Yoga on the Run

The more I travel, the more I miss -- and need -- yoga. Struggling to manage a 50-pound suitcase plus golf clubs and a computer case for a week of East Coast travel resulted in a recent rude reminder that my yoga practice cannot slip on the road. Practically speaking, we have to be strong -- chivalry is practically dead, most bellmen have disappeared with cost-cutting in non-luxury hotels and most men just smirk and stare in "I told you so" scorn when you're using your total body force to wrangle bags onto a rental car shuttle. Waving large dollar bills to potential bag tenders often gets their attention, but in any case, yoga while traveling is essential among our fitness options. Stretching after prolonged sitting and walking, cramped in coach coast to coast, not to mention the physical and psychic energy that yoga provides, enhance the experience of an active womantraveler.

My best new tips:

• As long as I'm schlepping a computer, I include a yoga DVD for my hotel room. My favorite is Baptiste Power of Yoga and Meditation (see more about Sherry below).
• Kimpton Hotels aim to help womentravelers keep their lifestyles while on the road, which includes yoga props and other fitness gear in special rooms as well as a 24-hour yoga TV channel. Knowing that their patrons want to stay fit, other hotels are making fitness an essential part of their service.
• I keep yoga teachers in various cities, just like men keep women (and vice versa nowadays). When in LA, contact Pamela Blackstone, who brings a spiritual artistry and several techniques, including the energy-building Reiki massage. While in San Francisco, check out Sherri Baptiste Freeman, who teaches in various area locations and conducts workshops around the US. The daughter of two California yoga-health-fitness pioneers, she's constantly inventing new twists on the practice, such as her new book in the Dummies series, Yoga With Weights.