On our last India trip, we were fortunate enough to have a truly fantastic yoga teacher, Mary, on board. Mary & her husband and BJ & I all flew from Tampa to Newark together, where we met the rest of our crew to continue on to Delhi. We had a few hours to kill in Newark and Mary suggested we do a little bit of yoga to prepare our bodies for this long-haul flight. I thought, you know, maybe a few forward bends, a couple twists…. fast forward to a 40 minute impromptu yoga session on the carpets in Newark’s Liberty International Airport–carpets which I can only describe as “immune system-boosting,” if you get my drift.
We found a quiet corner and followed Mary’s lead; pretty soon, not only did we have an audience, but an additional participant! A gentlemen who was waiting in the same area came over and joined us for at least ten minutes, without saying a word. I *knew* we should have put a tip jar out for our yoga instructor!
I will say this–14 hours flights are never kind to me, particularly my knees. I didn’t experience a lick of pain on this flight. Could pre-boarding yoga be a ritual for all future flights? San Francisco International Airport actually opened a dedicated yoga room earlier this year, with Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport not far behind.
There’s a more permanent form of yoga in Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India. A series of statues, all situated on a rising spiral, depict the 12 asanas (or, positions) of the ever-popular Sun Salutation. Click here for an clever instructional animation of these hatha yoga poses. Click here for an informative Yoga Journal article about the Sun Salutation, or Surya Namaskar.
