Yoga Before the Flight

Recently, I had to take yet another flight with my son, who’s not yet two years old but is already becoming a frequent flyer! Unlike the last frustrating time, however, when I had to do everything but jump through hoops just to get my son and me on the plane, I was determined to be better prepared this time – just in case the airlines decided to change their check-in procedure or come up with countless other ways to make life challenging.

So the first thing I did when I booked my flight was to draw up a list of questions for the airline staff.

Even though I did an online check-in, I called the airline to confirm my booking after I received my Boarding pass. I also made sure that the airlines had my son’s name in their check-in system – I had no intention of being caught out this time around.

Once those two issues were verified, I went through all my questions, one at a time. I’m sure that made me really popular with the airline staff but, after the fiasco of that last flight I’d taken, I wasn’t taking any chances!

I politely but firmly asked them to clarify:

• whether there would be an extra charge for extra baggage since I would have my son’s car seat;
• if there would be separate counters at the airport for regular check-in, web check-in, and First Class;
• which line I was to go to because I had the extra baggage and child;
• whether our luggage would be checked in at the counter or my bags would just get weighed and then handed back to me to drop off at a Security Area; and
• how much time I would have to allow before the flight took off.

After all those questions were answered to my satisfaction, I made sure that I’d have enough time to get to my gate in case the security lines were busy.

But even before going to the airport to catch our flight, I made sure that my son and I were fully prepared. When we woke up that morning, I decided it would be good for both of us to loosen up as I couldn’t be certain that my son would get his own seat and not have to be on my lap for the whole flight.

So we did our Sun Salutations together – and I find it totally awesome how, at 19 months, my son follows me as best he can. He believes he is doing a fantastic job – and I wholeheartedly agree!

It was a great idea to take the time to loosen our bodies up and it really did pay off when we got on the plane. Even though we were lucky enough to have that extra seat, there was a delay and we ended up having to wait for an hour before the plane took off. I took full advantage of that delay to do some further extensions and contractions of the spine several times, and I continued to do them during the flight. And as for my son? Well, he fell asleep just before our plane took off, so I was able to enjoy some quiet and peaceful times in the air above the clouds.

Sometimes, the freedom of flying can be blissful….

[tags]sun salutations, yoga before the flight, loosen bodies with yoga, relaxation, yoga with son, mommy and yoga[/tags]