Yoga room for stretching, de-stressing

A local class does yoga at Burlington International Airport in Burlington, Vt., to celebrate the opening of a yoga space for travelers.
A local class does yoga at Burlington International Airport in Burlington, Vt., to celebrate the opening of a yoga space for travelers. (LISA RATHKE / Associated Press)
A local class does yoga at Burlington International Airport in Burlington, Vt., to celebrate the opening of a yoga space for travelers.GALLERY: A local class does yoga at Burlington International… (LISA RATHKE…)
By Lisa Rathke, Associated Press
Posted: February 11, 2013

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - Travelers don't equate the hustle and bustle of airports with yoga, but now some airports are adding tranquil spaces where practitioners can stretch, meditate, and get away from it all.

It's the latest effort to humanize and de-stress the unpleasantness of air travel: yoga rooms at airports. Burlington, Vt., is the latest of a handful of airports to add the amenity.

"We find that traveling can be stressful so we try to take a little bit of that out," said Eugene Richards, interim director of Burlington International Airport.

Travelers have found sanctuary in the small but light and airy space with its moss-green walls, bamboo floor, and yoga mats, while waiting for flights or when stranded.

One young family discovered the space after missing a flight to Japan due to bad weather.

"You saved the day for our 7-month-old baby," they wrote in a log of visitors to the new room. Other visitors have relished the quiet space, giving thanks in the journal.

"Wow, you made my day! No you made my month!" wrote a traveler who sometimes does yoga out in the open at airports, which usually draws stares.

Airports in San Francisco and Dallas also have opened yoga rooms in the last year.

But some travelers in Burlington were perplexed, even amused as they walked past the new space trailing their luggage behind.

"Yoga at the airport? I just thought it was odd," said Charlene Allis of Winooski, Vt., as she and her husband Bruce returned from Florida.

But another woman said it might be good for a friend who gets nervous while traveling.

"For people stressed like her, it's a good idea," said Magalie St. Denis of Montreal.

Bob King of Seattle doesn't do yoga himself but agrees the idea is a good one.

"I suppose anything to reduce a little stress while you're at the airport is a good idea," he said.

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