After an extended trip abroad, there’s always that floating liminal space: when you’ve landed, and your body is home, but your spirit is still somewhere between time zones.
I just arrived home from Nepal - literally halfway across the world from my California homestead - and I wanted to share a few things I prioritized to help myself have an easeful transition.
In Ayurveda, Vata dosha is associated with movement - and this includes travel; we oftentimes experience elements of Vata aggravation (i.e. dryness, constipation/gas/bloating, anxiety, scattered thoughts, trouble concentrating) with too much travel if we don’t make space to ground ourselves.
Even joyful travel can scatter your energy. Upon arriving home, the suitcase might sit half-unpacked while the inbox calls for attention, and your body doesn’t know if it’s morning or midnight.
The pace, the movement, and the constant change can feel exhilarating, but it pulls our focus outward. To balance excess accumulated Vata, we want to bring in practices that help to ground, nourish, and soothe.
Returning home asks something different of us: to collect the various parts of our lives and put them together again. We get to remember who we are, and weave our global experience back into our day-to-day life. We get to embody all of the ways we grew, the beauty and wonder we experience, and let it percolate into the way we live and how we shape our daily interactions with ourselves, our neighbors, and even our connection to spirit.
Here are four simple rituals I prioritize, that could to help you re-enter your life with more ease and grace after big (or even little) trips.
1. Begin with a Slow Morning
Don’t rush to catch up. Instead, start your day with your favorite grounding rituals: a cup of coffee, tea, or lemon water, a few deep breaths, gentle stretching, meditation, journaling, a cuddle with your pet or partner.
Invite your first morning to be a soft landing pad instead of a launch. Schedule this into your travel plans, rather than an afterthought.
2. Move, Breathe, and Touch the Earth
Walk outside, roll out your mat, stretch in the sun. Walk barefoot if the weather allows. Marvel at the beauty and mystery of your surroundings, perhaps noticing something different after your absence.
Natural light and fresh air are wonderful remedies to help reset your internal rhythm. Nature really is the best medicine for jet lag and overwhelm.
3. Work with Your Hands
Do something tactile.
Sweep, garden, cook, wash dishes, make art. Let it be free, unhindered ~ perhaps something that supports your greater purpose but without expectations, or in a rushed way. Invite yourself to notice the small details in whatever you do.
These physical actions help anchor you in the present. Keep a notepad nearby and jot down priorities or insights as they arise. You’ll find clarity emerging naturally as you move with intention.
4. Nap or Rest Deeply
One of the most potent re-entry rituals is how you approach rest and sleep.
This begins on your journey home. Do what you can so that you can begin your circadian adjustment on the plane, or on an extended layover. This time I got a sleeping pod which allowed me some rest. I’ve also used natural sleep aids such as melatonin to help me sleep on a long-haul flight, and always tune into a meditation channel or podcast while in the air to help settle the and invite deeper restoration (whether its something I downloaded, or often available on in-flight entertainment channels).
Allow yourself to nap, or use Yoga Nidra to help realign your circadian rhythm. Both on my way to Nepal and back, I took a 90-minute mid-day nap which helped me adjust really quickly to the near-opposite time zones and found that I was able to adapt quickly.
Allow yourself to move slowly, and relax for the first day or two. Rest is key for integration.
What Not to Do
Don’t overexert or try to make up for “lost time”
Don’t fill your calendar right away
Avoid processed food or too much caffeine
And if you can, avoid hard deadlines for a few days
Give yourself gentle creative projects to work on, and be forgiving with yourself if your mind isn’t as sharp as usual. With this approach, re-entry on it’s own can be a ritual of coming home to your own body, your own rhythm, your own life.
Depending on how many time zones you traveled across, or how long or intense your trip was, you may feel like you even need extra time until you are completely back to normal. And… normal might feel a little different than it did before. And that’s ok, too!
Take this post-travel time to slowly rekindle your relationships, be gentle with yourself, and rediscover what is meaningful in the rhythm of the life you’ve built.