Five Self-Care tips for traveling

Travel by airplane is both a blessing and a curse in our modern lives. Probably 10 percent of my chair massage business is on people who have recently flown and just don't feel quite normal. In this post I would like to offer ideas given by natural medicine to help a person “land” more gracefully.

Cover your "Wind Points"
Ever notice how air conditioning can cause a subconscious shrug of shoulders to ears and desire cover upper arms and lower legs? This is because your immune system is attempting to regulate your core temperature. In Chinese medicine the "Wind Points," where the neck and skull meet, and points around the wrists and ankles, are the considered vulnerable to temperature shifts caused by a breeze. When these points are exposed to wind for too long, they become tender to the touch, especially the ones behind the ears. We begin to experience aches that shift around the head and shoulders, and our bodies automatically sneeze and shiver in an attempt to adjust our natural defensive energy.

• On every airplane there are personal air conditioning units pointed at each seat. My first recommendation when settling in for a flight is to shut off the air flow pointed toward your seat. Another important maneuver is to wear a long-sleeved or hooded shirt and pants to the airport, and put on a scarf and socks during the flight. This will keep you cozy and protected while in transit.

Return to the ground by opening your feet
Chinese medicine recognizes a main physical grounding point below the ball mount of each foot. This point, known as "Bubbling Spring," is usually a sensitive spot in line with the middle toe. This point ushers energy upward into our bodies, and becomes closed when the feet are confined in tight shoes, after physical exertion and when the nervous system is exhausted. Because air travel takes us so far away from the earth, the Bubbling Spring point closes during flight. Symptoms of this point being closed include pain in the feet and legs, feeling disconnected from the body, craving stimulants to stay focussed or dozing off.

• Upon landing, a wise traveler will always re-open this point before carrying on with his/her plans. Some methods to accomplish this are to receive foot reflexology, self-massage on both feet, or to re-establish grounding by walking around barefoot soon after landing. If you experiment with opening your feet after a flight you will notice more productivity, focus and better sleep on the day of travel.

Bring a piece of home
One of my Chinese medicine teachers advised a modern adaptation of an ancient centering technique. Before embarking on long distance travel, fill a small pouch with earth from your home. Best if this is from the location of your primary meditation or Tai Chi practice area, the belief is that a small amount of earth containing the energy of your home will keep you physically and mentally stable. Many of us already do something like this on a small scale with family photos, jewelry and clothing given by our loved ones.

• To get the best results from this ritual, bring a small piece of your personal practice space. It may be a pebble from outside your gym or yoga studio, or as my teacher demonstrated, earth wrapped in cloth. Make it small and light enough to carry with your personal belongings. This familiar energy reminds you of deeply established good habits, and can sustain you temporarily in the absence of your self-cultivation routine.

Keep your digestion happy
Sudden onset of digestive extremes are a well-known part of trips away from home. Known as either "vacation constipation" or "traveler's diarrhea," intestinal fluctuations occur when we enter different food and beverage zones. No matter how exciting and delicious these exotic flavors are to our taste buds, they are completely foreign to our digestive systems. To support your easy landing in foreign food zones I recommend focussing on these three points: primary digestion; carrying familiar foods; and local dietary combinations.

• First, maintain your primary digestive fluids. This means plenty of saliva. Chewing sugar-free gum on the day of travel, and before and after the first few meals in a new place will support natural enzyme production. A well-known qi-gong practice is cultivating saliva by massaging the gums with the tongue and gently pressing the teeth together. Do this if you prefer not to chew gum. At meals, chew your food thoroughly. As with the between-meals practice mentioned previously, this helps the breakdown and easy integration of new foods as they enter the upper intestines. 
• Second, bring food from home. Not so much that you need to check extra luggage, just enough of the snacks you eat every day to support familiar exocrine production. Especially if your travel takes you to a place with vastly different cuisine, eating tidbits from your regular diet keeps your pancreas engaged with normal enzyme production while it is adapting to new digestive needs.
• Third, eat the whole meal. This does not mean eat everything on your plate, what I mean is if an alcohol or extra sauce is traditionally served with cultural dishes, include that in your dining experience. Many food zones have common ingredients that cause low-level irritation in the bowels. To get value from these potential digestive hazards, people include counter-acting components to balance a  meal. Such "antidotes" may include wine, fermentation, salsas, spices, cheese/yoghurt/oils, astringent vegetables or strange flavored fruits that accompany a meal. Pay attention to the order and speed in which local people consume these things for clues to your internal contentment. Also, skip the menu items deemed "daring even for locals" at the start of a vacation.

Be aware of hydration, humidity and temperature
Water sources, mineral content and purification methods vary vastly around the world. One disappointment in my travel has been intolerance to local water. Remember, just because it's good for the local population doesn't mean your internal organs will efficiently absorb water from a foreign continent with the first sip. Our bodies produce antigens to water-born microorganisms, however this often includes a dramatic process. With regular water intake being vital to every human being, the reality that we cannot comfortably drink from just any local source is probably most telling illustration of how sensitive our bodies are.

• Attend to your source of water as soon as you arrive. I suggest locating an abundant supply of bottled water. This is important for the morning after travel, as our bodies absorb hydration most efficiently before midday. 
• If the travel destination is more humid than your home environments, you may not be thirsty after re-hydrating from a flight, however your skin will automatically lose moisture if the outside temperature is higher than normal. Skin maintains an acceptable degree of moisture in our home climates, but requires greater fluid intake when we move closer to the equator and greater oil intake as we travel toward the poles.

I hope these self-care suggestions shed light on previous travel discomforts and help alleviate their recurrences in future adventures. Even though we are capable of communicating with people around the world in real-time and can hurl ourselves across oceans within 8 hours, we are still fragile biological organisms at the foundation. Please pass this information on if you find it useful, and share your own special tips for landing with ease in the comment boxes below!

Best wishes for health and joy,
Christian