GREENWICH VILLAGE — A new business on 8th Street aims to make mindfulness more accessible to stressed New Yorkers, with guided meditations offered in 30- or 45-minute installments throughout the day.
The idea, according to CEO Ellie Burrows, is to offer a space that allows people to "meditate and be quiet in a way that's hard if you're in New York City."
Burrows, a former Hollywood executive, connected with her business partner, Lodro Rinzler, the author of several books on meditation, when she volunteered at his non-profit, the Institute for Compassionate Leadership.
Burrows wondered to Rinzler why it's so hard to find a place that makes meditation accessible and easy to fit into a regular person's busy life, "the way you drop in to get your nails done."
After years of teaching mindfulness to harried New Yorkers, Rinzler had been thinking the same thing.
Burrows brought on a childhood friend who is now the director of an interior design startup called Homepolish to create a "natural, neutral" refuge, and Rinzler put together a staff of 25 of the city's top meditation teachers from a wide array of teachings.
The themed classes target things like emotions, sleep, breath and setting a strong intention for your day.
"Whatever their particular struggle might be, we'll have a class for them," Rinzler said.
Rinzler and Burrows pointed out it's hard to find more casual, non-denominational mediation workshops in the city, or anything that doesn't involve committing to listening to a 2-hour lecture.
And unlike a podcast, "you get to ask a question of a live human being," Rinzler said. "That's really cool."
The membership fee is $200 per month for unlimited workshops and use of the space, and for now they're offering a special deal making the first month just $50.
It's also possible to just drop-in on a class-by-class basis, for $15 for a 30-minute class and $25 for a 45-minute one, and the first class you go to is just $10. Package deals of five or more classes range from $70 to $250.
Burrows and Rinzler plan to open in November, and in the meantime, anyone who's interested can sign up on their website to be kept in the loop.
MNDFL, 10 East 8th St. Hours: Monday through Thurs, 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday 7 a .m. to 6 p.m., Saturday to Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
