I’ve been practicing yoga in random studios and living rooms for well over ten years now. In Chicago, where I spend most of my time, there is certainly no shortage of yoga studios. However, filling my weekly quota of downward dogs is considerably more challenging when living on the road.
I feel the beneficial effects of yoga when I’m traveling even more than I do when hanging around my home base. Trying to sleep on planes makes my neck stiff. Hunching over picnic tables to work at campgrounds makes my back ache. And driving for long stretches of road makes all my joints tense and fatigued. I’ve had my fair share of battles with anxiety, and yoga is one of the few things that brings me back to reality.
Yoga at Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C.
Much of my travel revolves around active adventure, which has a nasty tendency of making me feel like the age on my driver’s license. Certain yoga positions are better than others when preparing for or recovering from adventures, like rock climbing.
As I have begun to travel more, I’ve struggled to take my yoga practice with me. My yoga mat is bulky, Internet access is sketchy, and classes are expensive. But if there’s a will, there’s a way. And I found a way to practice yoga during my last two extended road trips. Here’s how:
National, State and Local Park Classes
Not surprisingly, my absolutely favorite place to do yoga is in the outdoors. This summer, I stayed on the outskirts of Acadia National Park for about a week and decided to search for outdoor classes in the area. I was excited to discover Yoga in the Park, a low-key community that offers public classes in the park’s most beautiful places.
I recently traveled to Miami and discovered that Bayfront Park offers free yoga classes every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. When I stopped in for a Saturday morning class, I was greeted with a warm welcome, a recommendation to nab a shady spot, and handed a spare mat to use.
Studios and Community Centers in Random Towns
You might be surprised that the po-dunk town you’re staying in for a couple days has a community center that offers fitness classes. It’s a no-brainer; run a quick Google search for yoga classes in the place you’re staying and show up. Maybe the class won’t be as fancy as the ones you frequent back home, but it’ll still get the job done. And if one of your travel goals is to meet like-minded strangers wherever you go, then you just got an added bonus.
Campground Pavilions
Financially, the only way that I can afford to travel so much is by staying in campgrounds. And unless the temperatures drop below 40-degrees, I prefer it that way regardless. I recently camped out in Texas’ Ink’s Lake State Park for a week and got the itch to do some yoga. Considering that the nearest town was a 45-minute drive away, I pulled out my Verizon MiFi and an iPad as an alternative. I am willing abandon my position of shunning technology in the outdoors for the sake of doing yoga.
I swept out the dusty floor of the campground pavilion as best I could, propped the iPad against a post, and pulled up a YouTube video. Again, not surprisingly, I gravitate towards yoga videos that were filmed outdoors. Here are a few good ones I’ve found:
Yoga in Costa Rica
Car Yoga
I came across the article published by the school I studied travel writing at, Matador U, and thought it was pretty creative. Alyssa (no relation) James suggests several yoga pose variations that can be done while sitting in a car on a road trip. Although you certainly won’t get the full effect of mountain pose, pigeon pose, or prayer twist in a seated position, they’re certainly better than nothing. This could easily be translated to “office chair yoga” or “couch yoga.”
I am by no mean an expert at doing yoga on the road, but I am getting better at making it work with each trip that I take. I’ve begun to research travel yoga mats to make my kneeling poses less painful and my carry-on luggage less awkward. As I learn tips and tricks by trials and error, I’ll be sure to share them. It’s time we stop thinking of yoga as a location-restrictive routine and start taking it out on the road!