Road Trip Yoga: 6 Poses You Can Do on the Road

Road Trip Yoga: 6 Poses You Can Do on the Road

If you’re on the road, you must be all too familiar with the unhealthy eating, little to no exercise, and long hours in the driving seat with that painful spot in your back and neck. It is no wonder that truck drivers are reported to have an obesity rate twice of an average American. But if you want to live better, trucking yoga poses can be your savior!

Trucking yoga is a specific regime designed for truck drivers who travel great distances for work. It is quick to do, does not require equipment or large space, and effectively aids you in your health building. So let’s read more about the poses you can do on the road.

 

Top 6 poses to do on the road.

  1. You can always rely on this pose tYou can always rely on this pose tonward FaDog

To relieve the stress os rely on this pose. Placing both your hands on the side of your truck, step back and then hinge yourself forward, allowing your head to droop anax. Make sure that you relax your muscles in this pose for the best result.

  1. Seat Belt Twist

Seat Belt Twists are one of the simplest yoga poses on the road. As you sit straight in your driver’s seat, twist your torso to reach your elbow around your seat. Place your other hand on your knee and take a few deep breaths as you hold this position.

  1. Catchers Stretch Squat

The Catchers Stretch Squat (Malasana variation) is a quick way to engage your muscles flexibly. Take your feet apart and squat down on the floor with your palms pressed to each other. Rock yourself gently in that position and do this trucking yoga pose to improve flexibility.

  1. Figure Four Reclined Variation

Figure four is best before driving. Try this stretch before getting out of bed for an excellent lower back and hip release. Laying down flat (support your head if needed), bend both knees, and cross one ankle over the opposite knee. Press the crossed knee away for a stretch then if you choose, clasp your hands underneath the lower hamstring and draw the legs in a while pressing the lower back and hips back into the bed. Hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute and repeat the opposite side.

For the Seated Version: Sit in the passenger seat and lift your right ankle over your left knee. Bend slightly forward and flex your foot during it to stretch your legs before a long drive. Do the same for the other leg!

  1. Sun Salutations or Yoga Flow

Sun salutations require you to find a quiet stop, such as a stop in your route. With your feet slightly apart, stand tall and inhale. Then you should lift your hands straight over your head and hold your position, exhaling slowly as you bring your hands down. But even if you don’t know a sun salutation, just make one up and string poses together to move, breathe and feel your best. Try to hold each pose for 5 breaths to maximize the benefit of each move.

  1. Legs up the Wall / Elevated Legs

Finally, when you’re stopping to rest, bring your trucking yoga poses to an end by practicing this move. When you’re on your bed to rest, put yourself against the wall and let your legs rest on the wall for a few. This will regulate blood circulations in your system and uplift any stress in your muscles!

Conclusion

When you’re dreading your road trips as a truck driver, it is time to start paying attention to your physical health. Whilst you are unable to keep a steady exercising routine, it is easy to practice trucking yoga poses on the road. We hope that in your journey, this blog will aid in improving your health and wellness!

September Is National Yoga Awareness Month – Here Are 4 Ways to Add Trucking Yoga to Your Life

Did you know that September is National Yoga Awareness Month?

Despite being a US-based awareness month, the movement has gained international recognition and has spread globally. There are now many campaigns around the world offering education, inspiration, and motivation to adopt a healthier lifestyle with yoga being a core component of that transition.

Here at Mother Trucker Yoga, we believe that yoga can be simple and easily added into your everyday life with small little bite-size pieces, trucking yoga isn’t like traditional yoga in that you don’t always need to be on a yoga mat to practice yoga. This national (and international) recognition moves yoga one step farther on the global stage to introduce it to the masses as a revolutionary well-being practice, you can be a part of that movement (no yoga pants necessary).

Here are 20 benefits of yoga for truck driver health with DAT

Here Are 4 Ways to Add Trucking Yoga to Your Life During September National Yoga Awareness Month:

Maybe you have never heard of yoga or trucking yoga (well we created it so there’s that) and that’s OK. Because the good news is you are here on our site and we want to share with you the amazing benefits of trucking yoga for National Yoga Awareness Month

1.Strike A Pose

You don’t need a yoga mat or know anything about yoga to give it a try. Stand up tall and focus your gaze on one single point for five breaths. That’s Mountain Pose- you just did yoga!

In your driver’s seat, roll your shoulders down and back ten times, now go the other way, you just did shoulder rolls!

Take a deep breath in and slowly begin to twist to the right as you exhale feel your torso twist, hold that for five breaths and then repeat the other side. You just did seat spinal twist!

Hey there, I’m Hope Zvara E-RYT500, CPT (fancy acronyms that just don’t matter) and as a former yoga studio owner and teacher trainer, I’ve seen it all. I’m not that fancy yoga teacher that only focuses on fancy poses or the trainer who thinks all there is to life is push-ups and fast-moving exercises. I like keeping things simple and easy to access. Here at Mother Trucker Yoga, we believe in the small simple changes that lead to the big results in your life, so that you can feel good again.

Trucking Yoga can be that piece for you if you are willing to give it a try. And I sure hope you do.

2.Enroll in our Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform & APP

While everyone else is telling you to just work out, Hope is suggesting you focus on everyday life movements and small simple life enhancement first.

Hope’s work with Mother Trucker yoga® has been featured in countless publications like YahooNews, Trucker News, Overdrive Magazine, Forbes, and dozens of others.

Now, with MOTHER TRUCKER YOGA®, she wants to help as many drivers as possible improve their health fitness in just minutes a day without the use of crazy workouts and diet programs. And you can be a part of that. Use the code MTY30 for a free 30 days!

Mother Trucker Yoga Lifestyle Jumpstart Membership Platform and APP

Grab a quick video class with Hope today right here:

 

You can also join in on the official 30-Day Walking Challenge to Get Up And Move too!

Don’t forget to grab Hope’s book Trucking Yoga: Simple Fitness for the Long-Haul to get your yoga on every day!

trucking yoga simple fitness for the long haul book mother trucker yoga hope zvara

3. Open Your Mind with the Yamas & Niyamas

Yoga is far, far more than just the physical asana. So for National Yoga Awareness Month, bring your awareness to the more subtle aspects of the yoga practice and its rich philosophy.

Read The Yamas & Niyamas and access the lifestyle of a yogi for the everyday life person (like you and me).

Yoga is what you make it, and yoga is way more than fancy poses on the cover of Yoga Journal Magazine, it’s being present and taking care of yourself in a mindful way. You got this!

4. Meditate

The true essence of the yoga practice lies in meditation. Seen as a pure, unadulterated experience with your highest self, meditation is not only physiologically beneficial, it’s also incredibly beneficial for your mental health.

The practice of meditation doesn’t need to be extravagant, lengthy, or complicated to be beneficial either. Simply sitting with yourself for a brief period of time or following a guided practice can produce significant results.

So in honor of National Yoga Awareness Month, take at least five minutes every day to be with yourself without distraction. You might be surprised by the effects and you may wish to continue with this ritual beyond September.

Try This Guided Meditation for a Calm and Centered Mind

Whether you’re new to meditating or already have an established meditation practice, you can start meditating today!

Check out Hope’s free 9-minute breathing meditation every truck driver can do!
Happy trucking yoga!

Better Breathing for Better Health – Benefits to Pranayama for Drivers 

Breathing is more than just an act of moving air through your lungs. The simple act of breathing causes ripple effects on your overall health, depending on how you breathe. It wouldn’t be wrong if we say that better breathing is for better health and the way to breathe better is through Pranayama. So what exactly is pranayama? A Pranayama is a form of trucking yoga that focuses solely on your breathing. It is the art of controlling the timing, duration, and frequency of each breath. Now, if you’re somebody who travels for long durations, this might just be the key to your driver fitness. Just read on the benefits of pranayama for driver fitness!

benefits of pranayama for better driver fitness mother trucker yoga blog

Top 4 benefits to pranayama for driver fitness

  1. Improves cognitive functions

When you’re focused on your breathing patterns and breathing right, it can help your brain perform better. Studies have shown that practicing pranayama can improve your executive functions such as working memory, cognitive reflexes, reaction time as well as reasoning skills. 

Now, as a truck driver, these skills are essential at your workplace. Moreover, pranayama is linked to improving auditory memory and sensory-motor performances as well.

  1. Decreases stress levels

Stress is a common occurrence when you’re on the road. Whether it is from the loud traffic or staying alert all the time, we know it is stressful for truck drivers to maintain a happy state of mind. 

This is where pranayama steps in to help you achieve great driver fitness! Researchers speculate that pranayama calms the nervous system of our mind and makes us less susceptible to anxiety-ridden thoughts. Road rage, who?

  1. Improves quality of sleep

The act of breathing right reduces stress levels, and stress levels contribute significantly to insomnia, the inability to sleep in healthy amounts. When you’re no longer stressed to the maximum, your sleep receives the positive impact of pranayama. Clinical studies have shown that pranayama can reduce heart rate and breathing within five minutes, which can calm your body enough to enter peaceful sleep.

  1. Increases mindfulness and boosts mood

For many of us, breathing is an automatic process. But pranayama makes it an act of initiating yourself into the present. You have to enable yourself to feel everything in the current moment and focus on what you have in the now. This is what we know as mindfulness. 

Studies have evaluated that pranayama and other trucking yoga practices improve your mindfulness doesn’t let you get carried away with faraway thoughts as well as offers greater emotional regulations. As a truck driver, you’d appreciate the focused pranayama will skill you with. This is why we say better breathing for better health.

Conclusion: 

Better breathing most definitely is better health, specifically when we talk about driver fitness. It is an important part of trucking yoga that you should include in your routine moving forwards. It can help you control road rage, stay focused behind that wheel as well as feel emotionally fulfilled. What more could one require out of trucking yoga practices? We hope that you will implement these benefits to pranayama for driver fitness.

 Attention Driver: 4 Benefits of Yoga for A Better Night’s Sleep

 Stress and sleep deprivation are closely linked. If you find yourself lacking the quality sleep required in a truck driver’s health, look no further because we’ve got your back. You might be wondering: what trick in the book do they have that I haven’t tried yet? The answer? Trucking yoga! Yoga is an ancient practice of spiritual discipline and scientifically has been proven to benefit those who practice it. It is easy to learn and even easier to teach in your daily life as it takes as few as 10 minutes. Here’s the kicker: you don’t need anything but your body and some space to stretch for you to practice yoga. Let us tell you the benefits of yoga for a better night’s sleep.

Four benefits of yoga for a better night’s sleep

It exhausts your body.

Yoga can be exhaustive to practice as it demands challenging poses that engage your muscles extensively. As your muscles are stretched and held in rigid trucking yoga positions, your energy is focused on the physical excursion. Hence you experience physical fatigue. A tired body will chase sleep, requiring rest, and you’ve already won half the battle.

We suggest practicing Reclined Single-Leg Twist Pose, Savasana (Relaxation Pose), and Legs Up the Wall/Elevated Pose.

 

Benefits of yoga for better nights sleep relaxation pose mother trucker yoga blog

Relaxation Pose

 

It calms nerves and disrupts stressful thoughts.

Calmness and patience are two virtues that trucking yoga enforces on you. Focusing on your breath brings your attention to the present and away from misleading thoughts. It establishes your connection to mindfulness, and once you are visibly calmed, your brain can embrace sleep better. Inculcate positions such as Balasana and Supta Baddha Konasana in your nighttime routine for good truck driver health.

It is one of the most recommended forms of stress relief and helps you unwind within a moment, letting you wander to sleep. Yoga can settle the brain, if not empty it.

  1. It relaxes your nervous system.

Trying poses such as the Standing Forward Bend, Legs Up the Wall/Elevated, and Savasana (Relaxation Pose) increases blood flow to the brain’s sleep center and away from the activity in your nervous system. The blood flow would give way to let your nervous system relax, reducing activity in the brain. This would help you sleep better at night once added to your nightly routine. 

Chair Version of Standing Foward Bend

Chair Version of Standing Foward Bend

Yoga revives the body.

There are two methods in which yoga rejuvenates the boy by helping the release of toxins and increasing the circulation of oxygen in your bloodstream. Toxins build up in tissues and different organs within our body. Incorporating trucking yoga before bedtime helps to release the toxins from your organs and tissues, which the kidneys can later filter. 

Pranayama, a form of disciplined breathing yoga, enforces you to time and control your breathing. This introduces ample oxygen in your bloodstream, replenishing your body and establishing better truck driver health.

Conclusion:

From the concluded results of many university pieces of research to doctor preferences, trucking yoga is an acclaimed method that helps you battle insomnia and untangles the mess in your brain to let you drift off happily. This is how you attain the truck driver health you are looking for, along with the benefits of yoga for a better night’s sleep.

Beat Stressful Times With A Good Stretch

We could all do with a more peaceful life, and there are many ways to try to get that. One of the most popular ways is with yoga. 

 

Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years and is something that everybody and everybody can benefit from. 

 

Often our attention is pulled in so many different directions. Our family needs us, work has issues, bills need to be paid, and you still need to think about what to cook for dinner. 

 

It all seems small at the time, but it builds up pretty quickly – until it can feel like it is unmanageable. 

 

Anxiety, stress, and feeling overworked and overwhelmed are no way to live your daily life. And when all of these things start to pile up, it can be too easy to find yourself turning to something to help you cope. 

 

One of the most common reasons people turn to alcohol and then to alcohol rehab is to use alcohol as a coping mechanism. 

take a deep breath mother trucker yoga blog

Why should you consider yoga?

There isn’t just one type of yoga; there are many different types, so there is something for everyone. It works on engaging more than just your body and seeks to engage your emotions and mental well-being. And with Mother Trucker Yoga- trucking yoga, it’s all about mindful movements, stretching, and fitness explicitly made for drivers just like you. 

 

Since yoga has many different types and intensities, you can explore what works. Typically, the right yoga style will leave you feeling calm, rejuvenated, and your body will indeed thank you. And as a driver, trucking yoga focuses on small, simple changes, the easy, quick exercises you can do in just minutes a day.

 

Yoga will focus on your breathing and help you learn how to control it. Careful breathing techniques are great at reducing anxiety and helping you focus on the moment. It is perfect for calming loud thoughts too. Trucking yoga focuses a lot on breathing because your breath is your lifeforce, and learning to control your breathing can alter how you think, feel and move every day.

 

There might be some meditation in your yoga practice, which will help you to highlight negative thoughts, what triggers them, and how you can remove them. 

 

And of course, the most significant part of yoga is the poses. The poses will release tension in your body and increase your core strength and flexibility. There are some easy beginner poses, and then there are those that require more focus and effort. 

 

Health benefits of yoga

Everything that we gain from doing yoga is positive, and it is well known for offering some of the easiest ways to beat down your stress levels. 

 

Improved fitness is one of the things you will get from doing yoga regularly. It helps with range of motion, flexibility, and balance. And when it comes to driver fitness, yoga is one of the best ways to get moving again, no matter your age or body type is. 

 

Stress reduction is the number one benefit of doing yoga. After even one yoga session, you will get a sense of calm and well-being, and the more you do it, the more often you experience those moments. 

 

A complete yoga flow will help you calm your mind, control your breathing and work out tension in the body. And it has been shown to help improve anxiety, migraines, stress, depression, and sleeplessness. 

 

What makes yoga a great choice is that each pose can be modified to work with what your body needs. 

 

Small changes like adding a yoga flow or drinking more water make a huge difference to our bodies and minds; read more: National Drink Water Day – 6 Reasons Science Says You Should Drink Water

 

All you need to know about the benefits of yoga for travel

Traveling is a life-changing experience. It can be physically and mentally stressful. Such planned experiences can sometimes not go according to plan or loop us into exhaustion. From finding it hard to sleep in unfamiliar places to spending long hours in traffic, finding an activity that grounds you to your core and helps you overcome the adversities that come along with traveling. Here is where trucking yoga comes along. If you want to know more about the benefits of yoga for travel, keep on reading!

Five benefits of yoga for travel you should know

It reminds you to breathe.

Breathing is a vital part of yoga practice. Learn to focus on your breathing- it can make solutions far more accessible. When you focus on your breath during yoga, challenging poses become easier. The same is the case with travel. Difficult situations arise all the time and can knock the wind out of us. In those moments, trucking yoga can help you assess conditions very calmly through deep breaths.

Try this:

  1. Sit tall
  2. Relax your shoulders
  3. Relax your face, jaw, tongue
  4. Close your eyes
  5. Take a deep breath in through your nose and work to fill your belly and lungs as much as you can with fresh new prana (oxygen).
  6. Now slowly work to breathe out through your nose, making that exhale slightly longer than the inhale
  7. Repeat this again two more times.
  8. How do you feel?

It makes you appreciate the present.

If you ask me what yoga teaches, I would say it teaches you to be present in your current state-mindful of what the heck you are doing in your life, your thoughts, your actions in this very moment. You’re supposed to live in the present and find steadiness at the moment and you can’t do that when you are rushing a million miles an hour each day (that’s why we breathe). When you’re traveling, that’s exactly what you need. It can be tough to devote an hour to yoga on the road, but trucking yoga can be quite helpful in these cases. Appreciating what you have in front of you and being grateful for it can make a huge difference in your outlook on life, especially while traveling long distances. 

So what can you do today?

Try this:

  1. Sit tall
  2. Inhale and reach your arms up overhead
  3. Interlace your fingers and press your palms up to the sky
  4. Drop your shoulders and try to be as tall and long as you can
  5. Breathe for five breaths
  6. How do you feel now?
  7. That’s yoga.

It eases muscular tension.

Are you traveling with backpacks? Sitting behind the wheel for a 12-hour road trip? Perhaps you are currently looking at an NYC travel guide that is going to involve a lot of walking? The weight of physically carrying yourself from one destination to the other can create a lot of tension in our muscles and limbs. This could cause further fatigue and injury if the tension is not released. So what is the benefit of yoga for travel in this case?

Stretching can alleviate the stress in your body, and what better way to stretch than a few minutes of yoga? If you establish a yoga habit, your muscle tissues will thank you for the extra strength in them! Poses such as (half) downward-facing dog, and figure-four stretch will help reduce stress and tension in your tissues. And don’t forget to ease your muscles with STIFF Mother Trucker Pain Relief Cream thereafter. 

All you need to know about the benefits of yoga for travel downdog and figure 4 pose mother trucker yoga blog hope Zvara

For step by step instructions on these poses and more check out Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform & APP

It can be practiced everywhere.

trucking yoga simple fitness for the long haul book mother trucker yoga hope zvara

Grab your copy!

There are many yoga studios you can drop into, books on the subject that could guide you through the poses, as well as formal classes where you could learn to stretch your body. But the best part of doing yoga is that it doesn’t require any more than your body and some space to stretch. This makes it your travel best friend.

Yoga improves blood circulation.

So far, you know how well stretching does for your body but did you know it also improves your body circulation? Sitting behind the wheel for hours can increase the need to have better circulation in the legs and arms to avoid fatigue and body ache. Yoga would solve those problems for you, so honestly, there are no more excuses to avoid trucking yoga any longer.

You can do this. 

Travelling can be fun when not coupled with unwanted fatigue, muscle tension, and stress. Yoga is what can keep those issues at bay for you, and it never takes too much space or time to practice the art of steadiness. So what is stopping you from including trucking yoga in your travel itineraries, especially with all these benefits of yoga for travel?

Traveling with tools can make any trip more manageable, don’t forget to check out Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Membership Platform & APP available on all devices!

Use CODE: MTY30 for a FREE 30 DAYS on the last wellness and fitness platform you will ever need!

Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

7 Ways to Supplement Your Yoga with Increased Mental Function

You may be practicing yoga solo or alongside us here on our membership platform- Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Platform and APP and you are noticing physical and mental benefits. Trucking yoga is an easy way to add a little yoga to your life, even if you don’t own a yoga mat. And for drivers, when you combine a stressful day and physical exercise, you can find yourself fatigued or mentally tired at times. But we don’t want you to ditch the yoga or movements because your brain is drained, instead, let’s boost your brain with the following strategies. 

A poor diet, not getting enough vitamins and minerals, or poor sleep are significant contributors to brain drain. Fortunately, you can supplement your yoga with increased mental function with some simple changes to your life. Supplements, physical and mental workouts, and changing your diet can significantly impact your brain health. As a result, you will have increased focus, reduced tiredness, and an ability to boost both your creative and logical sides.

Supplement Brain Boosters

While exercising, you can use a lot of supplements. Vitamins and minerals are great for your health, of course. They make your muscles stronger, your bones more robust, and give you more energy. But you can also get brain tablets. Nootropics are unique formulas like Unlocked Supplement Co. (click here for more info). Vitamins and minerals work the same way, but brain-boosting recipes work differently. They’re tablets that improve your logic and memory. Improved logic and memory help you stay alert and responsive when driving or doing your job.

7 Ways to Supplement Your Yoga with Increased Mental Function Mother Trucker Yoga blog post

Easy Brain Workouts

You probably already work out somewhat. Maybe a little, perhaps a lot. You can also keep your mind active by doing puzzles such as Sudoku and crosswords.- Who doesn’t love those? You can consider anything that requires concentration or creativity as a brain workout. Activities like the above are wonderful ways to stimulate the brain and beat brain fog and mental fatigue, two things that plague truck driver health.

Some examples of activities that require you to use both sides of your brain are exercise reps, learning an instrument, or playing games. However, logic and creativity don’t always go hand in hand, especially in today’s world. And when you make it a priority to give your brain a workout both sides of your brain benefit from better neuron health.

In trucking yoga, we focus on movements that require you to cross the midline as those are easy movements to help stimulate your brain chemistry.

Two examples are cross-crawl workouts and windmills where you take your opposite arm to the opposite leg. 

Body Movement for Brain Health

If you exercise or do yoga regularly, you already help your brain. The brain releases serotonin when you move quickly and use your muscles. So you know that you’re doing things right when you have serotonin in your brain. When you’re done with a project, for instance, serotonin helps you feel good. It also allows you to feel less stressed by reducing cortisol. So you’ll have a healthier hormonal balance. Having too much cortisol is concerning because it increases feelings of depression, anxiety, and self-doubt. So natural serotonin (not from drugs or alcohol) always helps.

Eating the Right Brain Food

For your brain to stay healthy, you need a healthy diet. Your body can benefit from a variety of foods that help it exercise. Fruits and berries are loaded with antioxidants, caffeine is motivational (in small doses and healthy sources), and protein repairs muscles.

You may already eat these foods if you eat a healthy diet and good sources are fish and seeds high in Omega-3, dark chocolate, and certain berries. These help maintain cell structure, serotonin, and age-related brain issues like memory loss and lowered concentration. Chemicals in leafy greens such as broccoli and fresh spices also help.

Today take a look at your diet and take inventory, does your fuel match up? Truck driver health is critical to the health and success of the trucking industry.

A Good Night’s Sleep

You probably know how vital sleeping well is, whether you exercise or not. A new bed or mattress can be a significant expense, though. If you want to save money on your bed and mattress, there are a few things you can do. First, try buying a memory foam mattress topper. These work exceptionally well. In addition, try not to let your bedroom get too hot, or you’ll be restless. And finally, make your sleeping area quiet and dark so your brain can function well. These will help your brain go through the sleep stages. It needs to be considered refreshing, including much-needed REM sleep.

Increase Calcium Intake

Calcium maintains the proper communication between your brain and the body, which controls muscle contractions. Plus, it’s good for your brain too. Your brain and body are always talking to each other with neuron activity. Axons need it to transmit electrical impulses so synapses can work. As a result, the brain forms neuronal synaptic pathways. Calcium deficiency causes extreme tiredness, insomnia, confusion, and memory loss. But you can quickly get more calcium from milk and cheese, dark greens, and fish with bones you can eat, such as sardines.

Cut Out Alcohol

Alcohol is a socially accepted drug consumed by millions of people each day. However, it is a known contributor to increasing brain fog. Brain fog is a tiredness-related issue that reduces concentration and neuron activity. Quitting alcohol altogether helps minimize brain fog. But doing so can be challenging. Many people across the globe use alcohol to manage their feelings, but what ends up happening is they simply mask or numb them. Trucking yoga can help any person create space, breathe and improve mental function. Regardless of how much you drink, alcohol often leaves the user drained, in a mental fog, physically drained, and emotionally low. When it comes to truck driver health, alcohol also dehydrates your body, which results in headaches, lethargy, and trouble concentrating, something truck drivers should pay attention to. In addition, alcohol even reacts with many medications, making the symptoms worse or even dangerous in some cases.

No matter where you are in life or in your yoga journey, any one of the above seven could help you improve your mental health and truck driver health. Here at Mother Trucker Yoga, we believe it’s about the small simple changes that lead to the big results so you can feel good again™.

 

 

Trucking Yoga: 5 Moves to Help You Physically and Mentally

It’s always fun to build a balanced workout with a variety of movements depending on what your cardio focus is. Most people may go from extreme sitting in an office setting to intense exercise causing their body to ache or get a muscle strain. Ouch!

Set your mind and body up for success by incorporating these yoga moves into your daily routine.

Here are 5 moves to help you physically and mentally for better truck driver health.

Here are 5 trucking yoga moves that any driver can do at home or on the go. They are about finding the balance to help you continue to do what you love and enjoy… without the body aches or unnecessary pain.

  1. Move #2: Core Care Rolling Forward Bend

Trucking Yoga: 5 Moves to Help You Physically and Mentally Rolling Forward Bend Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

Who doesn’t like core work? Well, I know many don’t, and that is because they are still being taught outdated sit-ups- YUCK!

If you are in need of combating a tight front body… Good news! This extension move works your core ten times more effectively than flexion. And this fun move will help you liberate your tight spots!  I call it a stretch and strengthen combo (the best moves are both).

Here, powerfully release your spine and hip flexors as you fully engage your core from the inside out! You don’t have to have a yoga mat to practice trucking yoga moves.

  1. Find a comfortable hips distance footing.
  2. Exhale, bend the knees, and “fall” into a forward bend with soft (even bent) knees.
  3. Inhale with bent knees begin to roll up the body focusing on getting your pelvis underneath you and then stacking the spine as you rise.
  4. Keeping your knees bent, before the head and shoulders stack, start to glide the pelvis forward.
  5. Imagine the pubic bone hitting a wall to open the hip flexors and extend your spine.
  6. With the arms extending alongside the ears you should feel the core quiver (earthquake) and turn on as you open the entire front line of the body.
  7. Exhale, bend the knees a bit more, and roll back down into a soft flowing forward bend.
  8. Repeat this rolling sequence 5 to 10 times.

 

Move #2: Sinking Runners Lunge

Trucking Yoga: 5 Moves to Help You Physically and Mentally Sinking Runners Lunge Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

Psoas tightness is a chronic issue and if you are someone who goes from sitting all day to running or biking, you may be finding more pain than gain. Liberate the psoas to help aid the lower back and dissolve possible knee pain and possibly shoulder pain (as the psoas can pull down the shoulder).

This is one move every driver should do daily.

  1. From a runner’s lunge (low lunge) with the feet hips-width and fingertips on the highest level of the block (option to use stools or chairs).
  2. Square the hips forward, tucking the glute of the front leg underneath the body for more stability and a better stretch.
  3. Keeping the spine long, exhale and begin to sink the hip of the back leg down, pressing long through the back heel and up through the crown of the head.
  4. Inhale and rise back up to a comfortable lunge.
  5. Continue this dynamic movement and imagine you were sinking into the front pocket of your jeans. Try finding the areas you normally don’t automatically default to. Try to find the areas that are, otherwise, avoided and sink there.
  6. If the stretch is too intense, just focus on sinking into the hip and let up on extending up through the crown of the head.
  7. Repeat this dynamic movement 10 times, stepping up into standing forward bend in-between.

Move #3 Psoas Release

Trucking Yoga: 5 Moves to Help You Physically and Mentally Psoas Release Mother Trucker Yoga Blog
Another great hip flexor stretch. This pose is meant to help alleviate hip flexor and psoas pain and discomfort. If your back feels stiff after your cardio workout this move is for you! As a bonus, you also aid in releasing quad or knee pain and back stiffness.This is an easy move to do in the sleeper. If you don’t have a yoga block you can use a folded towel or pillow under the hips. Trucking yoga can be easy and can be one move done consistently.
  1. Lying down supine on the mat place a yoga block underneath the sacrum (or just lay flat).
  2. Slowly begin to extend one leg out, down, and away from the body like pushing your heel through sand (do not worry if the leg does not go straight).
  3. Breathing calmly slowly begin to draw the opposite knee in towards the abdomen.
  4. Do not aggressively pull the bent knee in. Slowly and mindfully draw the knee into the place where you first feel a stretch, when that sensation passes, draw the knee in a bit closer.
  5. Work through this process one layer of tension at a time as you continue to reach out, down, and away through the heel of the straight leg.
  6. To be effective with the psoas hold this pose for 3-5 minutes.
  7. If you feel the stretch in the lower back, remove the block.
  8. If unable to clasp the bent knee, use a strap to hold the leg, or place a block under the bent knee’s foot. The tighter the psoas the more likely you may need head support.
  9. Repeat the opposite side.

Watch the video with Hope on how to step by step release that pesky psoas muscle and get your trucking yoga moves to go!

Move #5 Sliding Side Lunge

Trucking Yoga: 5 Moves to Help You Physically and Mentally Sliding Lunge Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

All that stepping, sliding, moving and lunging can create some lines of tension or restriction from foot to hip. Wring out your lower body and leave yourself with happy hips. This is a perfect pose to do with a workout or if you find yourself stiff when you wake up when you get out of the truck or have back pain and can’t fall asleep.

Trucking fitness does not have to be complicated and doesn’t have to mean a gym-style workout. It’s time for out with the old and in with Mother Trucker Yoga. 

  1. Begin in a wide straddle with the feet in a parallel position, firmly planted into the mat.
  2. Inhale rise up to the fingertips, and extend the spine out from the hips.
  3. With a strong belly and long lower back exhale and begin to bend one knee and slide your body towards that leg.
  4. Use your elbow, shoulder, or tricep and press into the inner leg to help open the hip.
  5. Do not lift the heel of the bent leg or roll into the arch of the straight leg.
  6. Stay plugged into the feet and engage the quad of the straight leg to help direct the stretch along the inner thigh.
  7. Hold the side lunge for 5 – 10 breaths before you return back to the center and repeat on the opposite side.
  8. If your fingertips do not comfortably, reach the ground, use blocks to assist.

Move #7 Stretch It Out Side Bend with Chair

Trucking Yoga: 5 Moves to Help You Physically and Mentally Stretch it out side bend with chair Mother Trucker Yoga Blog

Think about the direction your lifestyle choices and movements are taking you in? Much of what we do is forward-moving (Sagittal Plane).

  • Sitting in the driver’s seat.
  • Walking.
  • Running.
  • Sleeping.
  • Working on X.

All forward-moving (bending).

It is vital that we change up our movement patterns and move in other planes of motion to help reduce pain and tension patterns. For many drivers, trucking fitness can feel like doing moves your body just won’t let you do right now. But with Mother Trucker Yoga and our take on trucking yoga, those moves can be both easily accessible and beneficial- like this chair yoga stretch.

Here release your side body from hip to shoulder in one quick move. All that sticky fascia under your arms will surely get the acknowledgment it deserves. What’s fascia? Well, it’s the catsuit your body is covered in (and every muscle and every fiber of every muscle- but that for another day).

  1. Take a seat on a chair (preferably with no sides).
  2. Open your legs wide to expose the edges of the chair (if able).
  3. If your feet do not comfortably, reach the floor, place blocks under your feet.
  4. Grab hold of the opposite side of the chair with one hand (think right hand to the left side).
  5. Gently rotate your body in the same direction (towards clasping hand).
  6. Extend your free arm up alongside the ear, with the palm and elbow fold facing your head (think external rotation at the shoulder)
  7. Inhale deeply, and now exhale and begin to side bend feeling the clasped arm’s shoulder roll more deeply into the slight rotation.
  8. Relax the shoulders, and anchor the hips.
  9. Keep breathing and work to hold this pose for up to 10 breaths.
  10. To come out, roll your body to the center of the chair and relax for a moment before you roll up and repeat the opposite side.

If you are still on the fence as to yoga is right for you. Look at the five yoga poses above, is there one you can try? Is there one move you can commit to for one week, one month, and then tell me how you feel?

One pose is yoga, one mindful breath is yoga, and when you take a mindful breath in a yoga pose, well you, my friend just took it to a whole new level.

Trucking Yoga Made Easy For Drivers Like You

Have you heard about Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Platform & APP? It’s a subscription-based service that provides you with more than 100 videos, downloads, and lifestyle-focused content made just for drivers.

While everyone else is still taking the traditional route of gym-style exercises and diets, we see the gap and want to help.

You are busy, you are always on the go, and who has time for a long-drawn-out workout?

Come check out Mother Trucker Yoga LIFE STYLE JUMPSTART Platform & APP and see how we can help you feel better one small simple change at a time.

 

Mother Trucker Yoga is the only place you can get trucking yoga moves from an instructor that has been teaching yoga for more than 20 years and has customized yoga and functional movement (fitness) to a drivers biggest needs.

Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

Why Yoga Is Ideal For Every Type Of Person

Whether you are a newbie to yoga in particular or are just looking to get more from your practice, this age-old exercise is packed with a whole plethora of benefits designed to increase your fitness and improve both your mental and physical wellbeing. Yoga is ideal for every type of person. No matter what your fitness level is, whether you are someone who works out regularly or someone looking to get fit, or if you have done yoga lots or never before, it is a workout that will suit you.

Why yoga is ideal for every type of person trucking yoga mother trucker yoga blog

It is something that can be done in pairs, in a group such as at HOTWORX, on your own, or by downloading our new Mother Trucker Yoga app and joining our LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Platform family, you can always reap incredible benefits from yoga. If you are a truck driver and tight on time and trucking fitness is essential, yoga can be a solution. Here are a few reasons why yoga is ideal for every type of person, no matter your ability or fitness level…

There are many different levels.

One of the best things about yoga is that you will find one suited for you no matter what type of yoga you are looking for. There are many different levels of each type of exercise and movement, meaning that you can start easy and then progress as you get better. This means it’s not too daunting starting, and you can adapt the workout depending on your skill level and need, pushing yourself when you want to or taking it more gently when you wish. And when you work with an instructor that is educated, experienced and understands the environment you are in, yoga or what we call trucking yoga can be easy.

It can improve your strength, flexibility, and balance.

Yoga is one of the best exercises for improving your strength, flexibility, and balance – all essential qualities for keeping your muscles, joints, and body healthy. As a truck driver, it’s easy to become stiff and sore from sitting. Trucking yoga can be a great way to limber up. The slow movements and deep breathing also help increase the blood flow around your body, which in turn warms up your muscles, making them more robust, more flexible, and healthier. Holding poses and building on this can help you become much stronger in yourself and teach you how to balance much better. And remember, trucking fitness doesn’t have to mean push-ups or running. It can be as simple as yoga.

It helps manage stress and relax you.

Life throws us a lot of stress, and unfortunately, it is something that we will all experience every once in a while. If you often suffer from stress, you probably also suffer from other symptoms such as headaches, trouble sleeping, and perhaps dizziness or irritability. This can significantly impact your life, but yoga can help with this. Doing yoga regularly has been found to reduce stress levels and help you feel more relaxed. Yoga encourages mental and physical relaxation, reducing tension in your mind and body, removing muscle knots, and alleviating any pain you might have. It also sends positive endorphins to your brain.

These are just a few reasons why yoga is ideal for every type person. No matter what you are looking to get from your yoga practice, whether helping you when you’re on the road to improve your posture or sorting out any back pain, it can do this. What are some top benefits of yoga you’ve found? Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!

 

If you want to learn more about yoga and how it can fit into a trucking lifestyle. Read more about Mother Trucker Yoga and our mission >> https://www.mothertruckeryoga.com/about/

5 Ways to Feel More Confident When Doing Yoga

5 Ways to Feel More Confident When Doing Yoga MTY Blog Image 1

Many people, particularly men, would love to try yoga to calm the mind while strengthening the body. Still, they are too afraid to do so because they worry that they will feel uncomfortable in a room full of what they imagine to be svelte twentysomethings who can bend into the most mind-boggling shapes.

This is such a shame because yoga is for everybody, and it is possible to feel completely confident when doing it.

With that in mind, if you want to try yoga but you’re worried about not feeling comfortable, here are a few things you can do to feel completely confident while you’re doing it:

Try an app

These days, there are many excellent yoga apps (check out Mother Trucker Yoga’s app being released soon) that will teach the basics at home. You won’t get the same hands-on instruction you get at the local studio, but you will learn the basic asanas (poses) and some great routines that you can practice until you gain confidence. And as a driver, trucking yoga isn’t scary, it’s easy and can be done from your truck.

Dress comfortably

One thing that can make people feel uncomfortable about yoga is the perceived requirement to dress in figure-hugging lycra. This is something you do not need to worry about because you can wear whatever you’re most comfortable into your yoga class, whether that be yoga shorts for men or a pair of sweat pants and a comfy -shirt. No one will judge you, and you can wear what makes you feel most comfortable and confident for your workout. And when it comes to trucking yoga every movement counts.

Star slow

The great thing about yoga is that it poses to suit all levels and abilities. If you lack confidence, you can start slow with a few o the more accessible asanas and work your way up as and when you feel able to do so, gaining masses of confidence along the way.

Practice mindfulness

One of the great things about yoga is that although it can be a purely physical exercise to build lean muscle and flexibility, it can also be a mental practice. L If you concentrate on your breathing and the movement you are flowing through, mindfulness meditation.

If you lack confidence, focusing on the breath and flow intensely will help to keep you focused on what you are doing in the present moment so you will be less likely to worry about whether others are watching you or if you’re doing it wrong, which means you will naturally be more confident.

Remember, it takes time.

Yoga is a lifelong practice. You should not expect to be immediately good at all aspects of your practice; If you bear this in mind and start with a beginner’s mind and a willingness to learn, you will not feel like a failure if you can’t quite get into that challenging poses. Still, you will embrace the chance to learn and try again, and that is where true confidence lies.

Yoga is an excellent workout for the mind and body, so don’t let a lack of confidence put you off giving it a go!