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Vancouver airport to join yoga-friendly list
TORONTO: Flying these days is a stressful activity but now Canada’s Vancouver airport has joined a growing roster of international airports offering a facility to
TORONTO: Flying these days is a stressful activity but now Canada’s Vancouver airport has joined a growing roster of international airports offering a facility to counter that turbulence – a space for yoga.
Vancouver International Airport is rolling out the yoga mats on July 15 for a pilot programme on offer till August 26, available for four hours on Friday afternoons to passengers using the domestic departures terminal. The programme has been launched in partnership with Y Yoga, which runs more than a dozen yoga centres across Canada.
Kim Halowski, manager of sales and services, Vancouver Airport Authority, said: “This offers departing passengers a tranquil space where they can engage in a self-guided practice. Passengers can use the space to practice their yoga flow, meditation or simple stretching.”
Though this is the first such yoga facility at a Canadian airport, it is part of a trend in the West. While the airport in San Francisco lays claim to pioneering the concept in 2012, many others in the US have adopted it, including large airports in Chicago and Dallas.
Travellers can also find them in London and Helsinki, and Frankfurt opened yoga rooms earlier this year.
While this is a pilot programme that runs through the summer, passenger reaction will influence what the Vancouver airport authorities decide for the future. “Once the pilot programme is complete, we’ll... take a look at whether there is an opportunity to offer it on a more regular basis,” Halowski said.
