The days when a vacation was a great excuse to not practice yoga and to overindulge is losing its luster. We have fewer excuses in this age of connectivity, consciousness and wellness. Not to mention, the increasing number of people who travel for work and still want to maintain a regular practice. We can’t always pull up to our convenient parking spot, at our local yoga studio with our favorite teacher. So while on vacation or traveling, what are the best options to continue your yoga practice? Let’s get creative!
Here are some tips for keeping up your yoga practice going while you vacation and keeping the excuses at bay:
Yoga Online
How connected will you be? Most places these days have WiFi capabilities. If I could get it in the jungles of Peru, you can probably find it as well! There are hosts of websites that offer classes these days like MyYogaWorks.com, YogaGlo.com, Yogavibes.com, YogaDownload.com, Gaiam.com and the list continues. You can count on finding some of the most popular teachers offering every kind of class you can possibly imagine. You will be able to search by class level, time, and theme (hips, shoulders, etc).
iPhone Applications
There are a myriad of yoga iphone applications. Some applications are free and some of them only cost $5. When you think of a drop-in class rate of $18-$22, $5 is a drop in the bucket for a lifetime of use. The top three rated on the website com(1) were iYoga+, Pocket Yoga HD, and YogaCoach.
Travel Yoga Mat
When you are traveling a regular yoga mat takes up way too much space in your luggage, so there are many great options for travel mats that are light, durable and still sticky! You can try the following brands which are popular among students: Manduka eKO SuperLite, Khataland YoFoMat, Jade Travel, Gaiam Reversible, Lululemon UnMat. If you really can’t fit your yoga mat in your luggage you can practice on low pile carpet or throw a beach towel on the side of a pool or on the beach and get your practice in!
Local Yoga Studios
Research the Area. Simply type “Yoga Studios” into Google and see what pops up. Look at the schedules. Call the studio and ask who the best teachers are for the style that you are used to practicing. Or try something completely new!
Small Spaces
The best thing about Yoga is that you can pretty much clear a mat space sized area just about anywhere. You can practice yoga in the kitchen, in your hotel room, on a cruise deck, in a fitness center, on a beach, on a lawn and the list goes on.
Home Practice
When you are traveling, this is a great opportunity to practice the poses that feel really great in your body and to create what teacher’s like to call a “home practice” that you can do when you “don’t have time” to get to a studio. This is a common practice for many yoga teachers who are constantly teaching or traveling unable to get to studios for their own practice. Practice is practice. The time is not as important as just moving your body. It doesn’t have to be a 90 min practice.
Remember, Yoga helps us to relax and de-stress. When you are on vacation, practice what feels good. Reward yourself. Maybe you just indulge in a few restorative poses. You are still practicing yoga when you are practicing a conscious breath and getting still.
Meditation & Breathwork
The Asasna (yoga postures) are only mentioned a few times in the entire Yoga Sutras (philosophical texts of yoga). Yoga is the practice of stilling the fluctuations of the mind. You are practicing aspects of Yoga when you are meditating and consciously breathing. You can practice guided meditations and guided breathing techniques through the same methods mentioned above.
In summary, get the excuses out of the way and simply commit to a practice that you know keeps you healthy and vibrant. Meet your vacation with the best possible version of you, optimizing your time, relaxation and fun!
What do you think? Let us know what are the best ways you have found to commit to a practice while travel ;).