BCBusiness
Staying grounded in the air? It's possible. Get tips from Vancouver-based wellness founder Ariel Swan
Jaybird is a different kind of Pilates-style workout: its studios are mirrorless, dim, infrared-heated and filled with immersive music to create what it has dubbed “moving meditation.” The concept was born at the Yaletown location in Vancouver and has expanded to two Toronto spots, plus a brand new studio in East Vancouver.
Co-founder Ariel Swan has become an expert at navigating business travel between locations. “Travel can also be overwhelming—flights, schedules, delays and unfamiliar environments all contribute to stress,” says Swan, who recommends taking deep breaths and feeling your feet on the ground to reset mentally in stressful situations.
For work retreats, she recommends incorporating movement and meditation to improve team focus and energy: “Simple breathwork or movement can shift us into a parasympathetic state, allowing for clearer thinking, better decision-making and increased productivity.”
On a plane, she recommends wearing an eye mask plus noise-cancelling headphones—and staying off your phone, except perhaps to do guided breathwork through an app such as Open or Othership. Getting up and moving around the cabin regularly is worth risking side-eye from your seatmates, she says. Post-travel, Swan relies on simple movements like low lunges, child’s pose and lying with legs up a wall to release the hip flexors and lower back. “This simple inversion promotes circulation, reduces swelling and encourages relaxation,” she explains.