toward the skull. I encouraged the spine to lengthen upward on the inhale and gently twist on the exhale.

With twisting, I am always careful to not go too far. It is important to leave just a little room for energy to move throughout the spine. I continued this for 5 or 6 breaths and then repeated the pose on the other side. Next, I enjoyed a little forward fold.

Of course, I knew I’d get plenty of forward folding on the plane, but letting the head hang freely is lovely for the neck. Your head weighs enough to give some traction to the cervical spine, so I hung there a while and let gravity do the work!

I’d cleansed and nourished my spine, tended to my hamstrings and psoas groups, and was ready for the next leg of the journey. Oh dear. As flying is not one of my favorites I began to feel a little anxious. But I knew my yoga would support me through this as well. More to come.