Do You Suffer From Jet Lag? Try These Handy Tips!

JetLag: ‘Extreme tiredness and other physical effects felt by a person after a long flight across different time zones.’ Jet lag is literally a lagging behind of one’s energy as our body moves at a rate that is faster than we’re naturally designed to move. As we travel across timezones, we lose synchronicity with our energy body and The Earth. Jet lag comes with symptoms the commonly include; fatigue, insomnia / disturbed sleep patterns, dizziness, co-ordination problems, headache and dehydration. These symptoms do gradually fade over time. However there are things we can do to quicken the whole process that’ll have us enjoying our new destination and sleeping well within a couple of days.

How To Cure Jet Lag:

When you’re in transit:

• As soon as you board your flight, set your watch to the time zone of your destination.
• Eat as little as possible and drink plenty of water.
• Align your actions of sleeping and eating to that of your new timezone.
• As you’ll be drinking plenty of water, toilet visits will be regular. Take the opportunity to stretch your body.
• Try to get your legs up from off the floor. If the seat next to you is free, put your feet up and this will help prevent swollen ankles and water retention. That is of course if you’re not in your comfy bed pod in First Class!

When you’ve landed:

• Grounding is an essential part of curing Jet Lag. When we ground, we are not only anchoring our energy into our physical body, we’re re-connecting with The Earth. This resets our energy system and helps us vibrationally attune to The Earth. In practical terms this means we’ll quickly harmonize with the pace of life, the feel of the place and the people.
• Eat fresh fruit and vegetables that have been grown locally and are preferably organic. Ingesting the substance of the local land further attunes you’re whole self to the earth there. Root vegetables are particularly helpful.
• Connect with The Earth; walk barefoot, place your hands on The Earth, swim in The Ocean, lie on the beach. When you’re in nature, consciously try to be in the present moment. Use all your senses to experience your new surroundings.
• And finally… a great massage always helps to re-balance! An absolute bonus of South East Asia is the abundant availability of low cost massages. Read more about massage in South East Asia here!

A relaxing massage will help you get back to normal in no time!

As I write this, I’m based at Vientiane Yoga Studio in Laos and so seized the opportunity to ask Nanci Traynor, the studio’s Senior Managing Teacher for her take on Jet Lag and what helps to re-balance the system.

Yoga Practices to Cure Jet Lag:

Nanci advises that all of the following exercises are to be done 6-10 times with each foot / leg. 1. Both legs straight out in front of you, sit up tall. Flex your feet. Then inhale, open the toes. Exhale close them. 2. Invert and evert (turn out) the feet. Inhale and invert, exhale and evert. 3. Point and flex the feet. Again synchronise the breath; exhale flex and inhale when you point. 4. Circle the ankles. Clockwise, then anti-clockwise. 5. Interlace the fingers behind the thigh and extend the knee, then bend the knee more towards the chest. Squeeze the heel to the buttocks. 6. Sit with the soles of the feet together, knees forming a diamond shape. knees lift up and press them down. 7. Legs up the wall’ posture: Find a clear wall and lie on the floor, or on your bed. Have your torso on the floor and put your legs up the wall. Stay there for 10 to 15 minutes. Come down slowly and relax. This is a fantastic exercises for clearing the stagnant blood and energy from the ankles. If you only do one of these exercises, do this one, it works every time. It’s also great for long bus journeys or any extended period when you’ve been sitting.