Adventure travel is usually advertised in bright brochures with screaming headlines and marketed to adrenaline junkies. Travelling yogis might not assume such activity would have much in common with their practice, but, in fact, having a regular practice may make adventure travel significantly more enjoyable. Here are a few adventure travel activities I have noticed were improved by my yoga practice:
Hiking
My usual asana practice is heavy on Warrior poses, and these poses help strengthen your thighs, which get plenty of use during hiking. A fun hike also often relies on a good sense of balance – whether you are crossing a river by way of a series of rocks or sidling along a narrow path – and some standing poses, like Half Moon and Tree, can help improve your balance. Moreover, hikes through mountainous areas might involve the use of chains, and the arm strength you can develop from poses like Downward Facing Dog will help you conquer these parts of the hike with ease.
SCUBA Diving
One of the key skills of SCUBA diving is maintain neutral buoyancy. Once you are neutrally buoyant, you will be able to enjoy your dive without worrying about drifting away from your partner or harming any of the marine life. A regular asana practice helps me be more aware of where my body is in space, which makes it easier to maintain neutral buoyancy. Perhaps even more important to maintaining neutral buoyancy is monitoring your breathing, which brings your pranayama practice into play. Additionally, if you’re someone like me, a healthy dose of zen is needed to get that far underwater!
White Water Rafting
Prior to beginning a regular asana practice, I hated rafting, kayaking, or any other situations in which I would be required to wield an oar. When I tried white water rafting for the first time after developing a solid practice, I was surprised by how much easier I found rowing, even though we were rowing through intense rapids. Later, when I inevitably was pitched from the raft while attempting to navigate a particularly rough rapid, the core strength I developed during my practice helped me quickly get back into my raft.
Have you noticed your yoga practice improving any adventure travel activities? Let me know in the comments!