Hindus have applauded launching of two yoga rooms at Frankfurt Airport, a major international airport in Germany, calling it a step in the positive direction.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Burlington International Airport Vermont and Chicago Midway International Airport, Sioux Falls Regional Airport—all in USA, and Helsinki Airport in Finland, already offer yoga facilities.
These “professionally equipped” yoga rooms, located in passenger terminals one and two of Frankfurt Airport, open around the clock and are free of charge. Airport authorities claim that all of the required equipment is available in these: yoga mats, blocks, cushions, pads, floor-to-ceiling mirror, monitor screens explaining exercises to music and flyers with how-to-do instructions. The lighting is subdued and there is a wall-sized Buddha.
Meanwhile, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, urged all top world airports—Singapore Changi, Incheon (South Korea) International, Amsterdam Schiphol, Hong Kong International, Beijing Capital International, Munich, Zurich, Vancouver International, Tokyo (Haneda) International, London Heathrow—to provide yoga facilities for the passengers if they wanted to help reduce their stress levels and be “world-class” airports.
Commending gesture of Chicago (O’Hare & Midway), Dallas, San Francisco, Burlington, Sioux Falls, Helsinki and Frankfurt airports for availability of yoga for passengers, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, yoga was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all.
Rajan Zed further said that yoga, referred as “a living fossil” whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, was a mental and physical discipline for everybody to share and benefit from. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical, Zed added.
According to USA’s National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to an estimate, about 21 million Americans, including many celebrities, now practice yoga.
Opened in 1912, awards winner Frankfurt Airport served over 61 million passengers during 2015. Dr. Stefan Schulte is Chairman of the Executive Board of Fraport AG, which operates Frankfurt Airport.