In a story coming out of the middle seat on a completely full flight, 27-year-old Pria Nagra has just mastered the art of mindfulness –– as it was either that, or have a panic attack in front of hundreds of strangers.
“I’ve always been interested in mindfulness, but can never get myself to sit down and actually do it,” Pria told reporters. “Turns out being wedged in between two people on a plane that’s been sitting on the tarmac a touch too long is exactly the type of inspiration I needed.”
“I feel so connected to my body right now,” she added. “Unfortunately, it feels, like, so bad.”
Pria says she’s now acutely aware of her heart beating, and has actually discovered a new muscle in her leg that she hadn’t been aware of before –– thanks to the fact that it’s cramping.
“Sometimes when I’m on a plane I become hyper-aware that I’m trapped in a tube of metal and it takes everything in me not to have a full-blown panic attack,” Pria said. “Not even Crazy Rich Asians can soothe my nerves in this situation, so I’m forced to just close my eyes, breathe deeply through my nose, and wait for the feeling to pass.”
Pria says guided imagery has been a great mindfulness tool that she discovered while trying not to think about how she has no control over her fate for the next two hours and 35 minutes.
“Imagining myself anywhere else but here, or imagining the plane safely taking off, then safely landing so many times that it could only be categorized as obsessive, has been amazing at helping me not freak out on this plane,” she told reporters. “It would be great if I could work this into literally any other facet of my life.”
Unfortunately, it seems Pria’s mindfulness practices are reserved for planes, and planes only.
“The stakes are just never high enough in my day-to-day life for me to really connect with myself; mind, body, and soul,” Pria said. “Turns out, I can only focus on my breathing when I’m in a metal tube moving 500 miles-per-hour, 50,000 feet above the ground.”
As of press time, the flight attendants had come around with snacks, which actually turned out to be way more helpful to Pria than “grounding herself in her body” or “feeling her emotions but not letting them rule her.”
“Turns out, all I really needed was a cup of ginger ale and a couple Biscoff cookies,” Pria told reporters. “I think I will watch Crazy Rich Asians, after all.”
