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The airport can be a stressful place. It’s where travelers depart—oftentimes after experiencing delays and other annoyances—en route to their destination. It’s where people land immediately after enduring a long, oversold, and sometimes turbulent journey across the skies. So it’s only natural for folks to want a place to rest, relax, and clear their troubled mind right before and/or just after a hectic day of air travel.
Yes, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport has the world famous Recombobulation Area to grant flyers a brief respite from the chaos of traveling. However, if you find a more significant means of “recombobulation” is required, Mitchell Airport has you covered with another somewhat unique amenity that aims to offer “a quiet, tranquil location for thought, reflection, prayer, and mediation.”
On the way to the terminal, near the 3N skywalk and beside the parking garage, you’ll find the MKE Airport Meditation Room. The public area with curved outer walls somewhat reminiscent of a snail’s shell came into existence thanks to funds provided by a variety of donors.
The space is operated by a board of directors, which is composed of members with a variety of educational and religious backgrounds. While it is considered a place for prayer, it’s intended to be used by people of any faith and by non-religious visitors seeking a spiritual or meditative escape. As the website says, “all are welcome.”
Inside the room, the crescent walls display uplifting one-word mantras.
There are artificial flowers, framed pieces of stained glass, and messages of peace and relaxation.
You’ll find chairs (19 total, by my count) in rows in the center of the room and sporadically situated along the edges of the space. MKE Airport Meditation Room’s lighting is soft and dim compared to the harsh and sterile lights of the terminal just a few hundred feet away.
There’s no music playing and no airport announcements to be heard. You will hear people outside the room talking for a few seconds as they approach the terminal on the way to wherever they’re going or on their walk to the nearby ramp to find their vehicle. Where the sources of those fragmented conversations might be going doesn’t matter because you’re in the MKE Airport Meditation Room and, at least for those few minutes of reflection and relative isolation, that’s all there is. You are one with yourself and with the universe. You are at peace.
Whether you’re utilizing the space to meditate, decompress, pray, mourn, reflect, or to simply seek a moment of recovery when the Recombobulation Area just isn’t cutting it, Mitchell Airport’s MKE Meditation Room is there for you to serve as a momentary getaway before or after you get away from Milwaukee. A cursory glance at the guest book suggests travelers from all over have gotten something out of this parcel of runway-adjacent relaxation.
Sure, you can go to the Mitchell Gallery Of Flight or get a pre-flight meal somewhere if you’d like, but the next time I’m at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport with some time to kill or with something weighing heavy on my mind, namaste in the MKE Airport Meditation Room for a little while.
