A common question is “What results have you experienced from your yoga practice?” My usual answers include better sleep, improved focus, pain management, and general well-being. But today, my friends, I have another benefit of yoga practice to add to the list: Improved luck.

“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.”

-Cormac McCarthy

Last weekend we were flying home to Denver from a glorious wedding celebration in California. The plane encountered some bumpy turbulence during the descent, but nothing major. After stopping on the ground, the pilot got on the intercom. In a calm and friendly voice, he said:

“The good news is that we missed the tornadoes and are safe on the ground. The bad news is that the plane that arrived before us was damaged in a hailstorm and needs to be inspected before we can dock.”

There were some audible groans from the cabin. Luckily, it was barely thirty minutes before we were off the plane.

At the baggage claim carousel, the Manager of the luggage station came over the intercom:

“The good news is that your luggage is here and we’re working on the backlog of bags in front of you now. The bad news is that if you were on flight XYZ, your luggage will not be arriving…”

There were more outcries of disappointment and frustration from the large crowd clustered around the two empty baggage carousels. Another half-hour goes by and our luggage finally lumbered up the ramp to the carousel. We wheeled our suitcases past travelers who had clearly been crying, past the security line that was way too long for 12:30 am, and toward the massive outdoor parking lot. Luckily, our vehicle was undamaged from the hail storm. Traffic at 1:00 am was nonexistent and we were asleep in our beds shortly after arriving home.

What does this have to do with yoga practice? Perspective and gratitude.

By observing Niyama, I’ve become calmer and more aware of my surroundings. Why be angry at the pilot who just navigated us through horrible weather? The baggage handler working outside isn’t having a great time, so there’s no reason to curse in their direction!

Being grateful for what you have, and where you are, is called Santosa in yoga lingo. From the moment the pilot told us the situation, while others groaned with inconvenience, I was grateful that we missed a literal tornado and hailstorm! At baggage claim, I was happy to wait patiently for our luggage, as people who arrived only minutes before us would have to file paperwork to hopefully recover theirs.

I moved slowly during this whole ordeal, paying attention to my breathing and being aware of the people around me who were dealing with situations of their own. All it took to transform bad luck into good luck was a little patience, some perspective on how “bad” our luck was (it wasn’t!), and the gratitude to realize that although later than planned, we made it home safe, and were therefore quite lucky.