Former Glamour Ed Opens 'SoulCycle of Meditation' in LA

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Former Glamour fashion editor Suze Yalof Schwartz is pioneering a new concept: the casual, drop-in meditation studio. Yalof Schwartz envisions Unplug Meditation, which opens April 15 in Santa Monica, California, as a place where anyone—be they a high-powered executive or a stay-at-home mother—can stop by to meditate.

The idea came about when Yalof Schwartz began meditating and could not find affordable course options. For reference, Transcendental Meditation or TM, the meditation practice name-checked by celebrities such as Oprah, Jerry Seinfeld and Jennifer Aniston, costs about a grand. That's for coaching on how to sit still and practice a mantra.

"I thought, why can't there be a Soul Cycle for meditation?" Yalof Schwartz asked. "You go in, you do whatever your intention is, you leave." For $20 per session, attendees will be guided through their experience by gurus and instructors. "Meditating at home is not fun for me," she said. "But meditating in a room with someone guiding me in, with music, then guiding me out...it feels like you did something. This isn't just meditation, it is an experience." Yalof Schwartz hopes it will be the first of a global chain.
· Suze Yalof Schwartz Is Launching A Soul Cycle For Meditation [FastCo]
· Inside the Lucrative World of Yoga Instagrammers [Racked]