Are You Practicing Your Downward Dog at the Airport?
With all of its physical and mental benefits, the one place yoga is really needed is before or after a long flight. Being cooped up in a plane for just one hour can be completely exhausting. Even just getting to the airport and going through security is a process these days! Luckily, some airports got the message and have instituted ways for yoga to come into the picture of air travel. After all, it makes sense to integrate yoga into long layovers and to provide a place for yogis and anyone interested to stretch it out and relax before taking a long trip.
So, where are these yoga rooms?
The first airport to open up a yoga room was San Francisco Airport (SFO). In 2012, SFO opened the first ever airport yoga room that was noise-free, dimly lit and had floor to ceiling mirrors. Perfect for travellers! Three other American airports that offer yoga rooms are Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Dallas-Forth Worth Airport in Texas and Burlington International Airport in Vermont. But it isn’t just America getting in on the yoga in airport action. Both London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports offer spaces for yoga. Gatwick offers a special themed ‘floga’ class with a yoga teacher on video for travellers who especially want guidance while practicing. Frankfurt Airport also gives travellers the chance to rest and recharge in calming yoga rooms before they get on their flight.
The list goes on and new airports are experimenting all the time. Both Helsinki Airport as well as Jet Blue’s hub in John F Kennedy Airport in New York City are testing out classes and temporary spaces for yogis. If you happen to be connecting through one of those airports, check their website for updated information about the chance to practice yoga. You never know when you need to bring yoga attire in your carry-on.
Or… you could go to a privately guided yoga studio
Yoga rooms may be the all the rage right now, but an even more interesting idea is currently in practice at Denver International Airport. Co-founders Elizabeth Feinstone and Avery Westlund created Yoga on the Fly, a private and guided yoga and meditation experience for travelers in airports. Instead of simply rooms, Yoga on the Fly offers private sessions and brief targeted classes for yogis. The classes can be 8–20 minutes long with specific travel-related sores. Yogis also get special mats, wireless headphones, and a private space for themselves.
Traveling is certainly an exhausting experience — and yoga is the perfect remedy for a tired body and soul on the go. Whether you practice in a communal yoga room or your version of airport yoga are some much-needed neck circles, one thing is for certain: yoga and travel are each other’s ideal fit. If you get a chance to visit one of these yoga rooms or you have already, let us know in the comments what your experience was!
