Check into your hotel and put your wheels up
This simple yoga move will help you recover from jet lag after a long day in the air
So you’ve checked into your hotel after a grueling day of travel and you have only moments to unwind and freshen up before heading to a dinner meeting.
What you need is viparita karani, or “putting your feet up.” This travelfriendly version happens right in your hotel bed. We’re calling it Wheels Up Pose. Wheels up
Kick off your shoes and remove pillows from your bed, save for one.
Hop up on the bed and sit sidesaddle to the headboard, with your right hip nuzzled in quite close to the corner and your seat more or less centered on the mattress (from side to side).
Pivot the legs up the headboard as you lie on your back. You’ll look like a capital letter L. If there is a large gap between the backs of your legs and the headboard, just wiggle and shimmy in a little closer. However, if your hamstrings are feeling restricted, you can allow for a little more space behind your legs.
Now bend your knees, step your feet onto the headboard (about a third of the way down), lift your pelvis by pressing into your feet, and slip a pillow under the hips and lower back. Rest yourself down onto the pillow and relax here for up to 10 minutes.
Dismount by removing the pillow before lowering the legs and pressing yourself up to sit.
This pose is great for jet lag. It reduces swelling in the legs and settles the nervous system. Take it to the next level You can supercharge your Wheels Up Pose by adding a breath exercise and visualization.
See a pool of molten, red-hot liquid around your heart. Inhale about a mouthful of that imaginary liquid up into the throat and hold it there while you breathe slowly in and out through the nose.
Once the liquid cools down enough to handle, exhale it out through the nose. Repeat. YuMee Chung is a recovering lawyer who teaches yoga in Toronto. She is on the faculty of a number of yoga teacher training programs and leads international yoga retreats. Learn more about her at padmani.com.