Yoga for Air Travel
By understanding what happens on a physical and energetic level when we take off, we may find a way to restore balance when we touch down, and the tools of yoga may be just what we need to hit the ground running.
Time shift
The French translation of jet lag, le décalage horaire or ‘time shift’, expresses beautifully what we are subjecting our bodies to when we board a flight. We experience a bending and manipulation of time. Sitting still for hours while crossing vast distances and time zones in compressed time, we disrupt our circadian rhythms. We surrender control to outside sources: schedules, traffic, delays, security lines, turbulence, toilet queues and meals that come according to someone else’s schedule. And so we can feel off our natural rhythm, anxious and distracted, the mind racing and crashing all at once.
Patanjali’s first teaching in the Yoga Sutra is that peace lies in the atha, the now, this very moment. Presence is not dependent on external conditions. It is cultivated internally, through yogic practice — especially harnessing our attention, working with non-attachment and learning to surrender. Whether in a crowded airport or at 30,000 feet, we can practise letting go of control and grounding in this very moment.
When we arrive at our destination, we can also be in the atha by leaning into the rhythms of the place we are in. If it is morning where we have journeyed to but our bodies are usually getting into bed at this time, doing the things in line with our present time will assist in finding the new rhythm. Follow the natural light, mealtimes and levels of activity according to the current time zone.
Disembodiment
No matter how mindful and present we are, the physical and environmental factors we are subject to in the process of air travel create immense imbalance in the body. We sit for long periods of time in uncomfortable positions, and the senses are bombarded with noise, smells, announcements, screens and proximity to others. We are cut off from natural sensory cues like fresh air, horizon lines and the solidity of feeling the earth beneath our feet.
As the nervous system struggles to settle, it is easy to get stuck in a dysregulated state, the mind and body feeling a deep sense of restlessness. We get disembodied as the vayus, or winds, that normally help move prana, or energy, around in the body become stagnant. Simple tools like physical awareness, breath and conscious slow movement can help us come back into our bodies, connect to how we feel and get those vayus, and that energy, moving again.
Calming vata
From an Ayurvedic perspective, the imbalance from flying is considered too much of the vata dosha — the principle of air and ether that governs movement, circulation and the nervous system. The qualities of travel, the ‘time shift’, irregular schedules, prolonged sitting, disembodiment, speed, altitude and dryness mirror vata’s own nature. When vata increases, digestion weakens, joints stiffen, sleep becomes light and the body struggles to feel grounded.
Ayurveda teaches that balance is always restored through steeping in the other doshas. When we have too much vata, we stabilise it by adding more kapha (earth and water) and pitta (fire). Supporting kapha and pitta qualities before and after flying, through warmth, nourishment and steady movement, creates a buffer against the inevitable vata imbalance travel creates and helps bring us back to our centre when we arrive.
Water and warmth
One of the most significant physical stressors of flying is dehydration. Cabin air is extremely dry, drawing moisture from the skin, joints and digestive tract. This dryness can leave the body feeling achy, fatigued and tight. Sipping warm fluids in the hours leading up to a flight prepares the tissues, and adding electrolytes to room-temperature drinks supports absorption. While flying, drinks like alcohol and caffeine, while tempting, tend to increase dryness and nervous system agitation, so are best kept minimal.
Flying often disrupts digestion, and the combination of dehydration, pressure changes and prolonged sitting can lead to vata’s airy bloating and gas. Warm, cooked meals before, during and after the flight help anchor the body. Think hearty soups, dahl, stews and simple, nourishing foods. Abhyanga, the Ayurvedic practice of self-massage with warm oil, can be deeply nourishing after travel, replenishing the skin, soothing the mind and getting some of that good, warm, rehydrating kapha and pitta in.
Go slow and restore
Vata thrives on steady motion but is unsettled by irregular, hurried movement. Gentle, grounding movement and poses with some calm breath before a flight helps settle the nervous system and lubricate the joints. Drawing awareness downward counteracts the anxious, upward-spiralling energy that can be present with travel.
Think about how you can plan more skilfully to ensure the process of packing, getting to the airport and managing the often-overwhelming check-in and security environment is as spacious and organised as possible. Leave yourself twice as much time as you think you’ll need so you don’t whip up lots of vata before even boarding the flight. During the flight, maintain circulation and ease tightness through slow, accessible stretches and movements using the space available.
Pratyahara and yoga nidra
Another yogic practice that’s very helpful to manage different time zones and vata imbalance is to embrace pratyahara — the practice of withdrawing the senses and pulling our awareness in. Closing the eyes and softening the senses can help with the overstimulation travel creates, soothing the mind and promoting deep rest.
Blocking out light with an eye mask and closing off the ears with good earplugs or headphones playing sound healings can be very helpful. Avoiding too much artificial light and switching off devices in favour of books and guided meditations also helps. My favourite jetlag hack of all is a guided yoga nidra, or the yoga of sleep, perfect for those midday and afternoon crashes when you feel like you cannot keep your eyes open a moment longer. A 20-30-minute yoga nidra will give you the equivalent of a couple of hours’ deep sleep, without that awful groggy feeling you get when you wake from a jetlag nap.
Yoga for air travel is not complicated. It honours the rhythms of the body as we time shift and let go of our attachment to control, reminding us that steadiness is not found in staying still, but in knowing how to stay present every moment of our time travel and return to balance, wherever we land.
Practice
Before you fly: ground and strengthen
Crescent lunge variation (stretches psoas line and hip flexors): from all fours, step right foot forward, knee bent and over right heel. Keep back knee down or extend back leg, using blocks under hands if needed. Pick the pelvis up so you are stretching the front of the left hip. Take five breaths and change sides.
Goddess pose with garudasana arms (grounds, opens hips and shoulders): step the feet wide apart, turn the toes out so they’re in line with the knees. Bend the knees, wrapping the thigh bones out and around. Wrap right arm under left as you bend elbows, lift upper arms up, shoulders away from the ears. Take five breaths, swap arms and repeat.
Plank (activates core, legs and arms — when the core is awake, the spine is better supported during hours of sitting): set shoulders over wrists and step back into a plank with heels over balls of toes. Take five breaths.
In the air: circulate and soften
While sitting, rolling the ankles or flexing and pointing the feet, and placing hands on the seat in front to move through gentle seated cat and cow, mobilise the spine, reduce stiffness and encourage circulation. A quiet hum can also soothe the nervous system, stimulating the vagus nerve and easing tension.
Seated twists support digestion and relieve vata bloating: sit upright, place left hand to right armrest and twist to the right. Take five slow conscious breaths, emptying out the lower belly and extending the exhale. Switch to the other side.
Forward fold settles restlessness and reduces sensory overload: place elbows on tray table in front of you or your thighs, use your hands to support your head or chin. Close the eyes and take five conscious extended exhales.
While waiting for the bathroom or standing in the aisle, spinal roll to ragdoll releases the spine, lower back, neck and hamstrings: fold forward by slowly tucking chin to chest and rolling down slowly, vertebra by vertebra. Feet hip-width apart and knees bent. Catch elbows and hang, gently rocking side to side.
After landing: restoration
Wide-knee child’s pose to cat-cow and hip circles releases and lubricates spine and hip joints: from all fours, toes together, knees wide, press seat back to heels, rest forehead on ground. Take five breaths. Come back to all fours and take five rounds of cat-cow, then add hip circles in both directions.
Supported bridge opens the front body and counters hours of flexion: feet hip-width apart, lift hips and stack pillows or books under the sacrum. Knees bent or extend legs. Reclined twist aids the spine, digestion and hip stretch: lying on back, hug knees to chest and drop them to the right. Arms in a T shape. Take five breaths and swap sides.
Viparita karani reverses the effects of gravity and calms the nervous system: lying on your back, set legs up the wall or bent, resting on a chair or bed. Stay for several minutes, allowing the breath to deepen. Finally, lying in a comfortable position, enjoy a guided yoga nidra — many are available online for a deeply restorative landing.
This article is featured in WellBeing Magazine 223
