Small Rituals, Big Difference

A Breathwork and Yoga Teacher's Wellness Routine for Travelling

Brazilian breathwork and yoga teacher Allan Muller, who now calls Dublin home, recently spent three days exploring Venice, staying at Staycity Aparthotels Venice Mestre along the way. Here, he shares a glimpse into his trip – from cicchetti and days spent wandering the city to slowing down by the sea – and the simple wellness rituals that help him feel his best while travelling.

I love travelling, but I’ve also learned that feeling good on a city break doesn’t necessarily come from doing more. For me (a triple Taurus ha) I like having a few little rituals that make me feel grounded, even when everything around me is completely different.

I’m a yoga teacher, so movement, breathwork and taking care of my body are naturally a big part of my everyday life. But I’m also very much a creature of habit. When I go away, I don’t want to completely abandon the things that make me feel good at home. I just make them a little more flexible. That was exactly the approach I took when we went to Venice for three days with Staycity Aparthotels.

Start the Journey Before You Even Leave

For me, the ritual actually starts before the holiday does. If I know I have a long journey ahead, especially a flight, I try to give myself a little bit of quiet time before I leave. Even just five or ten minutes of meditation or some simple breathing can make a difference. Rather than rushing straight from normal life into travel mode, it gives me a moment to slow down and arrive mentally before I’ve even arrived physically.

And then there’s water. I’m probably the person at the airport carrying a completely unreasonable amount of water. 😂 I find travelling much more enjoyable when I’ve made a conscious effort to stay hydrated, so I make sure I have plenty with me and keep drinking throughout the journey. It sounds ridiculously simple, but sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference.

Keep a Few Familiar Things in Your Routine

One thing I’ve realised about myself is that I don’t actually enjoy completely changing my routine when I’m on holiday. Obviously, I want to eat the local food, and Venice gave me plenty of opportunities to do that, but I also like keeping a couple of familiar things in my day.

One of my little travel essentials is chia seeds. I have them regularly at home, and bringing a small supply with me means I can easily add them to breakfast or whatever I’m having without thinking too much about it. I also like having some simple vegetables and greens around, particularly spinach and carrots and red peppers. When you’re travelling, especially somewhere like Venice where pasta, pizza, cicchetti and gelato are understandably calling your name at every corner, I find it nice to have the option of adding something familiar to my day.

That’s one of the things I really appreciated about staying at Staycity Aparthotels Venice Mestre. Having a proper, functional kitchen meant I could keep a few of those little habits going without making food into a whole project. It felt like having the best of both worlds: I could go out and eat my way around Venice, but I also had somewhere comfortable to come back to.

Move Your Body... But Don’t Turn Your Holiday into a Workout Plan

I’m a yoga teacher, so yes, I am that person who wants to move on holiday. But I don’t think travelling needs to mean following your normal training schedule. For me, it might be ten minutes of yoga in the morning, a little mobility, a quick gym session if there’s one available, or simply walking around a new city all day. And Venice is basically a workout in disguise.

We walked a lot. Stairs, bridges, little streets, getting lost and then pretending we knew exactly where we were going… Staycity having a gym was another nice option for me. Sometimes I just like knowing there’s a space where I can move my body, even if I don’t end up doing a full workout. And if I wake up early enough on a city break, I’ll sometimes go for a short run and see the city before it gets busy. The point isn’t to burn off what I’ve eaten or “earn” my meals. It’s simply that I feel better when I move.

Let the City Set the Pace

And then there’s probably the most important ritual of all: actually slowing down. Venice is an incredible place to explore, but there is so much to see that it would be very easy to turn three days into one giant checklist. We decided to do things a little differently.

On our first day, we explored mostly on foot. We wandered through the streets, stopped for little Venetian snacks and discovered the city without trying to see absolutely everything. We quickly became obsessed with cicchetti, small Venetian bites that you can pick up as you move from one bacaro to another. Day one became our little-snack day.

On the second day, we explored Venice from the water, which gave us a completely different perspective of the city. We also visited the Biennale and some of the more traditional sights, while listening to an audio guide explaining the history around us.

And on our third day, when our feet had had enough of sightseeing, we took the boat over to Lido. Instead of trying to squeeze another ten attractions into our final day, we spent time by the beach, read our books, had some food and simply slowed down.

That was probably my favourite ritual of the whole trip: knowing when to stop, so I don't come back from holidays feeling like I need a holidays from my holidays.

Make Rest Part of the Itinerary

I also think where you stay makes a bigger difference to your wellbeing than we sometimes realise. Staying at Staycity Aparthotels Venice Mestre meant we had a comfortable space to come back to after long days exploring. The location near Mestre station made getting into Venice really easy, while having our own apartment meant we could spread out, make something simple in the kitchen and properly switch off.

And the bed was huge and ridiculously comfortable, which, after a full day of walking around Venice and committing what I can only describe as "carbocide", was very welcome. There was also breakfast and friendly staff, so we could start the day without having to overthink everything. For me, that’s really what wellness while travelling comes down to. It isn’t about making your holiday another productivity project or trying to follow your normal routine perfectly.

It’s about keeping a few small things that make you feel like yourself: a little movement, a little breathing, enough water, some familiar food, good sleep and knowing when to slow down.

And then, of course, leaving plenty of room for the pasta, cicchetti, Aperol and everything else that makes travelling worth doing in the first place.

Because sometimes feeling your best on holiday is simply about finding the balance between taking care of yourself and completely enjoying yourself.