When It Comes to Yoga, Yes, You CAN Take It With You

One of the things I love about yoga is that you CAN take it with you. I know yogis and yoginis who travel all over the world, and wherever they are they bring their yoga along in their hearts (and often in their postures). One yogini I know often does her handstands in airports (and recently, I’ve learned that the San Francisco airport even has a dedicated yoga room).

            Last week I traveled to North Carolina to visit my sister and her family.  I wasn’t too worried about my asana practice. I knew my sis wouldn’t mind if I pulled out my mat (I even dragged her along to a yoga class).  I was a little worried, however, about my sadhana (a daily spiritual practice we do in Kundalini yoga that often involves mantra and chanting). Surely my brother-in-law would boot me out of the house if I woke him up at 5 a.m. with a Gurmukhi chant!

            But yogis (and yoginis) are nothing if not inventive, and I have found more and more that if a yogi wants something done, well, consider it done. 

So between getting up early, staying up late (i.e. beyond midnight), chanting in the car, and finding a few quiet moments to myself here and there I was able to keep up with my practice. As Yogi Bhajan (the master of Kundalini yoga) used to say, “Keep up and you will be kept up.” I found that to be true.

            Okay, I will admit that when I went back to a Vinyasa class a week later those Downward Dogs were a bit sloppy….and I’m a little wary of how my Iyengar practice at my gym is going to go this week. But the miracle of it all is that even on the road you don’t have to give up your yoga practice. You can live, breathe, and be your yoga wherever you are. You can be mindful. You can be compassionate. You can be you. You can just be. All of this is yoga. It’s not just about the postures, and even if you do have a purely asana-based practice, you can always find a place to do yoga—even in a chair or in the bathtub! (I wouldn’t advise standing poses there, however!)

            So whether or not your travel destination is a yoga-oriented retreat in South America or a visit to your non-yogi relatives in the states—you can still take your yoga with you.  In my opinion this is one of the most beautiful blessings of yoga. And you don’t even have to pay for extra baggage: commitment to your practice is all in your heart, and totally weightless!