Reiki Relaxation For Flights
A chapter from the audio book, How to Fly with Less Stress. These are exercises on reiki, relaxation and stretches. Sitting in cramped seats for hours puts strain on the body. There are dozens of easy-to-do stretches that feel great. These exercises also can be used for those sitting for a long time at work.
Transcript
Chapter 4 Reiki Relaxation and Stretches Your body knows you better than anyone.
Why not let it tell you what's going on with you and do what you can to make it feel better?
Listen to your body.
Are you feeling tension in your shoulders?
Does your neck hurt?
Are your feet aching?
Does your back hurt you?
Then do some stretching.
Do you need to walk?
Well,
If the seatbelt sign isn't on,
Take a little walk.
Do you need to go to the bathroom,
Get some water,
Or sit up a little straighter?
Let your body speak to you.
Take control of your body and tell yourself to do what your body needs.
Then give your body a little love,
A little light,
A little psychic embrace.
You will feel the difference.
Simple exercises provided here can help you to feel better.
They're designed to be done unobtrusively,
So there's no need to be embarrassed or draw a lot of attention to yourself while using them.
They work well while sitting in your playing chair or in the waiting area as well.
Every time you get from one point of your transit to the next,
Remember to breathe deeply.
With each and every breath,
Let go of any tightness,
Any tension,
And any stress that your body has accumulated.
Breath sweeps mind,
So you can use breath to stop your mind from getting into a spin with worry or anger or frustration.
So right now,
Take a deep breath.
Let the tension and stress go and just feel good.
Let your body,
Mind,
And emotions know that you're okay.
Reduce your stress.
I've been a Reiki master for many years,
And I know that Reiki principles really can help you while you're traveling.
Everything about sitting in a seat for long hours during a flight is not really good for your body.
So why not really take some time to let your body feel good?
Reiki can really be used for travel.
I find it very helpful to use when I'm sitting in my seat.
Reiki's become a very popular way to heal and release tension.
This method brings healing,
Light,
And love through your hands to your body.
You can do versions of Reiki while you're traveling.
Here's a few easy steps to get yourself in tune with that energy.
Take a few deep breaths.
Once again,
Breathe in deeply and relax and clear your mind.
Take a moment to go to that still point,
That quiet place within.
Connect with your highest inner self.
Connect with God,
That center point and source of all.
Bring that light down into your soul and down into your body and into your hands.
These exercises,
You'll hold your hands on a part of your body that needs relax and you'll send energy to it.
It's best if you let the light that is from that source come through your hands into your body.
Now,
For traveling's sake in your seat,
It might be easiest just to use one hand on some of these exercises.
It could be your shoulder,
Neck,
Forehead,
Or stomach.
Here's a Reiki style head treatment for the temple.
Take your hand and place it across your temple as if you were taking your temperature.
Take some very deep breaths and let this one brilliant light come through your hands right into your forehead.
Feel that energy from your hands reaching deep into your head,
Relaxing you,
Bringing you calm and bringing you peace,
Bringing you light.
Feel all of that light entering every single cell in your brain,
In your muscles,
If there's any tension in your forehead or temple area.
Let that light completely release that tension.
Now feel the tension just slipping away and melting away.
Feel your whole face relaxing.
Hold your hand there and let yourself feel and embrace that light and love coming to you from the source.
Now place your hands on either side of your temples.
Let the base or palm of your hand be at the chin area and let the fingers be on either side of your temple.
It's amazing how much tension we hold in our jaw area when we travel.
A lot of people store most of their tension in their jaws.
With this exercise,
Breathe in deeply and let that light come from the source through your hands and let it relax all of the tension in your jaws.
Feel your jaw muscles relaxing and letting go.
Feel the energy of light coming into your teeth and your gums and your tongue and your throat.
Breathe that energy in and just let it do its healing work.
Accept and receive all of this wonderful energy coming to you as you receive the healing from your hands and from God.
Now breathe in and let any of that tension you had stored go.
Just release it all.
And now take one of your hands and place it right at the upper part of your chest,
Right there below your throat area.
Again,
Breathe in that wonderful healing light from the source and let the light come spiraling through your hands into this area of your thymus.
Breathe in this area and just let the light completely surround your entire throat area.
Take your hand and place it behind your neck.
The neck and the whole shoulder area can really be full of tension and stress.
And with all of our time we spend reading computers and using our iPhones or putting our head forward while we're doing our work,
We can really put our neck out of alignment.
So let this hand go to the back of your neck and breathe in again that pure light from the source.
Breathe it in deeply and just let that light come through your hands into the back of your neck.
Feel that area just releasing the tension,
Absorbing that loving energy from your source through your hands coming into your neck right now.
Breathe it in.
Ah,
Doesn't that feel great?
Continue to breathe that energy in and let all that tension from your neck area go and straighten the neck up some.
Make sure it's completely aligned correctly with your body.
And now take both of your hands and place them on your shoulders.
This is really a wonderful place to take this healing energy and use it.
You may not even be aware of it,
But your shoulders may be way up,
Almost touching your ears.
A lot of people carry their tension in their shoulders.
So put both of your hands on your shoulders.
Breathe in deeply,
Go to that still place within and connect with God and bring God's loving light and healing energy down through your hands into your shoulders.
Ah,
Let it go deep into all of the muscles there.
Feel the shoulders just relaxing and letting go.
Your shoulders have worked so hard carrying some of your baggage.
Now release that energy and treat your shoulders to feeling really good.
Breathe in the healing energy and light from your hands.
Feel your shoulders relaxing and letting go.
Completely release any of the energy there.
Leave your hands on your shoulders for a few minutes more.
Feels good,
Doesn't it?
Just bathe in that healing light energy coming into your shoulders.
Ah,
Let any of that tension go.
Now just to seal that release in,
Bring your shoulders up back to where they were,
Maybe even higher and just let the shoulders go back down again.
Just release that tension.
The next area of treatment we're going to do is for our heart center.
Oftentimes our heart has to be so tense and controlled and shut because we're afraid of fears from deep,
Deep injuries and wounds.
And if we are already afraid in our heart,
It can get worse when we travel.
We can close up even more.
So take your right hand or left hand,
Whichever you are.
If you're right handed,
Put your right hand over your heart.
If you're left handed,
Put your left hand over your heart.
And once again,
Take a few deep breaths in.
Go to that inner still point within.
Go to your soul.
Go to the pure creative source of God.
Breathe in that perfect energy that rejuvenates and restores and renews you.
Let that light from the source come down and through your hands and feel your energy from your hand,
Sending light and love from the source into your heart.
Feel it.
See it.
Let a brilliant light spiral into your heart.
Remove any of the barriers or fears or old wounds that are there.
Let that energy go deep into the core of your heart.
Feel any old wounds or fears completely melting away.
Let any barriers or old issues be released.
You wish to be loved.
You wish to have love.
You are lovable.
You are loving and you can be loved.
Feel that love.
Breathe in that love.
Let that love penetrate into your heart with the golden pure light melting away any old wounds or fear or barriers you place there.
Feel the source of all life coming in and healing your heart and opening your heart to the love that you are.
Doesn't that feel wonderful?
Feel that love.
And now send that love out.
Send that love out to a loved one.
Send that love out to your family.
Send that love out to the world.
Send that love out to everyone on the plane.
Now that love comes back to you a hundred fold.
Breathe it in.
Accept it.
Receive it.
Give thanks for it.
Next is a lower back treatment when we travel.
It's very hard on our lower backs.
These seats are very uncomfortable sometimes.
Place your hands on either side of your lower back and with the smaller seats this may be a little difficult to do.
If it is hard for you to reach both of your hands,
Do one hand at a time.
Take your right hand if you don't have enough room to do both of your hands.
If someone's sitting next to you,
You might not be able to do that.
But place your hand on your lower back facing downward and do a little massage.
Rub energy into your back.
Really rub the tension away on your back.
Feels good,
Doesn't it?
Now again,
Take a few of those deep,
Deep Reiki breaths.
Go to the source,
The creator.
Breathe that energy through your soul down into your hand and see the light pouring into the entire lower back area.
Feel that lower back relaxing.
Feel it actually being restored.
Imagine light spiraling into the whole lower back area.
Breathe light into the back.
Let it clear away any emotions or darkness,
Things that have been held there.
Let it be restored with perfect healing energy.
Hold your hands there and let that energy completely give your back all of the energy it needs.
Next we're going to do a lower stomach treatment.
Place your hand on the lower abdomen with the fingers pointed in a downward position with your palm at your navel.
Breathe into the lower abdomen.
This is where we store our emotions.
This is where we store our fears.
So let there be a deep healing from the source of all light coming into your hand and send that lower pelvic area a great,
Wonderful healing spiral of radiant golden light.
See and find any kind of area of shadow or tension or fear that might be in that whole area and just allow yourself to be healed.
Let that light go deeply,
Deeply,
Deeply into all areas of your pelvic area.
Breathe in the healing energy and see that light going into every single cell,
Into all of your stomach area,
Into your reproductive area.
Let it completely fill your entire lower body with light and healing energy.
Release any of the tension or fears that may be there.
Breathe out anything that may have been stored there.
Foot treatment.
You know our feet really deserve some love.
We do all of this walking when we're traveling and often we have shoes that are uncomfortable and our feet have to get through that also.
For this next exercise,
If you can,
Take off your shoes.
Bring one foot up to your knee.
Hold one hand over the foot and send it a wonderful healing energy through your hands.
Feel if there's any tension there in your feet.
Give yourself a foot massage.
Start at the balls of the feet and take your thumb and apply a little pressure there to the ball of the feet.
Continue in rubbing circles and completely massage the whole of the arch of your foot,
Moving your hand back to the heel of the foot.
Hold your hand over the foot and just send it wonderful energy.
Our feet are so important and you want to keep your feet feeling wonderful and circulated with energy.
Breathe in the energy and let those feet feel wonderful.
Doesn't that feel good?
Thank your feet for doing all the work that they do for you.
Now bring up the other foot and place it on the other knee and repeat.
Massage it and let it feel that light and love coming to you.
Feels wonderful.
Now take a deep breath and release any of the tension from your feet.
Breathe it out.
Let it out at the bottom of your feet.
Completely release it.
Next are some relaxation exercises for the head.
You know our head and neck really get tight with the stress of travel.
If you've ever looked around a plane you'll see almost everyone hunched over their computer or their ebook or their phone and their neck is totally out of alignment.
The neck,
The face,
The jaws really carry a lot of tension as well.
So here are some relaxation exercises for the head.
Here's an exercise to relax your jaw.
Open your mouth as wide as you can like that silent screen picture.
Hold your mouth open until you feel your jaw release.
It's as if you're doing a big yawn.
Feel the neck and the jaws tightness just releasing.
Let the jaw relax totally.
Next open your mouth and move the jaw right and left.
To the right to the left.
Do that a few times.
Close the mouth and place your hands on your jaws.
With the breath release any tension you might be holding in the jaws.
Repeat until you actually feel your jaws relax.
Face relaxation.
This is an easy exercise that helps relax face muscles.
Now you might not want to say these vowels you're going to say out loud.
So you can do the inner vowel.
Say the vowels and overemphasize each letter.
And again you can do this silently.
A,
Open the mouth wide and think of a great big A.
E,
Spread the mouth wide like a big phony smile.
E,
I,
Drop the jaw low.
I,
O,
Round the lips into a large fish like circle.
O,
You notice when you do that even your eyes open wider.
O,
U,
Use the back of the jaw muscles.
U,
A,
E,
I,
O,
U.
This is a wonderful one to do,
Maybe even once every few hours.
It really helps to relax the head and release the muscles in the jaw.
I love this next exercise.
It's just a simple head turn.
But you do this slowly and consciously.
Very simply breathe in and move the head to look over at the right shoulder.
Breathe out and come to center.
Breathe in deeply again and look over the left shoulder.
Feel how the neck is relaxing as you do these head turns.
Repeat this at least five times.
Breathe in and turn the head to look over the right shoulder.
Breathe out,
Come to center.
Breathe in and look over at the left shoulder.
Breathe out and come to center.
You'll find this to be a very simple,
Helpful exercise.
Here's a head alignment exercise.
Make sure your head is aligned properly with the body.
Now lean the head towards the right shoulder.
Hold that for a couple of minutes and feel that stretch.
You'll feel the stretch in your left neck.
Breathe into the neck as you're holding it.
Bring the head to the center and let it now release any of the tension there.
Now breathe in and lean the head towards the left shoulder.
Feel any tension you might have in the right side of your neck.
You might even want to put your hand there.
Breathe into that right side of the neck and release any tension there.
Hold that for a minute or two and breathe in the light energy right into the shoulder and release any tension there.
You can repeat this one easily if you carry tension in your neck.
This is a wonderful exercise for you to do.
Next is another simple one that really works.
Head circles.
Just roll the head slowly clockwise,
Very slowly,
Three times.
Start with your head down to your chest and bring your head towards your right shoulder,
Back,
And then down towards the left shoulder and then down to the chest.
Repeat.
The head goes slowly towards the right shoulder.
Jaws up,
Your head is back,
And then bring your head over to your left shoulder and bring your head down to your chest.
Repeat that another time.
Rolling the head slowly towards the right shoulder,
Head back,
Roll towards the left shoulder and bring the jaw down towards the throat.
All right.
We're going to do counterclockwise now.
Bring the jaw down to your chest,
Roll the head over to the left shoulder,
Bring the head back with the jaw up,
Roll the head over towards the right shoulder and bring the head back to center,
Letting the jaw touch the chest.
Again,
Let the head roll over toward the left shoulder,
Bring your head back,
Let the head go over towards the right shoulder and circle your head back to the starting point of your chest.
Repeat one more time.
It's a wonderful way to relax your neck and your shoulders.
This next exercise is fun.
It's called big smiles.
Put a big smile on your face,
A big,
Big,
Bigger.
Breathe in deeply.
Breathe out saying,
Ha,
Either silently or out loud.
Again,
Breathe in deep,
Smile and breathe out saying,
Ha.
In Hawaiian,
The word ha means breath.
Relax the mouth and repeat.
Put a big smile on your face.
Breathe in deeply,
Smile and breathe out saying,
Ha.
You can say,
Ha,
Silently if you wish.
This next exercise is used by yogis for years.
It's an alternate nose sinus clearing exercise.
We breathe in a lot of stale air and bacteria and junk as we are traveling.
This is a very powerful exercise to do while you're sitting.
You can do this.
Place your fingers over the ridge of the nose.
Let the fingers touch the jaws.
Apply slight pressure to the jaws.
Breathe deeply.
Hold the breath and breathe out all the way.
Breathe out all the way.
Now we're going to do alternate nose breathing.
You take your right thumb,
Place it on your right nostril.
Breathe in through your left nostril.
Breathe in deeply.
Hold for a second.
Place your forefinger on your left nostril.
Breathe out through your right nostril.
Repeat.
Breathe in through your right nostril while holding your left nostril closed.
Hold for a second at the top and now place your thumb on the right nostril breathing out through your left nostril.
Breathe in through your left nostril.
Hold for a second.
Place your forefinger on your left nostril.
Breathe out through the right nostril.
Breathe in through the right nostril.
Hold.
Place your thumb on the right nostril and breathe out through the left nostril.
It's alternate nostril breathing.
Our body actually,
In its own cycle,
Will find itself breathing sometimes more through the left or the right nostril.
And we may not even be aware of it,
But sometimes our nostrils get clogged with junk from the air while we're traveling.
So it's really good to be aware of your breath,
And that really does help.
It's alternate nostril breathing.
Stretches for the upper body.
Our shoulders hold a huge amount of tension.
When we travel,
We load our shoulders with extra weight,
Baggage,
Lifting and carrying luggage.
It's important to release the energy that may be stuck there.
Here's a wonderful shoulder stretch.
Put clasped hands behind your neck.
So be your hands clasped behind your neck.
Both of your elbows will be out.
Lean to the right.
You'll feel your whole body stretching over to the right.
And then lean to the left.
Depending on how close your neighbor is,
You might have to do a little bit of this carefully.
Repeat.
Lean over to the right.
Feel the stretch.
And then lean back to the left.
This time,
You're going to lean over to the right and turn your head slightly,
Looking up.
Bring your head back to center.
Lean over to the left.
Turn your head slightly,
Looking up.
Now with your head back to center and your hands clasped still behind your neck,
Bring both of your elbows forward and let them touch.
Bring your elbows back.
Breathe in deeply.
Release any tension and repeat.
Bring your elbows forward.
Let them touch.
Bring your elbows back.
The next exercise is shoulder lifts.
Drop your shoulders down all the way.
Let them come down.
Breathe in deeply and raise your shoulders as high as you can,
Up to your ears.
Hold them up there for a second or two and then let your shoulders just drop.
Shrug your shoulders a few times like this,
Way up.
Breathe in and breathe out and let the shoulders come down.
Breathe any tension out.
Bring those shoulders right on up and let those shoulders come down.
This time as you let the shoulders come down,
Let the back of your shoulders reach in towards each other on your back.
Bring the shoulders up and let the shoulders come down again.
So wonderful,
Easy stretch to do while you're traveling.
Next we're going to do shoulder circles.
You're going to take your right shoulder and circle it around,
Going forward,
Circle it around,
Reach it up towards your ear,
Let it come down,
Circle it around,
Up,
Down,
Back,
Up,
Down,
Back.
Breathe in with each circle.
Breathe in,
Up and down and back.
And then do the other left shoulder.
Bring it up and down and back,
Up and down and back.
You can do this as much as you need.
It's very easy to do while you're in your seat.
Now release shoulder and side tension.
Take a moment to see if you're holding your shoulders high.
If so,
Put one arm out to the side and bring your hand around to hold the back of your neck.
Your elbow should be straight out.
So if you're using your right arm now,
Put your arm out in front of you and as if you were hugging yourself,
Put your hand now on your left shoulder.
So your right elbow's out and you can bring your elbow up and down.
Bring the elbow up,
Bring the elbow down,
Bring the elbow up,
Bring the elbow down.
Now here you're actually helping your neck on the left side and you're stretching out your right side as well.
Now bring your arm back down and do the left side.
Get your left arm out.
Let your arm now come and your hand go on your right shoulder,
Your elbows out in front and bring the elbow up,
Bring the elbow down.
Breathe into it.
Elbow up,
Elbow down.
So wonderful exercise that helps both the elbows and the shoulders and the neck.
On this next exercise,
You're going to cross your arms as if you were hugging yourself and put your hands on opposite shoulders.
Give yourself a hug.
Really feel it as if it's a hug.
Give love to yourself.
Breathe in that hug.
We all need a hug.
Well,
Why not hug yourself?
Breathe in that hug.
Send love to yourself.
Love yourself.
Hug yourself.
Doesn't that feel wonderful?
It's so easy.
Release any of the tension or stress.
Breathe in the love and feel good as you breathe out.
The next exercise is for shoulder and back alignment.
While seated,
Locate the center point of your back right there between your shoulders.
Now push the center of your back into the seat and your back center will be touching the back of your seat and you hold your shoulders back and feel the energy circulating up and down the spine.
Let your back rub the seat.
Massage your back with the seat.
Feel the body aligning itself.
Yes,
Your seat back can be your friend and your massage tool.
And it's a way to align yourself with that seat.
Next we're going to release the shoulders.
Place the right hand on the left shoulder.
Lean the head to the right.
Send healing light to the shoulder.
Massage the shoulder.
Rub that shoulder.
It feels really good.
You'll find some tight points there.
Just massage those tight points right away.
Breathe energy into those tight points.
Doesn't that feel wonderful?
Rub the circles of energy into all of your left shoulder there.
Come back to center.
Now put the left hand on the right shoulder.
Lean your head to the left and send healing light to the shoulder.
Massage the shoulder.
Breathe that energy in.
Feel good.
Body stretch.
Bring your hands together in a clasp.
Turn the hands until the palms face you.
Push your arms straight out.
Stretch your hands and your arms.
Stretch your whole body there.
In and out.
Now lift your arms straight up over your head.
Hands still clasped.
Stretch the entire spine out.
Stretch the body out.
Let space and air fill your body.
While arms are still up,
Pull them to the right.
Stretch to the right.
Stretch to the left.
And let the body relax and let the arms down.
And you can repeat this one as necessary.
It's a wonderful way to stretch your arms out and stretch your spine out.
Body twists are very helpful for the digestive system and spinal column.
And they're very simple to do in your seat.
Put your left hand on your right knee and the right hand on your lower back.
Lift your head and look over the right shoulder.
Expand your chest so it feels open.
Open up the whole chest cavity.
Breathe in and breathe out.
You're looking now over your right shoulder.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Feel that twist all the way down the spine.
Hold it for a minute.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Feel that twist.
Come back to center.
Hold your body straight.
And now repeat on the other side.
Place your right hand on the left knee and your left hand on your lower back.
Turn your head to the left and look over your left shoulder.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Expand your chest area.
Open that chest cavity.
Breathe in and breathe out.
So this next exercise is the sitting cat cow.
I know you've heard of cat cow if you do yoga.
We usually in yoga do it on the floor where we arch our back up like a cat.
And then we let the body come down and the stomach comes down the shoulder and lower back are up.
And we repeat.
This is going to be a cat cow you can do in your seat.
Breathe in and out.
And now arch your back.
Bring the chest forward and the center of your back touching the seat.
And really bring your whole body reaching forward.
And now come back and bring the chest forward,
Arching the head back with the chest no longer touching the seat.
Repeat.
Now touch the seat with your shoulders and lower back.
And let your whole front of your body be arched forward.
And now bring the shoulders and the back forward and arch back.
Breathe in and repeat.
Shoulders forward,
Pelvis arch forward,
Head comes forward to the chest and breathe out all the air.
And repeat.
Now arch back.
Let your head come back.
Let your chest come forward.
And then you can again repeat with the shoulders coming forward,
Pelvis arch forward,
The center of your back touching the back of the seat.
Now bring the whole body forward,
Arching back with your shoulders touching the seat,
The back of your whole pelvis touching the seat and your head back.
Repeat.
Front and back.
Front and back.
Arching forward,
Arching back.
Our hands also get a lot of use when we travel.
Think of all the things we're carrying and using.
You can give yourself this wonderful easy exercise.
I think you'll love it.
It's a hand massage.
Now first of all,
Notice your hands.
Bring your hand up.
Let your hand be completely stretched out with all the fingers and notice if your hands are feeling tight and tense.
Take the left hand and cover the right and put that cover of the left hand on the right on the palm and put pressure on the fleshy part of the thumb.
Massage that fleshy part of the thumb deep.
Hold it for a few minutes.
Massage in circles.
Let the left hand massage the right hand.
And now take the right hand and let the right hand massage the left hand.
Let the right thumb massage the lower base of the left thumb.
Now do the same thing.
We're going to do massage,
But let the left hand actually massage the center of your hand,
Going deep and relaxing it and releasing any tension.
And now let the right hand massage again the center of the left hand.
Now we're going to do a hand stretch.
Spread the fingers out as far as you can.
Hold for a minute.
Now clench your hands tightly,
Really tight,
And then release the hands and bend the fingers back.
Feel the tension being released from your hands.
Repeat.
Clench the hand tightly.
And now release the hand and spread the fingers out as far as you can.
Feel the tension being released from your hands.
Again,
Clench your hand into a fist.
Now open the hand and release energy and tightness in the hand.
Here's a hand pull.
Extend the right hand.
Place the left hand over the fingers.
Grasp the fingers and pull the fingers back.
Do it to where it's comfortable.
Hold the stretch for a minute and do the left hand.
Extend the right hand.
Place the left hand in slightly.
Extend and pull those fingers back.
Now take the left hand,
Extend it,
Take the right hand and pull those fingers back,
Stretching the fingers out.
Our eyes are really used a lot.
You have to make sure you can see where you're going,
What time the plane leaves.
We're reading on our devices for hours on end.
And our eyes are also subjected to pressure while we fly.
Now if you wear contact lenses,
It's helpful to remove them on long flights and use glasses.
I also love using a lavender eye mask that is very soothing on the eyes.
This is an easy exercise to do and very good for your eyes.
Keeping your head still,
Roll the eyes up and down and arch like you're following the outline of a rainbow.
Take the eyes from the left,
Arch them up to the center and then arch them down to the right.
Let the eyes and the head be still in the center for a moment.
This is only with your head still.
Let the eyes only look up to the top like you're following a rainbow and then look down to the left.
Now your eyes come up and look up towards your forehead and then down towards your right side.
Take a moment and come back up on your right side,
Look to the forehead and then come down to the left side.
You do this three times following the arch of a rainbow.
Eyes to the left,
Up and down to the right,
Eyes to the right,
Up and down to the left.
This next one's good for the diagonal line.
You take the eyes and you let them look up as far as they can to the right side and at a diagonal they come down to your lower left.
Again your lower left eyes look now up towards the upper right.
Eyes from the upper right down to the lower left,
Upper right down to the lower left and from the lower left back up to the right,
Top of the right,
Angle down to the lower left and from the lower left up to the right.
Again your head is still,
It's only your eyes that are moving.
Now go the opposite way.
Eyes on the upper left looking up and then coming down at a diagonal to the right.
Eyes from the lower right up to the left and pause for a second.
Again eyes up from the left down to the lower right and the eyes are in the lower right then back up to the right.
Now look over to the right in a horizontal plane with your eyes and take your eyes from the right side back across that horizontal plane to the left.
From the left to the right,
From the right to the left,
From the left to the right,
From the right to the left.
Repeat that a few times.
Now rub your hands together very briskly until they're warm,
Until you feel energy in your hands.
Now place your hands over your eyes and let them absorb the hands warm energy.
Let that energy go right into your eyes and feel good.
Lower body stretches,
Leg stretches.
Our legs can become cramped from sitting in a confined area for hours so exercise them periodically.
Of course one way is to walk in the aisle very slowly and let the circulation flow through the body.
You can also lift the leg with the knee bent.
Lift it slowly so you're exercising your muscles.
Contract the thigh muscles,
Hold them tight and alternate the legs.
First the left leg,
Hold it,
Lower it,
Then the right leg,
Hold it up just above the seat a few inches,
Tighten the muscles,
Relax them and lower them.
Do this as much as 20 times for each leg.
The legs can actually have problems with getting blood clots and long flights so it's very important to keep these legs exercised.
Here's a knee lift you can try.
Bend forward slightly,
Clasp your hands around the left knee and hug your knee to your chest.
Then bring it down and bring the right knee to the chest.
Do each knee about 10 times.
Here's another knee one you can try called knee Vs.
Let the knees touch,
Put pressure together on those knees that are touching and now bring the knees apart to form a V.
Repeat this 10 times,
Knees together,
Touching,
Putting pressure and then bringing the knees back out.
This will also help your hips and lower back.
Foot stretches.
Feet have 7,
200 nerve endings.
Since they tend to swell when we're seated for long periods of time on planes or trains,
It's really important to exercise our feet to keep the circulation flowing.
Blood thickens in pressurized cabins.
Doctors recommend doing foot exercises every half hour to help prevent DVT,
Otherwise known as deep vein thrombosis.
Foot seesaws.
Bring the front of the foot off the ground with the heels on the floor.
Stretch the front of the feet upward as far as you can.
Now keeping the balls of the feet on the floor,
Bring the heels up.
Your seesawing your feet back and forth.
Again,
Bring the front of your feet with your balls up off only the heels touching the ground and bring them down.
Now keep the balls of your feet on the floor and bring the heels up.
And again,
Continue 10 times,
Seesawing your feet back and forth.
Bringing the balls of your feet upward as far as you can,
Bringing them down.
Now bringing the back of your heels up with the balls down.
Toe stretches.
While your feet are resting on the floor,
Raise your toes up.
Hold them up and feel the stretch.
Bring the toes way up and bring them down,
Up and down,
Up and down at least 10 times.
You can also do this exercise while you're standing or sitting.
Toe curls.
With your feet flat on the floor,
Push down and curl your toes and lift your heels up off the floor.
Release,
Bring them down.
And then with the heels down,
Lift the front of your feet again and spread your toes as far apart as you can and bring them down.
Repeat this five times.
This one's called windshield wipers.
With your heels on the floor and your pointing feet up,
Pretend they're windshield wipers.
Move them right and left,
Back and forth as if they're windshield wipers 10 times.
The next one's foot circles.
Raise one foot up and circle it clockwise and then circle it counterclockwise.
Circle it 10 times and then do the other foot,
Circling it clockwise and circling it counterclockwise.
Walk often.
Health professionals suggest that you should get up and walk once an hour while on the plane.
Now,
I always try to get an aisle seat so this is easy to do.
It's so much easier to get up and walk without having to step over people.
Walk often to improve your circulation.
And while you're up,
Perhaps waiting for the bathroom,
Stretch your body.
Here are some standing stretches you can do which help.
Body stretch.
Lean over and touch the floor.
Just let the whole body hang down.
If you feel embarrassed about doing this in front of people,
Just pretend you're tying your shoes.
Feel the stretch in your lower back.
Come up slowly.
In yoga,
There's a thing called the mountain pose where you just stand and you're very aware of your alignment.
By just standing properly with good posture,
You can help your body correct harmful postures that come from sitting,
Carrying too much luggage,
From the stress.
In this position,
You just want to be completely aligned with your feet on the ground,
Your hips over them,
Your body straight.
Just stand in this mountain posture being aware of your body alignment.
You can do this exercise while you're waiting in line or waiting to get into the bathroom or in any line you're in.
Chi kung exercises talk about not locking the gates of your body.
What are the gates of your body?
Well,
They're places like ankles,
Knees,
And your neck.
And when we're tense,
We tend to lock these key points.
It's very easy to lock your knees when you're standing,
And this blocks your circulation.
So when you do the standing mountain pose,
For example,
Don't lock your knees.
Align the entire body,
Slightly bend the knees,
Bring the pelvis forward and up,
Bring the base of the spine down,
And bring the shoulders back and down.
Raise the head up.
And if your head is jutting forward,
Draw it back.
And just allow the energy to flow through your entire body.
See light coming from the top of your head straight down on through your spine,
Down your body,
And out your toes.
Breathe this wonderful flow of energy through you.
Here's a standing balance pose.
Stand on one leg,
Bend the other leg,
And place the foot of the other leg against the wall.
Alternate to the other leg.
I love standing still and rocking up on my tiptoes,
Holding for a minute and coming down,
Rocking onto your heels,
And bringing the toes up.
Again,
Rock onto the tiptoes,
Hold for a minute,
Come down,
Rock onto your heels,
And bring the toes up.
Bend your knees up and down a few times.
Hip circles.
Circle your hips clockwise 10 times.
Feel your whole body relaxing and make sure your knees aren't locked.
And then circle the hips counterclockwise 10 times.
Relaxation to release tension.
Stand in a relaxed position with the knees slightly bent and swing your arms loosely.
Swing your arms to the right and swing your arms to the left.
Just letting your arms swing back and forth and you're letting the hands,
If you have the space and don't hit anyone,
Hit your back.
Side stretches.
With your arms over your head,
Lean your body over so it makes a half a moon to one side.
So your arms straight over your head and you're leaning over to your one side,
Say to the left side,
Hold that for a minute,
Come back to center,
Stretch your arms straight up and lean over to the other side,
The right side,
Forming a half moon with the body.
Here's some simple qigong sitting stances.
Qigong pronounced qi,
Often spelled with a qi,
G-o-n-g,
Helps to cultivate your energy and is excellent for circulation.
It's easy to learn and it's helpful when traveling because not only is it good for your body,
It helps calm your mind as well.
When using any qigong exercise,
Take deep breaths and relax.
The following exercise is perfect while sitting in a plane seat or in a waiting area.
Sit with your feet wide apart.
Rest your arms comfortably on the armrests.
Spread your fingers apart wide.
Breathe in deep awareness.
Without any tension.
Sitting,
Separating heaven and earth.
This exercise is good for the stomach and for stretching the hands and the body.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Raise one hand upward.
Let that hand be flat as if holding a tray or a teacup.
Push the opposite hand down flat.
Bring it back down and repeat the opposite side,
Bringing one hand up with the palm flat and the other hand down,
Pushing downwards.
One hand up,
One hand down.
Here's a qigong arm stretch.
Clasp your hands together.
Stretch your arms up over your head and pull your arms way up.
Open your body to one side and then the other.
Yoga.
When I travel,
My body and mind tend to get very stressed,
As most people's do.
Yoga and breath really help making me feel relaxed.
It's said that yoga means union with God,
But as its popularity has grown,
The physical aspect has become the focus and the element of spirit has been diminished.
Here's my take on true yoga.
A higher form of yoga.
With the breath of God's love in your heart,
Activate the spirit that is present there.
Merge the energy of this spirit with your whole being,
Body,
Mind and heart.
Accept all elements of the body,
Mind,
Heart and include the soul in the light of the soul and integrate all of that within you.
Feel the resonance throughout the whole of your body.
Feel the senses relax and release so you can function holistically.
Embody this energy of God throughout all of you.
Spirit in form,
Form in spirit.
Each breath joining the many levels of who you are into one.
Feel the joining.
Enjoy feeling your soul and its light living in your body.
Breathe this light into your body.
Allow all of who you are to understand you are a true yogi,
A true joining and a union,
Body,
Mind and spirit with God.
The power of each breath is a gift into spirit that can energize you and heal and align your body.
That's joining all aspects of yourself with God and so become one with God.
We breathe in God and the source into our very being and we feel the love and light of God integrating and joining us as one.
