I Found Nirvana at the Airport

 

 

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

 

I was exhausted when my flight, diverted with engine problems, landed in the San Francisco International Airport.

I had been up since 2am and fourteen hours later I was anxious to get home.  I was overwhelmed, frazzled and completely drained after struggling for three hours with four customer service agents to get booked on a new flight home to Vancouver.

As I cleared security a second time, a sign made my heart leap.  A sign I had never seen in an airport before- a yoga room!

Off to the left of Gate 69 was a dark, quiet room with hardwood floors, deep blue walls, low lighting and yoga mats. One other traveller was in the room, flowing through her routine, She smiled and welcomed me in. I quickly let go of my bags and took off my shoes.

I dropped to my mat and there I returned to myself.

By slowing down and focusing on my breath I found peace and harmony in a busy chaotic airport. I continued for another thirty minutes of stretching and ended with a meditation.

As I left the sanctuary of the yoga room to go back into the airport I was smiling.

I felt lighter.

My heart, once again, felt open.

I had shifted.

The anger I felt for the inconvenience of making an unscheduled stop had been replaced with gratitude for the pilot who had put my safety first and cut the flight short.

I still had another ten hours at the airport but no longer was I carrying the frustration, anger and disappointment of not getting home as planned.

When we can’t change our external world we are challenged to change our inner world.  We can choose a new thought or a new action and shift from suffering to happiness.

You don’t need a yoga room. You just need to have a desire to choose something else for yourself.

By choosing stillness and coming back to my breath in the little yoga room near Gate 69, I had interrupted the overwhelm and found my happy place again.

Wishing you light +love.