Bal Harbour

84 BAL HARBOUR H ow does one transition from hard-charging, high-heeled fashion director and makeover expert to blissed out spiritual entrepreneur? Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and ask Suze Yalof Schwartz who, after two decades as a top editor (Vogue; Glamour) and Today Show correspondent, was inspired to open her own guided meditation studio, Unplug Meditation. The move was inspired by her family's move from New York City to Los Angeles. The mother of three boys, Schwartz likes to say she was "living on the to-do list" and needed a daily relaxation ritual. "I'd been looking around for places to learn to meditate and I tried everything," she explains. "But everything was too inaccessible, too inconvenient or too expensive. I wanted a place I would go, a Drybar for meditation." Unable to find it, Schwartz decided to create a meditation studio that fit her needs. She rented a studio on Wilshire Boulevard, decorated it with cool accessories found on Pinterest and at Staples, and enlisted Maha Yoga founder Steve Ross to help her vet new teachers. By April 2014 Schwartz was offering ten rolling 30 and 45-minute classes a day to stressed out Hollywood execs and Brentwood soccer moms and CEOs. Now, after three years and countless targeted programs ("Gratitude of Billionaires" is a favorite), Schwartz and her writing partner, Debra Goldstein, are publishing their first book, "UNPLUG: A Simple Guide to Meditation for Busy Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers" (Harmony Books). Using the same techniques she and her teachers employ at the Unplug Meditation studios, Schwartz aims to enlight readers by showing them how meditation produces such inspiring life changes. Through UNPLUG, Schwartz hopes to debunk the common belief that meditation involves a huge time commitment to be effective." The Espresso Meditation" is for practitioners under pressure who need to get calm quickly. "The Peace, Love, It's All Good Meditation" is for those upsetting situations that require a bit more perspective. And the "Starbucks Meditation" is for starting off your day in a mindful, present way. "What we're teaching is technique," Schwartz says. "When you breathe you anchor to the present. When your brain starts racing, you go back. I'm teaching people a technique they can incorporate into their lives." For practitioners with too little time to drop in, Unplug now offers online classes and they sell zen music so that you can set yourself up at home. Although meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time, Schwartz still believes in the power of the group and the energy you can derive from the meditation room. Fashion editor Suze Yalof Schwartz investigates the nouvelle namaste in her new meditation tome. BY KATE BETTS The Big Chill Suze Yalof Schwartz zens out at her new meditation studio in Los Angeles.

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