yoga

SEA’s Shot Bar & other great airport amenities from 2021

We love the annual Resolution Wall hosted by Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) around this time each year.

As airport amenities go, it is charming and engaging for travelers. Much like many of the amenities on the list of Best Airport Amenities of 2021 we shared with The Points Guy site this week.

The list of Best Airport Amenities in 2021 includes:

*Wellness Wednesday at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and the free yoga mats they’ve been handing out;

*The growing trend of offering reservation times to do through the airport security checkpoint;

*Robots that deliver food ordered via airport mobile apps;

*The Visitor Toll Pass available at Orlando International Airport (MCO) to help tourists avoid getting gouged by rental car companies;

*And several more.

One other item on our list is the Shot Bar that appeared for several months at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

The Shot Bar was created by Seattle celebrity chef and mixologist Kathy Casey, a frequent traveler whose company operates some food and beverages outlets at SEA airport.

“With the early covid restrictions on seating, no sitting at the bar, 25% occupancy, and tables 6 ft apart, our seating at Rel’Lish Burger Lounge was very limited,” Casey told us. “Options for travelers were very limited to get a quick drink before their flight. Many folks were also nervous about their first flight in a while, so they were looking for a quick drink.”

The to-go counter at Rel’Lish wasn’t busy, “so I thought, why not provide an area that people could have a quick shot and be on their way,” says Casey. “Our tag line was: order shot – shoot shot – fly off.”

The simple idea took off. Social media loved the concept and the tiny red Solo cups. And the Shot Bar even got a mention by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.

The Shot Bar was open from early March 2021 to June 30th, And during that time Casey says about 8,000 shots were sold – far above expectations. Now there are plans are for the Shot Bar pop-up to reopen sometime this spring or summer.

The Shot Bar at SEA

Chill out with Cathay Pacific’s yoga/meditation space at Hong Kong Airport

Long flights can do a number on your body – and your mind.

Experts prescribe healthy eating and lots of moving around before, during and after you flight.

Now Cathay Pacific, already loved for its amenity-rich lounges at Hong Kong International Airport and elswhere, is offering passengers a tool for mind and body: a space for yoga and meditation in its Business Class lounge at The Pier.

The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga, designed in partnership with The Pure Group, is a 700 square-foot area divided into two zones – The Body Sanctuary, which is dedicated to yoga – and The Mind Sanctuary, which offers a space for meditation.

In the Body Sanctuary, travelers will find guided videos led by Pure Yoga teachers and a more secluded space for self-practice.

The space also offers an option for seated stretching, with chairs overlooking instructions on how to stretch different parts of the body. The exercises are designed to improve circulation, enhance joint mobility and relax the mind for a comfortable and restful journey.

In the Mind Sanctuary there are two types of meditation available:

Audio meditation has four cushioned pods equipped with noise-canceling headphones and iPads offering guided meditation sessions narrated by Pure Yoga’s expert teachers. Gazing meditation has comfortable cushions overlook graphics placed on the wall to facilitate Trataka yoga practice.

These practices help improve focus, memory and visualisation skills, as well as centering the mind in a state of awareness and attention.

Want to try it out? The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga is open to passengers with access to Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Business Class Lounge at Hong Kong Airport; to Diamond, Gold and Silver Marco Polo Club members; and to Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon First and Business Class passengers.

More zen in flight – and on the ground

Once in the air, Cathay Pacific offers “Travel with Yoga,” a series of inflight videos designed to help passengers ease into their journeys with meditation and yoga.

On the ground, the airline also offers its Diamond and Gold Marco Polo Club members arriving in Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon complimentary one-day access to any Pure Fitness centre or a choice of any Pure Yoga class up to 12 times a year.

Cathay Pacific adds in-flight yoga.

Airport yoga rooms are great amenities, but Cathay Pacific suggests you try doing yoga on the plane.

The airline has partnered with Pure Yoga to offer an inflight “Travel Well with Yoga” program that offers a series of six yoga videos with meditation exercises and tips.

The videos are in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese and are running on Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon routes in the  Lifestyle section of the inflight entertainment program.

Instructors offer yoga and meditation routines that can be done before, during or after a flight (if you’re not to self-conscious to try it) and are designed to improve circulation, enhance joint mobility  – and relax the mind.

Some moves work on the plane – even in economy, says the airline – others you can do when you unfold from your seat and get to your hotel.

Here’s a sample.

Denver Int’l Airport getting a pop-up yoga studio

Although bars and restaurants will beckon, travelers at an increasing number of airports have  plenty of places to stretch and work out.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport has an airport gym, Phoenix Sky Harbor International and many other airports offer marked walking paths, and San Francisco International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports and others have free-to-use spaces set aside, with loaner mats, for yoga.

Now Denver International Airport gets its chance.

Courtesy Yoga on the Fly

For 90-days, starting November 6, Denver International Airport will have a pop-up guided yoga studio on Concourse A where travelers can pay to use private mini-studios for yoga sessions lasting from 15 to 60 minutes.

With each rental, Yoga on the Fly will provide instructional videos, yoga mats and wireless headsets. Sessions will costs $15 for 15 minutes, $20 for 20 minutes, $30 for 30 minutes, $45 for 45 minutes and $60 for 60 minutes. Each studio with have a ‘beauty bar’ with cleansing towels, face mist, hand sanitizer and lotion where customers can freshen up after their session and there will be a retail section at reception offering travel accessories.

If this first Yoga on the Fly pop-up is successful over this holiday season, company founders hope to make it a permanent amenity at Denver International Airport and other airports.

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Travel Tidbits from MIA, LAS & LAX

If you’re going to be stuck at the airport, every amenity counts.

Here are a few new amenities that may come in handy, including a yoga room at Miami International Airport, a cool new floor mosaic at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and indoor pet relief areas at Los Angeles International Airport

LAX PET RELIEF AREA INDOORS

This week Los Angeles International Airport celebrated the opening of seven post-security, indoor animal-relief stations, which join an existing one in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

LAX officials say this brings the total number of service-animal/pet relief stations at LAX to 11 – more than any other U.S. airport.