High on Yoga@35000 Feet: Upa Yoga performed mid-air on selected SpiceJet flights, Twitteratti reacts
New Delhi, June 21: Budget carriers usually come up with "low fares" scheme to woo more passengers, but on the occasion of the inaugural International Day of Yoga, SpiceJet is giving on-board yoga classes on selected flights.
To mark the glorious day, budget carrier SpiceJet has teamed up with Isha Foundation of Sadhguru to conduct mid-air yoga sessions on 22 to 25 of its Boeing flights on Sunday, June 21. The event has been dubbed by the company as "High-on-yoga@35,000 feet".
SpiceJet crew and the Isha Foundation instructors will perform Upa Yoga at a height of 35,000 feet on the International Yoga Day. Handouts and CDs on yoga were also distributed to the passengers by the airline.
On Saturday, trial-run aboard the Delhi-Guwahati and Guwahati-Delhi flights of budget airline SpiceJet with over 180 passengers and crew were performed.
According to the airline, approximately 50 dedicated Isha instructors and SpiceJet crew members, who have been specially trained to perform "Upa Yoga", will undertake a 10-minute session onboard select Boeing flights across the SpiceJet network.
Passengers onboard the flights will be encouraged to participate in the yoga exercises while seated, SpiceJet said in a release.
Upa is a simple yet powerful style of yoga that activates the joints, muscles and energy system and incorporates pranayams.
"SpiceJet is pleased to be the first airline in the world to demonstrate yoga onboard. We are happy to be associated with the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi)'s initiative in promoting yoga in India. We are pleased to join hands with Isha Foundation for this initiative aimed at our customers who are on the move," SpiceJet's chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said.
In addition to the in-flight activities, several hundred Isha Foundation volunteers will perform a simple form of yoga, 'namaskar mudra', at SpiceJet check-in counters and boarding gates at select airports, the airline said.
"The significance of yoga is that once you learn the practices, you do not need anyone's help, a special place or any equipment. It can be done wherever you are," Sadhguru said.
The programme has been exclusively sketched for Boeing flights bound for destinations exceeding 110 minutes, SpiceJet said, adding, it intends to carry out such initiatives in the future as well.
Air India too promotes Yoga
Air India will reportedly show a film on based-on yoga, across its flights, along with special in flight announcement.
"We are just carrying forward our Prime Minister's patronage and collective call to celebrate June 21 as the International Yoga Day by organising a programme for all our employees for the full week at all major bases which will include yoga and meditation," a senior Air India official was quoted as saying. [Govt-owned Air India to promote yoga mid-air]
Meanwhile, here are some Twitter reactions on SpiceJet's move of practicing yoga mid-air:
#Yogaat35000Feet
SpiceJet
&
Isha
Foundation
instructors
perform
Upa
Yoga
in
DEL-GAU
Flight
#InternationalDayofYoga.
https://t.co/etazgbBO2t
—
SpiceJet
(@flyspicejet)
June
21,
2015
Flying
to
Port
Blair
as
part
of
SpiceJet
program
'High
on
yoga
at
35000'
feet
to
demo
simple
Isha
Upa
yoga
practices
#Yogaday
#YogaForAll
—
Rajasekhar
V
(@bigfundu)
June
21,
2015
From
Holi
dance
to
Yoga
in
the
sky.
Spicejet
utilize
the
opportunity
everytime.
#Creative
#InternationalDayofYoga
https://t.co/4EvifWVAEP
—
Vikas
Mishra
(@vikasmishraa)
June
21,
2015
High
on
Yoga@35000
Feet:
Isha
Upa
Yoga
on
SpiceJet
Flights!
http://t.co/KB7UxkBGXy
—
Puneet
Nanda
(@puneetnanda)
June
21,
2015
DGCA
had
given
@flyspicejet
show-cause
notice
for
midair
dance
on
Holi
http://t.co/ZQcRNJUcvr
but
is
OK
with
them
doing
midair
Yoga
farce?
—
Suryanarayan
Ganesh
(@gsurya)
June
20,
2015
Asanas
at
35,000
ft!
They
don't
leave
you
alone
in
the
skies
too!
Aargh
http://t.co/geZDwOSXRL
—
Chitra
Narayanan
(@ndcnn)
June
20,
2015
No
food,
delayed
flights
and
now
forced
to
do
yoga.
SpiceJet,
no
one
will
fly
you
now.
Other
than
Baba
Ramdev.
http://t.co/hbvIh2Rv6b
—
Brown
Sahiba
(@Rajyasree)
June
20,
2015
Anything
this
serious
would
make
me
giggle
violently.
http://t.co/DSxLM8B1Ur
pic.twitter.com/D9ojwq71NH
—
Aparna
Jain
(@aparna_jain)
June
20,
2015
“Attention
passengers,
SpiceJet
regrets
to
inform
that
today’s
mid-air
yoga
class
is
cancelled
due
to
delay
in
incoming
yoga
teacher.”
—
YouAreASplendidItem
(@sidin)
June
19,
2015
#Yogaat35000Feet
Glimpses
from
Delhi.
CDs
&
handouts
being
distributed
for
better
impact.
#InternationalDayofYoga
pic.twitter.com/DqpK6PUSsc
—
SpiceJet
(@flyspicejet)
June
21,
2015
OneIndia News
(With agency inputs)