Those California hippies have done it again! Oh, we kid the westie yogsters (with blatant envy). Have you ever broken out your yoga stretch in the airport or pulled a header waiting at your gate? (when you’re not tossing them back at the bar, that is.) If you’re flying in or out of San Francisco any time soon you won’t have to withstand the ugly carpet or funny looks from bystanders. Nope, not anymore, because the folks at SFO have created a special Yoga Room just for you!
The first of its kind, the Yoga Room at Terminal 2 is open for business, or non-business if you will, starting Thursday, keeping the same hours as the security checkpoint – 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
“The room gives modern travelers a space that fosters and supports quiet and reflection. Those aren’t emotions that people typically encounter at the airport,” said Melissa Mizell, design director for Gensler, the Terminal 2 architecture firm that also created the yoga room, in a statement.
Located just past the security checkpoint in the recently renovated Terminal 2, the new yoga room is bathed in calming blue light, with a floating wall said to symbolize a buoyant spirit and enlightened mind. Lights in the room are low and warm — to counteract the bright concourse — and loaner mats are supplied.
Bonus: If you’re not interested in getting sweaty with strangers, you can simply go sit and meditate with them at the Berman reflection room — “a center for quiet reflection and meditation.”
Wait, what was that? Sorry, we were busy looking up flights to San Fran so we could go check it out for ourselves. We’ve heard how great the SF yoga scene is but with a Yoga Room, Peet’s Coffee and Tea and duty free goods that sounds like a perfect little west coast weekend retreat! Now if only Jetblue would incorporate inflight asana and chai breaks. JFK, your move.
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Earlier…
- Madonna Pops Into Yoga on Airplane, Bursts Passengers’ Bubbles
- Pilot Does Yoga to Make First Historic 24-Hour Flight in Solar Plane
- NYTimes Confirms: Airports Are Perfect Place To Relax and Yoga
- Jeremy Piven’s Got a Fever! And the Only Prescription is More Yoga: A Brief History
- Yoga and Stress Response: The Brainy-Body Benefits On and Off the Mat
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finally! i’ve been waiting for somebody else with more money than me to come up with this idea. are classes in the yoga room free? i assume they cost money, like everything else in the airport (which, face it, are basically like shopping malls these days).
anyway, i usually hang out in the bar when i’m waiting for my flight, but a yoga class would be awesome.
I’m all for keeping it self-practice … if you need guidance, maybe there’s some app or podcast (with earbuds) you could do?
Anyway, what do I know … I have practically always done a fusion practice (non-impact, of course) with yoga …
When I fly in and out of the US, I only go to SFO anymore. LAX is a horror and I avoid it at all costs. Here’s one more reason for SFO.
Of course, you could go to any prayer room in the various air ports. Most have some form of prayer/meditation room, and I’ve long used these for yoga rooms. They are generally empty, but usually I am there when Muslim families are at prayer. I do my thing, and often when we are all done, the ladies and I chat while our kiddos play together.
I had this idea many times over while waiting in the airport. They might add yoga video instruction or showers (and I guess charge money for it). Also, with yoga rooms at major airports, yoga has now reached the zenith of mainstream acceptance, no?
There are no classes taught in the yoga room – it’s a 150 square foot room with a mirrored wall, laminate floor, low lighting, and a few mats. During a 6 hour flight delay last Friday I spent an hour and a half there doing the ashtanga primary series, topped off with a little acroyoga with a fellow delayed traveler. It was a delightful find!
This is pretty wild. I’ll definitely have to check it out when I fly into SF in March.
Can’t wait to visit this – I hope to see more airport yoga studios in the future!
This is wonderful. The faster everyone else catches on, the better. I’m a bit surprised Vancouver hasn’t already jumped on that. Hopefully the relaxed people coming from SanFran make their way up to Canada and show us how it’s done.
M.
http://sattviclife-merilove.blogspot.ca/2012/03/happy-hearted-wanderer.html
What do we have to do to get Denver to get a yoga room?
In Paris, at Charles de Gaulle airport waiting for a connection to India, we did an amazing practice. It helped that, in the early morning, not many people were around. Really enjoyed a meditation / prayer room in the airport in Goteberg, Sweden. But: an airport space is designated for yoga. That is a new thing in the world!
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