An Equinox yoga instructor shares the best moves to loosen up after a long flight.
With the holiday season right around the corner, many members are booking flights back home or out to warm, tropical destinations. While there’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to holiday travel, from quality family time to a chance to relax on a beach for a few days, one aspect of air travel is kind of a bummer: that stiff, achy post-flight body.
“Airplane seats are the worst,” says Allison English, a yoga instructor at Equinox Lincoln Park. “They aren't really made for anyone's anatomy. Whether you are tall or short, they compress the spine in a very rounded shape and often push the head to strange angles for hours. All of this can lead to lower back muscle discomfort, neck spasms, and shoulder crunchiness.”
If any of that sounds familiar, don’t fret. English promises there are yoga poses and other tweaks that can help quite a bit with all the crunchiness and general discomfort that comes with flying. Here’s what to know.
Why Air Travel Is So Hard on Your Body
While most people can agree that airplane seats are uncomfortable, English says the way you’re forced to hold your body during a flight isn’t the only cause of aches and pains. “Being on planes dehydrates tissue, which has implications for tissue glide,” she explains. “When our tissues don’t have enough water they tend to ‘gum up’ and stick together, causing tightness, pain, trigger points, lethargy, and less-than-stellar muscle performance for workouts after flying.”
Plus, flying through time zones and being up in the air for a long time can wreak quite a bit of havoc on your body. “This can interrupt digestion, sleep patterns, and even breathing rhythms. I have my clients use a soft air-filled massage ball to help with digestive discomfort when they arrive at their lodging and create a down-regulation of the nervous system before sleep each night they are away,” she says. “I recommend putting yourself in the time zone you will be landing in from the moment you get to the airport — eat and sleep according to the new time zone you will be in. As soon as you get off the plane, get outside in the air and walk around as much as you can to reconnect yourself in the new time zone.”
And, of course, don’t forget to hydrate. “Adding electrolyte tablets to water is helpful,” English says. “I have clients who travel a lot via planes each week, and they sometimes use IV therapy to rehydrate after flights.”
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The Best Stretches and Yoga Poses for Post-Flight Stiffness
While hydration and doing your best to adjust to your new time zone can be helpful, moving your body is the best way to get your body feeling lithe, limber, and pain-free ASAP.
“After getting off a plane, try to do some lunge positions to open the front hips. Reclined twists help release the lower back, and chest openers help with the shoulders,” English says. “I love anjaneyasana (low lunge), bhujangasana (cobra pose), and supta matsyendrasana (reclined spinal twist).”
For cultivating balance, English suggests performing vrksasana (tree pose) while breathing in and out to the same count (five seconds in, five seconds out). “Feel free to lean this tree pose against a wall in your hotel to be super-supported post-flight,” she says. “You could do each of these for five to eight breaths on each side.”
You can also try a standing chest opener at the wall, with one arm reaching behind and your head tilted slightly away from the wall, to open up the neck, shoulders, and upper back. “Alternating this chest opener at the wall, you could also play with some simple shoulder blade rolls with five to ten repetitions in each direction to wake up your upper back,” English says.
You can do these poses on your own after your flight, or you can go to a yoga class at a local Club the next day, says English. “You may also find you need more myofascial release immediately after your flight and then a regular yoga practice the day after you land,” she adds. “If there’s not an Equinox Club near you, use the classes on the Equinox app — [it has] great options!”
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How to Curb Post-Flight Pain While in the Air
While there isn’t much in your control while you’re in the air, English emphasizes there are some steps you can take to ease the post-flight pain before you land. “I carry my Yoga Tune Up balls with me everywhere I go, including on the airplane,” she says. “I travel globally to teach yoga, and those sets of myofascial release balls have been my lifesaver. I place the balls behind my upper and lower back and rock around while sitting in my seat.”
Additionally, English does gentle twists while in her seat, she says. “I love twisting in my seat by grabbing each handrest and slowly rotating towards it for five breaths [on] each side,” she says. “To help support leg circulation, definitely get up and move as much as you are able, but when you are seatbound practice pointing and flexing your feet and circle your ankles. If you get up to walk toward the back galley of the plane, pause and press your hands against a wall and stretch your calf out by reaching a leg behind you.”
Are post-flight aches and pains the worst? Absolutely. But luckily, there’s a lot you can do right after — and even during! — your flight to ease the pain.