By Jennifer Dixon MBA ERYT 500
Recently, my husband and I packed our two small children up (which is a feat in and of itself) and headed to Atlanta to catch a flight up to New Jersey. For those of you that have traveled with children, I am sure you’re sorta wincing at this point.
Airports and young children are an awesome combination. (note sarcasm) Between all the people, the potty breaks, the snacks–it’s a recipe for quite the germ fest. Combine that with the after effects of flying, everyone in the family is susceptible
The last time we flew together, we all got a terrible stomach virus (and shared it with our family we were visiting) so we were determined not to let that happen. We packed the hand sanitizer in bulk and tried not to use airport water fountains. Nothing that hit the ground went back into the kids hands until the Sanitizer wipes had been utilized. We thought we were winning the parenting of the year awards on that flight up.
Two days later, my daughter woke up in the middle of the night complaining about her tummy hurting. Uh Oh. We waited a few hours to see if she was going to get sick, instead, nothing happened. Quite literally, nothing at all. Her tummy kept hurting, but she didn’t get sick. Midway through that day it hit me, she hadn’t gone to the bathroom yet. Yup, this post is about staying regular on the road… (aren’t you glad you decided to stick with me?)
For a 3 year old, tummy aches are the worst. For an almost 40 yr old, constipation is pretty darn near the worst. However, we don’t have to live with that pain. Thankfully, all it took to get my daughter’s belly to stop hurting was a couple children’s veggie pouches with lots of fiber, a tummy rub and a few hours. (Gosh, I wish I had the metabolism of a 3 year old!)
And yes, my daughter is gonna murder me for this article when she’s 13. Please help me remember this to share with that first boyfriend!!
It got me to thinking, how many of you guys suffer from similar issues either while you’re traveling, or just on a daily basis? Yoga talks a LOT about digestion. Seriously, have you been in a class and the teacher says, “oh, this pose is great for digestion” or, “this pose is so detoxifying.” What do you think that means? Yup, it means it helps keep your body’s internal organs moving and functioning properly, so you can eliminate the toxins naturally. Basically, yoga helps you poop.
Here are some yoga poses you can do on the road (or at home) to help keep things moving right along.
- All twists. I love chair twists, crescent lunge twists and even supine twists
- Knees to your chest
- Happy Baby Pose
- Wind Removing Pose (aptly named, right?)
Basically, you have to remember to move, and keep moving and twisting. This helps to encourage the internal organs to do their jobs and get rid of the crap that is literally building up in your insides.
When you travel, especially long distances in a car, or when you fly–things can certainly stop working properly. If this happens to you, I encourage you to take a few minutes before you get into the car, or before you load up to go to the airport to twist your body out. Then, when you land, be sure to spend few minutes moving and including several twists and deep forward bends to help encourage those internal organs to wake back up.
Traveling is fun. Don’t let unintended consequences sneak up on you and make you bloated, in pain, or feeling gross. Use your yoga practice to keep you moving (in ALL the best ways.) Now, if you’re done reading about poop, stay tuned, Kristy will be back next week talking about Summer Veggies!! If you have any secret travel secrets to help keep you healthy, please share them below in the comments. I love learning how to stay healthy!!
If you have any questions about yoga and traveling, or want to know more about relieving stomach pains with yoga, don’t hesitate to call the studio at any time. We will be happy to help! You can also contact us via the website!