Various airlines, apart from landing many airplanes, have also been landing in several headlines. Spirit Airlines, after their shocking footage of taping airplane’s wing, has once again managed to gain considerable public attention with their weird flight ritual. It’s known as “plane yoga” and has come under the spotlight after a TikTok user, out of frustration, posted a video showing that this ritual apparently woke her up while she was asleep.
Reported by Brobible, this TikTok was posted by Emma O’Doherty, who was on a two-hour flight with Spirit Airlines. The passenger was taking an in-flight nap, hoping to pass the time peacefully until she reached her destination, but the flight crew said otherwise.
In the footage, Emma’s annoyed face appears, suggesting she was, in fact, interrupted while taking a nap. Then she points the camera towards the other passengers in front of her, who are all busy raising both hands and shaking them to complete this sit-down yoga high in the air. Emma’s reaction suggests that she wasn’t aware of this ritual, but this yoga has been an airline thing for quite a while now.
This ritual might be completely random and new to her, but it didn’t start yesterday
A full-on yoga class way above in the sky? Well, that would be something hard to process for anyone. But those who aren’t aware: this min-yoga class has been a thing since 2018, when the same airline went viral for mid-air exercises. It’s unknown which airline started it first, as multiple airlines, including SkyTeam, Cathay Pacific, and Turkish Airlines, have been seen doing the same in other viral TikToks.
Similar to the first-time Frontier flyer who got angry, Emma O’Doherty was also annoyed and wrote, “As a Brit I will NEVER understand being woken up mid-flight for this,” She might have thought of it as an American thing, but there are some reasons behind it. The passengers are apparently instructed by flight attendants to raise their arms, stretch their backs and legs, and move along, turning the cabin into a mini in-flight yoga class.
This is done because they are expected to sit for hours in the same position, which can potentially cause stiffness and also increase the risk of clots. According to some experts, these simple in-air stretching and breathing exercises can improve circulation and reduce discomfort.
Speaking of discomfort, the exercise made an opposite effect on this Spirit Airlines passenger. She just wanted to travel in peace, but woke up when the attendant asked the people to “shake [their] spirit fingers.” To someone who was trying to take a nap, it might have sounded odd, but if you focus on the bigger picture, exercises like these can help a lot, especially on longer flights.
Published: Mar 31, 2026 03:00 pm