The good news: A few minutes of yoga will release tension from achy muscles, making the rest of your drive much more comfortable. Here are three simple poses McGee uses to keep her body loose and pain-free during car trips, complete with modifications for when you can’t break out the yoga mat in the parking lot. MORE: 15 Best Foods You Can Buy At A Gas Station You’ve got: An achy back, neck, or shouldersTry: Cat-Cow Pose Slowly come up to all fours, wrists under shoulders and knees under hips. Inhale, then exhale as you round your back toward the sky like a Halloween cat, allowing the crown of your head to release down toward the mat. Inhale and reverse the pose, lifting your chest toward the sky and allowing your belly to relax and sink toward the floor. Lift your head to gaze straight ahead. Continue rounding and arching your back, linking your breath to the movement, 5 to 8 times. On-the-road modification: If you’re standing on the side of the road and can’t come down to all fours, come into a wide squat position and place your hands above your knees. Round and arch your spine, linking your breath to your movement, for 5 to 8 cycles. MORE: 6 Yoga Stretches To Help Wake You Up You’ve got: An achy butt and hipsTry: Half Pigeon Pose Starting from Downward-Facing Dog, step your right foot to your left hand, bringing your right shin down and parallel to the front of the mat as you lengthen your left leg behind you. Keep your hips squared to the mat. Walk your hands forward and lower your torso to rest on the mat. Breathe into the outer hips and lower back. Hold 5 to 8 breaths, then repeat on other side. On-the-road modification: If you’re stuck curbside or at a rest stop, remain standing and place your right ankle above your left knee, creating a figure 4. Hinge your hips back (hold onto your car’s hood or door if you need help balancing) to stretch out the right hip and lower back. Hold 5 to 8 breaths, then repeat on other side. For more yoga poses and routines that tone and heal your whole body, check out the Women’s Health Big Book of Yoga! You’ve got: Achy hips and backTry: Revolved Crescent Lunge From standing, step your left leg 3 to 4 feet behind you, and bend your right knee to about 90 degrees, coming into a lunge with your left heel lifted and right knee directly over right ankle. Bring your hands to prayer in front of your chest and twist torso to the right, placing the left elbow outside the right knee. Keep left leg strong and straight, pressing heel behind you. Look up past your right shoulder and hold for 5 to 8 breaths. Repeat on the other side. On-the-road modification: If you don’t want to go into full-on yoga poses at a rest stop, simply do a few basic runner’s lunges instead. You’ll still release your hip flexors.
