In San Francisco, the world’s first airport yoga room

San Francisco International Airport last month opened a yoga room in its recently refurbished Terminal 2.

There seems to be no limit to airports’ creativity in their quest to be more than just a point of departure or landing in travelers’ lives, and we’ve already seen novel approaches including on-site dance classes and live-in storytellers, to name just two. The latest spotting? San Francisco International Airport (SFO), which last month opened a yoga room in its recently refurbished Terminal 2. Located just past the security checkpoint, the airport’s yoga room aims to offer visitors an opportunity for contemplation and self-reflection. Painted in calming hues of blue, the room features a floating wall, standing separate from the four load bearing walls of the room, symbolizing “a buoyant spirit and enlightened mind,” in the airport’s own words. Coming soon are large, felt-constructed rocks, which will be arranged throughout the room in the fashion of Japanese Zen gardens. Light levels, meanwhile, are kept low. To help travelers find the new yoga room, SFO has installed directional signs featuring a stylized image of a person in the Lotus position. The number of people who practice yoga has increased an average of 20 to 25 percent each year in recent times, according to the Yoga Business Academy. Airports, train stations, and shopping malls around the globe: What about you? Spotted by: R Steinberg