Travel Tip Tuesday: Seated Stretches for during Travel

No matter how you’re traveling, you might find that some easy yoga style stretches might help you out! Tuck these ideas away for your next trip!

Chair Stretch Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

If you’ve ever been on a long car ride, train ride, or flight, you are likely familiar with the feeling: As you arrive at your destination or mid-trip, you step out of the airplane or vehicle to stretch and it sounds a little bit like Rice Krispies: Snap! Crackle! Pop! What’s should you do?

Being in limited size spaces during travel can be challenging for the body. It can also cause stress, or even pain, which are among the last things you want during your precious vacation.

With just a few simple moments and stretches, you can feel much better and more comfortable during your trip.

Regardless of how little space is available to you, you can do these poses to help you feel better.

Cat-Cow pose – Seated

This seated cat-cow pose helps to soften your spine, as well as lubricate it, creating space between your vertebrae and improving your circulation. Here’s how to do this pose:

  1. Sit up straight and allow plenty of room behind you on your seat.
  2. Exhale while leaning forward & at the same time, lift your head in an upward direction.
  3. In opposite while inhaling, round out your spine & look down at your belly button area.
  4. Do this one 3x.

Spinal Twisting While Seated

Whether you are in something like a middle seat of an airplane, a car’s backseat, or a train seat, you can still give your back a nice relaxing stiffness release by doing these spinal twists. They not only stretch out your torso, ribs as well as respiratory muscles but they can even help to massage your internal organs!

  1. Keeping your feet down on the floor, with alignment through the joints, inhale, stretching your spine by elongating it, & keep your shoulders parallel to one another. With spine in a tall, elongated position, simply rotate toward the back of your seat by placing one hand on your leg and the other hand on the chair.
  2. Hold for a count of 3 to 5 breaths.
  3. Repeat on the other side.
Airplane Seats Photo by Kelly Lacy from Pexels

Slow Neck rolls

Slow & steady neck rolls are a very practical and simple type of yoga movement that can be done easily during long car rides or other types of travel. This stretch type will loosen muscles to help relieve tension in your neck & shoulders. You might hear some popping, but that’s ok as long as it’s not painful – if painful stop right away.

  1. Visualize a clock in front of you, & slowly rotate your nose around that clock, allowing your head’s weight aid in the stretching of your neck.
  2. Breathe steadily & slowly, in & out as you do these neck rolls.
  3. Reverse and repeat.

Rolling Your Shoulders

Lighten tension in your shoulder muscles with simple but powerful shoulder rolls.

  1. Scooting forward in your seat a bit, make sure your back isn’t touching the back of your seat.
  2. Then, draw circles with your shoulders in one direction. Think: up, back and down. As with all these poses, be sure to keep your breath steady with each movement.
  3. Repeat in the opposite direction.

Forward Fold – Seated

This simple-to-do stretch helps with tension in the upper as well as lower back. You’ll wand to have a bit of space to bend towards the front of your seat, so this one may not work the best while seated in the airplane, but it is great for getting in some stretching while waiting in the terminal or on the train, plane if you have space, bus or car.

Terminal Photo by Kelly Lacy from Pexels
  1. Keeping your feet on the floor, and keeping the correct alignment through your joints, and taking a deep breath in: roll your spine forward, reaching towards the ground as if you’re picking something up under the seat. Another option is to place your forearms on your thighs & then lean as much in a forward direction as you can. Let your head hang for a breath in & then out, but be careful if you feel dizzy to take your time.
  2. Slowly sit back up, rolling your spine back into a seated position. Repeat as desired.

I hope these tips will help you keep a limber and loose body during your next trip! Don’t have one planned? Let’s work on that! Reach out to us by clicking HERE and filling out a short form to get started!

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