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24 October 2011 12:05
TRAVEL
Top ten yoga tips to aid long-haul flying
The benefits of yoga for health are well documented, but it can also alleviate the stresses and strains of travelling long haul.
Full time yoga teacher Katy Appleton spent ten years flying around the world with the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet. She now teaches Vinyasa, Hatha and Astanga Yoga; and Pilates at her three London studios and is a doula - a qualified birth partner.
Here are Katy’s top tips to keep mind and body in good condition during long-haul flights, courtesy of Silver Travel Advisor – the online forum for over fifty year old travellers.
The day before travelling, avoid caffeine and alcohol, it’ll make you feel lighter and healthier. Don’t forget, the system gets much slower when you're up in the air.
To keep the energy moving during the flight, with so much time in a small seat, make time to do a `yoga flow’ before you leave home, or even at the airport. This is a series of postures arranged to flow together one after the next.
Pack a golf ball and use it during the flight to massage thoroughly the bottom of the feet. It works with all the little meridian points - like reflexology - and keeps the energy grounded. For many people, particularly those with DVT problems, the golf ball keeps the circulation going on a physical level.
Pack a tennis ball and use it on the back of the legs. When sitting, move it down from the sitting bone to the knee joint, where the knee is on the back of the chair, and then down the hamstrings and play around with it on the back of the legs. Katy Appleton also recommends wiggling the tennis ball down each side of the bony spine to relieve tension in the lower back muscles.
Hummmm. Called Bhramari, it's a gentle humming mad inside the chest. It helps reduce anxiety, especially in turbulence. (Hopefully the noise of the plane will be louder than your hum).
Alternate Nostil Breathing can be done in an airplane seat which has a calming, balancing effect on the nervous system.
Move around the plane frequently
Find a space, rise up and down on the balls of the feet, bending the knees, moving one foot and then the other up and down, and making ankle circles just to get the circulation moving through the leg.
Try doing mini calf stretches. Take one foot back behind the other and then lean forward while stretching the back leg.
Once off the plane, try to find somewhere to "get your legs up the wall." Lie on your back, wiggle towards the wall, swing your legs up against the wall and relax.
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