#6 the w-report SAYS BREATHE
The Cult of Breath, A Temple in Berlin and News You Can Use
THE CULT OF: BREATH (GW)
In our first version of what will be a regular column, THE CULT OF, we dive into the recent obsession with breath work therapy. We figure we can all use a tried and tested technique to help fight anxiety and breathe easier these days. The Ws love to travel but we also believe that it’s important to look for adventures and magic in your backyard. Of course we are also including some pretty cool breathing retreats worth traveling for.
The first time I heard about the impact of various breathing techniques was when I listened to Elise Loehnen speak with science writer James Nestor about his book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art on her podcast Pulling the Thread. The essence of what he was saying was revelatory: that making a conscious effort to breath through your nose, rather than through your mouth, can strengthen one’s immune system and help combat anxiety. I thought it was so interesting that Nestor initially came to this realization after researching a book about free-diving and teaching himself to hold his breath underwater. I realized that experience was also true for Craig Foster, the director of one of my favorite documentaries: My Octopus Teacher. I bought Nestor’s book for my husband and read it myself. At the same time, it seemed like every other person I spoke to had just taken a breathwork workshop. My husband tried a session at our hotel in Bad Gastein and was deeply moved by it. The Ws love the fact that something as simple as shifting the way one breathes can improve one’s day to day experience. Many say that the technique of holotropic breathing, which can induce a state of altered consciousness, can even give you the experience of going on a life changing trip—without traveling anywhere.
We started to ask our wellness world friends for their recommendations. Here are a few:
BERLIN
My friend, the restauranteur Ludwig Cramer-Klett, who is an adventurous seeker, recommended Eva Kaczor, who arrived at breathwork after teaching yoga for many years. She began experimenting with a combination of breath therapy and electronic music and eventually launched Psychedelic Breath, located in various studio spaces throughout Berlin.
Meanwhile, Antje swears by Harman Holiday, a Californian transplant living in Berlin who offers Yin Yang Yoga and intense breathing classes on Mondays at Ōhia Studio. Her mantra is, “Make sounds instead of faces,” and Antje swears, if Harman says something the whole class is listening. She’s got the Power as well as a beautiful singing voice. It's important to be aware that Harman’s sessions are a profound kind of transformational psychotherapy, designed to meet and integrate age-old patterns and emotions. If the participant is willing to access deeper feelings then the work can also touch and release trauma. It’s also possible to book a private healing session with Harman online.
Just for men: Our friend Julia Schauenburg-Kacem of BERBERLIN rug company recommended Christian Suhr who is a coach specifically for men experiencing burnout and/or trying to get in touch with their emotions. Suhr specializes in Kundalini Yoga and Breathwork.
USA
Sandra Ballentine, the NYC-based Beauty Editor at Large at W Magazine shared with us her favorite breathwork practitioners: Lisa de Narvaez who travels the world transforming groups at a time with her Blisspoint breathing method, described as a multi-sensory journey; and Sage Rader who Ballentine says is the “all-time best source for all things breathwork-related.”
LONDON
Many practitioners arrived at their work with breath through a personal crisis. Jamie Clements was working in start-ups until he started to fall into depression and experience panic attacks. He left his fulltime job and started doing a lot of yoga and meditation. When he finally discovered breathwork, it “felt like the missing piece of the puzzle for me and everything clicked into place. I haven’t had one panic attack in five years and I give all the credit to my breathwork practices.” London-based, through his company The Breath Space he offers online-workshops, one-on-one sessions and occasional retreats in Dorset and Bali.
PARIS
For the wellness and breathing coach Susan Oubari, it was a search to heal her young daughter, who was suffering from anxiety, that led her on a path to both reiki and breath healing. “I was working in the fashion world and wasn’t spiritual at all, but discovering reiki, which helped to heal my daughter, led me down a path that eventually brought me to LA and a session with Jon Paul Crimi, a now world renowned breathwork specialist based in Oregon, that changed my life.” Oubari continued to study holotropic breathing techniques developed by psychiatrists Stanislav and Christina Grof in the 1970s whose aim was to achieve altered states of consciousness and catharsis (without using drugs) and now offers one on one and group sessions called Breathe in Paris in her space on the left bank of the Seine in the 7th arrondissement.
BALI
My friend Cynthia Hardy, who founded the Green School with her husband John Hardy and lives on Bali, recommended the wellness resort The Asa Maia in Uluwatu for their breathwork classes and their on-site practitioner Syddarta. Also recommended is Breathwork Bali located in Changgu.
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
Many practitioners, including Jamie Clements, offer online classes—both recorded and live. Our friend Maria Schönhofer (who we wrote about recently in our column Making A Move) recommends the OPEN app which allows you to calm down and breathe anytime, anywhere. She also offers, with The Inhale Exhale Club , her style of breathing-focused mediation. (Join for a 3 day free trial.)
RETREATS
James Nestor, the writer of Breath, along with other breath experts, often hosts retreats in places like Costa Rica and the Yasuragi Spa Hotel in Stockholm. Check out his upcoming retreats HERE.
A NEW TEMPLE OF SOUND IN BERLIN (GW)
Just as some say that focused conscious breathing can heal, many experts in the wellness field are beginning to understand the power of sound. Mantras, singing, sound baths, and certain tones can change everything from your heart-rate to brain waves. It makes sense that Berlin is an important experimental center of the art of sound; after all it has three opera houses and some of the world’s most famous techno clubs. For T Magazine I wrote about the newest addition to the city’s avant-garde cultural spaces: Reethaus, a fantastic, thatched pyramid-shaped building designed by the Austrian architect Monika Gogl. At its center is a performance space with one of the world’s most sophisticated 360-degree spatial sound systems programmed in partnership with the Berlin-based Monom Studios which is at the heart of the still-developing Flussbad campus. Already they have hosted a concert with a master of ancient sacred flute music and performances by multi-disciplined artists like MJ Harper. Check out the upcoming programming HERE.
THE W MIX: News you can Use
•THE BREATH OF AN ARCHITECT. Opening December 9th and running through April 21 at Fondation Cartier in Paris is an exhibition curated by one of Gisela’s favorite architects: Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai.
• STUDIO VISIT. Artist Thomas Demand spoke with Antje about leaving LA and his award-winning studio in Berlin-Mitte. You can listen to Our House, the Salon Podcast wherever you listen to your Podcasts (it’s in German!).
•MYSTICAL SYSTEMS. One of Gisela’s favorite semi-esoteric podcasts this last month was Elise Loehnen’s interview with the astrologist Jade Luna (in English!)
• BELGIANS IN ROME. The Antwerp based gallerist Tim Van Laere launched his second gallery—a 17th-century palace in Rome—last week with a show of dreamy landscapes from Belgian painter Ben Sledsens.
• SERVUS ROSEWOOD. This new hotel entry in Munich, located in the center (just around the corner from oldie but goldie Bayerischer Hof) is located in an iconic, classic building which was formerly Bayerische Staatsbank HQ. Do not miss the monumental mosaic by Mayer’ische Hofkunstanstalt in the Bar Montez - it’s beautiful! Our friend Maria Shollenbarger wrote an interesting piece for FT’s How to Spend It recently about the ambitions of the rapidly evolving Rosewood.
• MAGIC ISLANDS. One of Gisela’s favorite destinations in the US when she and her family lived in the American South over covid was the Georgian barrier isles which include the other-worldly Cumberland island, with moss dripping off the branches of ancient oak trees and more wild horses and turtles than people. The article she wrote about those adventures just came out in Travel +Leisure. Also: just out in FT’s How to Spend It, her piece on north-west Crete.
• THE HUELLER-EFFECT. Antje is super proud of the unconventional German actress Sandra Hueller, star of ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ & ‘Zone of Interest’ (both films are a must see), who made it onto the cover of The Hollywood Reporter and got discussed by Critics at Large: Are Straight Couples O.K.? She was also in the Academy-award winning ‘Toni Erdmann’ which was co-produced by our friend Janine Jackowski.
• FAMILY JOURNEY ANTJE. Tenerife in the winter is a very good idea when you live in Europe, especially when staying at Oceano Health Spa Hotel with the most incredible tidal pool right in front of it. You can detox and get intoxicated by the ocean at the same time. I went with my 80 year old Mom and we both had the best time.
• FAMILY JOURNEY GISELA. My kids, husband and I recently met up with my parents and my brother’s family for a once-in-a-lifetime reunion in Portugal. We stayed three days in Lisbon —which was a bit tricky to manage with three generations but everyone loved the QUAKE museum and the hotel we stayed in called JAM, a funky high-end hostel designed by one of my favorite designers Lionel Jadot and his Atelier Zaventem. The best part of the trip was staying ten days near Grândola and Melides in an Airbnb that was perfect for our group of ten. Keep an eye out for a w-report Portugal Select in the spring.
• AEROCIRCUS. When in Berlin, go and see this show: the inclusive Rambazamba theater group and artist Tomás Saraceno join forces at Haus der Berliner Festspiele. It’s a show! A play! It’s performing art, four nights only in December.
• THE GLOW. This isn’t your normal Christmas Dinner Experience! The Glow is a vegetarian immersive culinary experience at the MaHalla—something between a club and a cult— orchestrated by Michelin Star Chef Stephan Hentschel & Chaos Director Ralf Schmerberg. 8 nights only. Early Bird Ticket 140 Euro.
• THE EI. Short for Eierhäuschen. Located in the middle of one of Berlin’s most compelling evolving projects, the Plänterwald, (once a DDR-era amusement park) in a historic building, this upcoming culinary project is under gastronomic direction of two excellent female chefs— Jessica-Joyce Sidon (formerly Baldon) and chef Alexandra Strödel (formerly Nobelhart & Schmutzig). Now taking Preview Lunch or Dinner bookings for December. We’ll report back.
• CHRISTMAS PRESENT ALERT. Order now, give later. I Boobs in the Arts. This catalog—Fe:male Bodies in Pictorial History— is edited by our curator friends Juliet von Kothe & Natanja von Stosch, and published by Distanz. ALSO: SARAH ILLENBERGER’S 2024 Calendar is ready for pre-order.
• UPDATE MOROCCO. We are of course still concerned for Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and at the same time interested in traditional architecture—using local materials like mud and stone versus tons of concrete—so this piece from the New York Times caught our eye.
• WHY WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A SOURCE AND WHY OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD IS FALLING APART. Gisela promises this long piece from Harpers by Ben Lerner is worth reading. It explains, somehow both humorously and alarmingly, the beginning of internet-generated fake news.