Nothing is worse than feeling physically crunched, stiff and crowded. And, unfortunately, this happens a lot during travel days. Whether you’re taking an exciting road trip cross-country or a long haul flight abroad, these 17 car yoga poses will stretch your entire body and prevent unwelcome joint and muscle pain.
You may have limited space, so feel free to adapt (or skip) the poses as needed.
Furthermore, these car yoga poses have been written to practice in order if you want to participate in a complete yoga flow. Or, you can pick and choose which car yoga poses will best serve you and your environment. Again, adjust the poses as necessary, listen to your body and find what feels good.
Before we begin, though, let’s address the big question you’re probably wondering.
Can You Do Yoga In The Car?
Yes, you can absolutely do yoga in the car. Doing yoga in the car helps with blood circulation, increases flexibility, aids posture, stretches sore or fatigued muscles, and gives you an opportunity to exercise in the car.
Even though you may be limited in space and yoga poses while in the car, there are still numerous yoga poses to practice, including spinal twists, hamstring stretches, hip stretches, breathwork and more.
Now, here is a complete yoga flow for you to practice in the car.
1. Breathwork (Car Yoga Poses)
Sit up tall, rest your feet flat on the floor, gently rest your palms on the tops of your thighs and close your eyes.
Take 10 deep belly breaths, expanding your diaphragm as wide as you can. Briefly hold your breath at the top, and take a long, steady breathe out.
You can have the option here to breathe in and out through the nose, or breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. You can also rest your hands in prayer, or on your heart and/or belly to feel the rising and falling of your breath.
2. Half Neck Rolls
After breathing in stillness, mindfully rock your chin from the right, down and to the left. Roll out your neck to work out any kinks for as long as necessary.
3. Neck Side Bends
Next, sit up tall. Stretch one arm out to the side and toward the ground. Gently tilt your head in the opposite direction to stretch out your neck and shoulder top.
Hold for two deep breaths. Then, repeat on the other side.
4. Seated Tall Mountain (Car Yoga Poses)
Now, rise both hands above your head and stretch up as tall has you can.
This pose may be difficult if you’re in a more compact car with short ceilings. If this is the case, you have a couple options:
- Bend both elbows with your thumbs pointing back for a chest expansion.
- Take a slight back bend.
- Keep your hands down but stretch upward.
5. Side Bend
From seated tall mountain, grab your left wrist with your right hand and bend to the right for a left side stretch. Keep your gaze either forward or up. Hold this for one breath cycle and repeat on the other side.
Again, if you’re tight on space, rest your palms on your thighs and bend the right for one breath cycle. Then, switch to the left.
6. Seated Spinal Twist
Raise both hands back up overhead to tall mountain. Transition to a seated spinal twist by reaching your left hand forward and left hand backward (or to the side of your car seat). Rest your left hand on your right knee if that pose is accessible to you.
Twist to the right. To deepen the twist, imagine wringing out your abdomen. This is a great pose to stretch and strengthen your spine.
Hold for two breath cycles and repeat on the other side, transitioning back to and from your tall mountain variation.
7. Seated Cat-Cow (Car Yoga Poses)
To continue warming up the spine, begin moving in seated cat-cow.
Rest your hands on your knees or up behind your head. To do seated cow, reach your chest forward, look up, and tilt your tailbone up on your inhale. To do seated cat, mindfully hunch your back, pull your belly button toward your spine, tuck your chin to your chest and tilt your tailbone down on your exhale.
8. Seated Eagle Pose
Now, sit back up tall, and cross your right knee over your left for seated eagle pose. If accessible, wrap your right foot behind your left leg.
Next, bend both arms in front of you at a 90-degree angle. Wrap your right arm under your left arm and reach your right hand toward the palm of your left hand.
If this pose is not accessible to you, there’s no shame in modifying! If the full posture is accessible to you, hinge at the hips, keeping your back as straight as possible.
Hold for three breath cycles and then switch sides.
9. Chest Expansion (Car Yoga Poses)
Unravel from seated eagle pose and clasp both hands behind your lower back. For a chest expansion, reach your chest forward and pull your hands back and up.
To add to the chest expansion, you can hinge at the hips into a chair forward fold, raising your arms higher.
Hold for at least two deep breaths.
10. Seated Prayer Twist
Release your arms from your chest expansion, and bring your palms to prayer pose. Hinge at the hips and twist to the right, wringing the abdomen once again. This pose is called seated prayer twist.
If you’re able, you can begin to look up to deepen the twist.
Hold for two breath cycles and then repeat these steps to transition to the other side.
11. Seated Pigeon (Car Yoga Poses)
Next, sit up straight and place your right ankle on your left knee. If this hip stretch is intense, stay here in seated pigeon and try to push your right knee downward.
If you would like to deepen the stretch, hinge forward from the hips. To deepen the stretch even more, bring your left foot up onto your car seat toward your glutes. Your hands can rest wherever is most comfortable.
Hold for four deep breaths. Then, switch sides.
12. Chair Forward Fold With Stacked Legs
From seated pigeon, sit back up tall but keep your ankle stacked over your knee. Now, for a hip-stretch variation on chair forward fold, bring your base leg up onto your seat and stack it directly under your crossed leg.
This posture may cause enough stretch. But, if you would like to feel a deeper stretch, hinge forward from the hips and relax your head and neck toward the floor.
Hold for three breath cycles, then unravel and switch legs.
13. Yogi Squat (Car Yoga Poses)
Moving on, transition to a variation of yogi squat by bringing both feet up onto either corner of your car seat. Bring your hands to prayer and push your knees out with your elbows.
Hold this posture as long as it feels good and not forced. Try to hold it for at least three breaths.
14. Butterfly
From yogi squat, ground your tailbone, bring the soles of your feet together in front of you, hold the tops of your feet, and bend your knees down toward the ground.
You have a few options for holding this butterfly pose:
- Sit up straight, push your knees downward and gently massage the soles your feet. (This will feel especially good after sitting for a long time.
- Continue to keep your back straight and hinge forward at the hips. Eventually, you can relax your head and fold over your feet.
- Take your right hand and push your right knee toward the ground while twisting to the left. Switch sides after holding.
- Sit up straight and flutter your knees up and down in small, quick movements.
Hold your desired butterfly variation for as long as your body wants.
15. Full Cow Face (Car Yoga Poses)
Next, take your right knee and stack it over your left knee so that your legs are complete crossed. Keep your feet on your seat. You should feel a stretch in your hips.
Stay here. Or, for full cow face pose, bring your right hand over your head and reach down while bringing your left hand behind your back and reaching up. Clasp your hands together if it’s accessible to you, and hinge forward without hunching your back.
If the clasp is not accessible to you, use your left hand to press your right hand down from above your head. Stay sitting up straight.
This is an intense posture, but it does wonders during a long road trip. Breathe deeply in this pose for at least three breaths.
To come out of full cow face pose, unclasp your hands and rotate your shoulders in a couple circular motions.
16. Reverse Prayer Pose
To counter cow face pose, hold reverse prayer pose.
In reverse prayer pose, you’re basically holding standard prayer hands but, this time, behind your back. This pose makes a fantastic, accessible chest expansion. You should feel the stretch in your chest as well as your upper arms/armpit area.
Relax in this pose for five deep breaths as you begin to slow down your practice.
17. Chair Forward Fold (Car Yoga Poses)
Lastly, take a deep inhale up and forward fold on an exhale, bringing your chest to your thighs. You’ll feel this chair forward fold variation in your back and, perhaps, your hamstrings.
Reach your hands to the ground by your feet. Or, for a different stretch, place your hands under your feet in gorilla pose (a great wrist stretch and counter pose to prayer hands).
End your car yoga flow with repeated breathwork from step one. This will act as your savasana (final resting pose), as full corpse pose will be inaccessible in your car seat.
How Can You Stretch Your Hamstrings In The Car?
The following car yoga poses can stretch your hamstrings in the car:
- Eagle pose.
- Seated pigeon pose.
- Chair forward fold with stacked legs.
- Yogi squat.
- Butterfly.
- Full cow face.
- Chair forward fold.
How Can I Stretch My Hips In The Car?
The following car yoga poses can stretch your hips in the car:
- Eagle pose.
- Prayer twist.
- Seated pigeon pose.
- Chair forward fold with stacked legs.
- Yogi squat.
- Butterfly.
- Full cow face.
- Chair forward fold.
How Can I Stretch My Knees In The Car?
The following car yoga poses can stretch your knees in the car:
- Eagle pose.
- Seated pigeon pose.
- Yogi squat.
- Butterfly.
- Full cow face.
How Can I Stretch My Back In The Car?
The following car yoga poses can stretch your back in the car:
- Half neck rolls (upper back).
- Neck side bends (upper back, neck and shoulders).
- Tall mountain pose.
- Spinal twist.
- Cat-cow.
- Eagle pose (upper back).
- Prayer twist.
- Butterfly (lower back).
- Full cow face.
- Chair forward fold.
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