The 3 Most Essential Yin Poses when Traveling

by upcoming Bali yoga retreat leader Jane Holland.

 

I love traveling. It’s my most favorite thing. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to

see the world. Blame the wanderlust on my parents, I think it’s in my genes. But traveling

doesn’t come without it’s challenges. Particularly if you are anything like me and need to

regularly reach, stretch and move your body. Sitting on a plane for 3 or 8 or 15 hours can

seriously curb your chi, press your prana and mooch your mojo. Often by the time you arrive

at your destination, you feel like you’ve been folded like an origami swan (but perhaps

without quite so much style…)

For those of you who are nodding your heads- try these 3 poses when you hit the ground…

Caterpillar pose

1. CATERPILLAR

After you’ve stretched up your arms overhead, find a spot on the floor and let your

legs out straight. Shake them about a little, then simply fold forward over your legs,

allowing your spine to round. Stay here for 5 minutes. If you have tightness in your

hamstrings, lower back or sciatica, you might like to sit on a cushion or place a rolled

up towel/blanket under your knees. Come out very gently and very slowly curling

back up your spine. Sit for a moment or bend your knees and windscreen wiper them

side to side, then lay down on your back for 1 minute to integrate and ‘rebound’.

Benefits? Great for calming and soothing a weary traveling whilst replenishing

energy. This pose will decompress the spine and help open up into the hamstrings

and help connect to your new place by grounding your lower body to the earth.

Dragon pose

2. DRAGON

If you can get up from the floor after pose 1- roll over onto your hands and knees and

just move around for a while here. Be intuitive, circle your hips, rock side to side-

whatever you feel you need to do to loosen up. Then step one foot forward and find a

deep lunge. I love this pose, it gets right into the hip joint and can be great for

sciatica. It also opens up the chest, spine and hip flexors if you stay upright. As

always, listen to your own body and don’t push yourself. You are not trying to go as

deep as you can, remember you will be here a little while so let gravity and time do

the work for you… You can place a blanket under the back knee, slide the right knee

out to the side a little, or even hug a bolster or pillow for support. Stay for 3 minutes

in this one, then step back into a delicious downward facing dog. Rock out your hips

side to side. Then lower onto your belly for one minute to integrate before coming to

hands and knees again and repeating on the opposite side.

Benefits? Deep opening and stimulation of hips and spine, affecting the Spleen-

Stomach channels into the body (so the earth element for grounding to your new

place), and enhancing endurance and balance.

swan pose

3. SWAN

A slightly more vigorous opening for the hips and a lovely little compression for the

spine, swan pose targets the glutes and hip flexor and is beautifully stimulating and

energizing. Moving into this pose from your belly ‘rebound’, come onto hands and

knees again before sliding your right knee forward between the hands, leaning to the

right buttock and just feel into your right knee. It is important to be supported here. If

there is a strong sensation in the knee, bring your foot closer to the groin, if it is ok,

maybe move the foot further forward. Now play. Be curious in your body and move it

around, until you feel a stimulation in your right buttocks and hips. Remembering you

are not looking for an intense sensation that you are unable to endure. Place a support

under your right buttock if there is a big space, or wherever you feel like you are

‘hanging’ and then release in the posture and give yourself over to gravity. Spend 3

minutes here. Slide out VERY gently and take some big breaths in through your nose

and out your mouth (sound, sign, scream- whatever comes…). Take a downward

dog if you feel it, or relax onto your belly or back to spend a minute watching the

sensations within you. Repeat on the other side.

Benefits? Stimulating for spine (if remaining upright) and energizing and opening into

hips to release tightness from hours of sitting. You will thank me after….

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