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Cathay Pacific has announced the opening of The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga at the Pier Business Class lounge in Hong Kong.
Open to all travelers whose status or boarding pass grants access to the Pier Business Class lounge the new facility offers more ways for passengers to relax and unwind ahead of their flights.
The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga is 700 square feet in size and is divided into two zones – The Body Sanctuary and the Mind Sanctuary.
The Body Sanctuary is dedicated to Yoga while the Mind Sanctuary is described as an area “where travellers can meditate to focus and calm the mind“.
The Body Sanctuary
The Body Sanctuary offers travelers three areas in which to give their yoga skills a workout.
The first is an area offering Yoga instruction (via video) by Pure Yoga teachers, the second is a “secluded space” for self-practice and the third is a seated stretching area facing instructions on how to stretch different parts of the body whilst seated.
All exercises have been chosen specifically with air-travel in mind as they focus on improving circulation, enhancing joint mobility and relaxing the mind.
Based on the images provided by Cathay Pacific I wouldn’t call the area for self-practice “secluded” (that’s a real stretch) but it looks as if there’s a reasonable amount of room for passengers to get their Yoga fix and the tuition videos and instruction boards are a nice touch.
The Mind Sanctuary
The Mind Sanctuary offers two types of meditation.
- Audio Meditation: Cathay Pacific has provided four cushioned pods complete with noise-cancelling headphones and iPads and passengers can use the iPads to follow guided meditation sessions offered by Pure Yoga’s experts.
- Gazing Meditation: This is offered in a space where “comfortable cushions overlook graphics placed on the wall ahead and facilitate Trataka yoga practice“.
Both meditation practices are said to help improve focus, memory and visualisation skills, as well as centering the mind in a state of awareness and attention.
Bottom Line
Wellness and mindfulness are gaining ever-increasing importance in everyday life so it’s not surprising to see airlines tapping into this and looking to offer spaces like The Sanctuary to passengers.
Qantas (Cathay pacific’s oneworld partner) already offers a Yoga studio in its Transit Lounge in Perth and has just recently been talking about how the passengers it has been surveying on ultra long-haul flights have been suggesting virtual reality relaxation zones and audio mindfulness experiences as amenities they’d like to see onboard, so it looks like Cathay is up to speed with what passengers are asking for (albeit they’re offering it on the ground and not in the air).
Overall it’s great to see spaces like the Sanctuary opening up and, while I’m not exactly a big proponent of Yoga or Mindfulness, I can see how they’ll be positively received by a lot of travelers and how they could make travel that little bit less stressful for a lot of people.
