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Subscribe to RSSSan Francisco International has opened a new yoga room to allow passengers to relax before their flights. KNTV's Bob Redell reports.
Stressed-out travelers willing and able to be flexible now have a new way to relax and refresh at San Francisco International Airport.
On Thursday, the airport officially opens what it claims is the world’s first dedicated yoga room at an airport.
“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.
Courtesy of San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport now has a yoga room where frazzled travelers can take a few moments to relax.
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.
The innovative idea is getting early kudos.
"Relax passengers between flights? Help them find balance in the crazy world of travel? How wonderful!," said nurse consultant Anya Clowers of JetwithComfort.com.
"Airports like SFO get it," said Greg Principato, president of Airports Council International - North America. "They are looking at the big picture and meeting the needs of travelers by offering products and services that contribute to their overall comfort."
In the spring, large, felt-constructed rocks will be added to the room and arranged in a nod to Japanese-style, Zen garden spaces.
SFO spokesperson Charles Schuler said the new yoga room will be open whenever the Terminal 2 security checkpoint is open — currently 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. — and that a list of yoga room rules will soon be posted. “To help people find the room, we’ve even created signs that feature a stylized pictogram depicting a person in the lotus position.”
Sound too woo-woo for you?
For travelers seeking an alternate space to gather their thoughts without having to get down on the floor, SFO also offers the Berman reflection room — “a center for quiet reflection and meditation” — pre-security in the International Terminal.
And for those who find relaxation amid the bright lights and bustle, there's no shortage of bars.
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Leave a Comment:
Riiiight. This better not have been paid for with taxpayer money.
Oh shut up
I'm a San Francisco tax payer, and its unique additions like these that make flying from SFO so pleasurable that I rarely consider the invariably cheaper fares from Oakland or San Jose.
Money well spent.
It sounds like something that the "average' traveller would use...not!
Terrific - I could have used this the other night when I had to sleep on the benches due to delays in (almost) getting back to New York! I can picture it now - bodies strewn all over the place due to delays. Don't all Californians practice yoga out in the open anyway?!?! BTW - I really love California.
Is it legal to be nude there. It's legal to be nude in downtown SanFran. I wonder if Nancy Pelosi goes nude like some of her constituents?
Ugh - the visual!
It isn't nudity that's the problem - its that the average American is so damn fat that no one would want to see them naked.
Only in San Francisco. The city that delights me...Great idea (and great place to sleep because/if delays?) :P
Oh thank goodness! Doing yoga in the airport is the best way I know to make the best of flight delays! Not to mention making travel a happy experience. Finally, someone has some foresight and inspiration. Now, if we could have this in all large airports... And in response to the previous comment, I do practice yoga in the open at the airport, but the floors are very dirty, people stare, and sometimes it is just too crowded.
I've always wanted to start doing Yoga at the gate and see if anyone would join in hopefully starting a world wide trend. I always feel so tense with being crammed like sardines. But it's not very practical to have your butt all up the air in public with differing modesty standards. A curtain area at each gate would be nice. Count me in!
Have them replace the smoking room and then judge which is used the most. My money is on the smoking room!
I haven't been to SFO since 2000. Back then, the dirtiest Pizza Hut restaurant I have ever seen was in SFO. Actually, that was the dirtiest restaurant I have ever seen in any location. I was just wondering if that Pizza Hut is still there and still that dirty.
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