The good news? By knowing a few simple yoga counter poses to do while filling with gas and fueling with coffee, you can hopefully side-step those woes all together and focus on the good times. Yoga instructor Beth Cooke (who works with Lena Dunham, NBD) feels you, and so when I caught up with her, I asked for all the ways to stretch out post car ride.
For starters, she suggests keeping your knees over your ankles and your feet hip-width distance apart (that means no crossing your legs). As for once you hop out of the car? Here, Cooke shares some of her favorite poses to recenter and leave you feeling great as soon as you make it to your destination.
“When we sit in the car, we tend to round our spine inwards, so anything that can counteract that is good to do. A forward hang, where you just bend your knees and hang over your legs and grab for opposite elbows can help to draw more length into your spine,” she says. “It will also help create space where the lower lumbar was compressing.”