The sun comes up right as we do our sun salutations, like magic. There’s nothing like doing yoga outside in the morning, under trees filled with flitting hummingbirds, to start one’s day. One of the reasons I decided to volunteer at Tashirat, an orphanage located in Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico (about an hour south of Mexico City) is that it’s an ashram (a yoga/spiritual center). Wanting to continue practicing yoga while volunteering this winter in Mexico, I searched high and low on the internet for inexpensive or free yoga classes around Mexico and after sifting through page and page of expensive yoga retreats at classy hotels, I found Tashirat. Yoga and volunteering combined? Perfect!
I mean, in most people’s preparation for going abroad, how many of us actually think about exercise? You rarely see “exercise clothes,” “running shoes,” or “yoga mat” on a list of what-to-bring when traveling to another country. Maybe some of us, like I did before, assume that all the wandering around with a heavy backpack on is all the exercise we need? Is exercise just another one of those ideas that we quiet in our consciences when we go abroad, along the lines of restricting our ice cream intake or not taking pictures of strangers?
I got into yoga while traveling in Mexico simply because the classes were so much cheaper than in the States (with some exceptions) and here are five reasons I think yoga is useful to folks planning on traveling, working, or volunteering in Latin America:
1. Trying to navigate new places, learn new languages, and make friends in a sea of unfamiliar faces can be overwhelming. Deep breathing and physical exercise provide you with a healthy and relaxing distraction for your mind and body.
2. Not only do the meditative aspects of yoga relieve stress and anxiety, they also encourage us to be more focused, open-minded, and positive: all qualities a traveler should possess!
3. There are many yoga poses that aid and improve digestion. This can be really useful when in an unfamiliar place filled with new, exciting, and strange foods.
4. Kinks in your neck from long bus rides or carrying around all of your belongings on your back? Try these simple poses.
5. It’s fun! You’ll meet new people and taking yoga classes in Latin America is a great way to learn the body parts in Spanish (or Portuguese)!
For more tips and resources on living abroad, check out these other posts from fellow La Vida Idealist bloggers.
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I didn’t start doing sun salutations until I got to Belize, but it really does help me sort my mind and welcome each morning. Exercise is definitely something that I pass up in my volunteering, and yoga is a great way to still keep my body active. Great post!