Ford tips & tricks: Car yoga

To help you make the most of your time spent on roads, Ford in collaboration with Antar Vivek, a yoga expert, recommends some basic yoga tips that you can follow while being in the car.

Two things you must avoid at all costs as you get behind the wheel:

• Never put your wallet in your back pocket while driving as it presses the sciatic nerve resulting pain in your legs and lower back
• Never pick anything from your back seat while sitting at front as it may harm lower back muscles

Breathing: Heavy traffic, bumper to bumper driving, long waits at traffic signals and the unavoidable long commuting hours invites stress. Being aware of our breathing is the first step towards beating our stress. Whenever we’re in stress our breath becomes shallow, it’s the first sign of stress. So, you could begin with deep breathing exercises for two minutes. Instead of your chest let your abdomen rise and fall while breathing. Repeat for two minutes or the duration of one song on the radio. This can be done even while you are on the move.

Eye focus: It’s a no brainer to say, our eyes have a crucial role to play while they continuously watch the road. It’s a great idea to exercise your eye muscles for a minute while you halt at a traffic signal or are queuing up to pay the toll tax. Allow your eyes to dart back and forth between your side and rare view mirrors or just roll them clock wise and anti-clockwise. This will help you be alert and avoid eye strain.

Isolations: Loosening your neck, shoulders and feet by moving them one at a time is called isolations. Begin by rotating your feet to relieve them from the stress of pressing clutch and break repeatedly due to the traffic on city roads. Flexing and pointing them help too.  Rotate or tilt your head from side to side slowly to loosen your neck muscles. Shoulders could be relaxed in a similar fashion. Rotate your shoulder clockwise and anticlockwise. Remember, inhale while moving shoulder up and exhale while moving them down.

Back stretches: Sitting upright while driving, without slouching will help you in keeping your spine healthy. Most people’s posture while driving is such that, it can easily lead to neck and shoulder pain. Always remember your tail bone should touch the back of your seat. Stretch the area between the shoulder blades and mid-back by rounding your back or contracting and then gently arching it the opposite side or extending your back by tilting the head backwards. Remember to inhale while extending and exhale while contracting. This should help in relaxing your back that takes maximum hit due to a sedentary lifestyle.

This Car Yoga is intended to utilise the time spent on roads to decrease the stiffness in few of our body parts, that are strained due to driving. Have a healthy week & happy commute!