Breathe Deep at NYC's M N D F L Meditation Studio

From what I eat and drink to the beauty products I use and the rituals I incorporate in my life, I try to be thoughtful, natural and clean. I’ve found mindfulness is also part of the equation, and it comes through meditation. As much as I can, I meditate—it makes me feel grounded, happy and healthy. I’ll admit, though, I don’t do it as consistently as I’d like. If I lived in New York City, however, I would be a devotee of M N D F L Meditation. 

M N D F L is a chic new studio that is to meditation what SoulCycle is to spinning or Drybar is to blowouts. It’s a Zen, peaceful retreat in the middle of Greenwich Village for those who seek quiet reflection and like to be led through their practice. Themed classes run all day and cushions are waiting to be booked. The founders are an inspiring and enterprising pair: Lodro Rinzler and Ellie Burrows. Ellie is essentially family to me: My sister and I grew up just blocks from Ellie and her sister. What she and Lodro have created at M N D F L is incredible. I hope you enjoy this peek inside. XXJKE  

Rip&Tan: Can you tell me how M N D F L came to be? What brought the two of you together to build the studio? 

EB: Honestly, I was struggling with my practice and I was finding it incredibly hard to meditate in my own home. The studio arose from a deep personal need. I wanted to meditate in a space that wasn’t religious and didn’t involve a weekend-long commitment, a space I could drop into with a community that was interested in exploring meditation in a contemporary context. I loved the feeling of group meditations and I personally liked the format of boutique fitness studios—reserving a spot online or dropping in and joining class. I was volunteering for Lodro’s non-profit, the Institute for Compassionate Leadership;we had become friends and I approached him because I knew that I couldn’t build this special space on my own. I needed his expertise to support the integrity of the studio. We have complimentary skillsets and M N D F L is like our kid who inherited all of our best traits.

Rip&Tan: Why did you think Greenwich Village or New York as a whole needed something like your concept? 

EB: I think we can all agree that this city is in desperate need of quiet and relaxing spaces. If I was struggling with the practice in this city, I felt others were probably struggling too. Meditation is getting a lot of attention right now and it’s a word that’s thrown around a lot. At M N D F L we have a very specific view of what meditation is and we’ve brought together expert teachers who teach traditional, time-tested techniques in an accessible manner. We’ve created a really special midpoint by bringing teachers of a certain caliber under one roof and introducing them to students who might be too overwhelmed to go searching all over the city for the style that’s right for them. That being said, if our clients connect to a certain teacher or style we encourage them to do a deep dive in a particular tradition outside the studio. We’re happy to be a gateway drug.

Rip&Tan: Lodro, you’ve been doing this a long time, and have even written a book! Why do you think meditation is now getting more attention? When did you start noticing it becoming a hot topic?  

LR: Yep, I’ve been teaching meditation for 15 years and written five books on Buddhist meditation and how it applies to everyday, modern life. I’d say mindfulness meditation is getting a lot of attention right now because of all the research that has come out about it; while the Buddhists have been saying that meditation is helpful for 2,600 years it’s nice that MIT and Harvard have come forward and shown the science behind it. There are a number of studies that have shown that simply focusing on the breath for short periods each day will lower stress levels, increase focus and memory, and boost the immune system. Now it’s not just spiritual people recommending it; it’s your doctor, too.

Rip&Tan: Ellie, what was your personal experience with meditation prior to opening MNDFL? What do you get out of it? 

EB: I came to the breath through a practice called ecstatic breathwork. It’s a pretty dynamic and invigorating practice, but it’s not really an everyday practice. It makes you feel as high as a kite, but I wouldn’t recommend operating heavy machinery after it. I wanted a breath practice that fit more realistically into my life. I started exploring mindfulness meditation for a few years and always struggled with it. For me, it was missing that “bliss” piece. When Lodro and I were meeting with teachers before the studio opened, we decided that one of us needed to become familiar with Vedic meditation if we were going to bring on Vedic teachers. During those initial teachers meetings, we met Emily Fletcher of Ziva Meditation and I really connected with her. I took her course and realized that the Vedic tradition was more aligned with my previous practice—everyday bliss and relaxation were its primary goals. Now I meditate with a mantra twice a day for 20 minutes.

Rip&Tan: Can you tell me about the different types of sessions you offer? It seems like there’s something for everyone. 

LR: We feature 27 teachers from a wide variety of lineages, ranging from various forms of Buddhism (such as Tibetan, Zen and Theravadin) to Vedic, to Kundalini, to Jewish and more. Each of our classes revolve around a theme—something you might want to work on in a given day. If you’re stressed out at night you can try M N D F L Sleep. If you want to stay focused throughout your day try focusing during M N D F L Breath. If you feel low energy? M N D F L Energy. Each class will revolve around meditating on something (like the breath), contemplating something, or visualizing something. We think of it as meditation university—you can take a wide variety of classes, see what you most connect with, and go deep with that.

Rip&Tan: What are your personal tips for getting the most out of meditation? 

LR: After trying out a wide variety of traditional practices, pick one and go deep with it. It’s a bit like learning a musical instrument—you can pick up the oboe for a day, then the violin, then the guitar, and get a sense of what they sound like. But if you want to learn to actually play one you need to pick up that instrument every day for a few weeks and that’s how you progress in learning it. The same goes for meditation—once you figure out the right technique for you, doing it just for 10 minutes each day will go a long way in terms of deepening your own self-awareness. It becomes transformational after just a few weeks of consistent practice.

EB: No judgment, no agenda. 

Rip&Tan: How did you go about designing the M N D F L space? What were some of the most important elements to you? 

EB: The most important element was making the space feel like a home, a place that was inviting and welcoming. Natural and neutral materials like wood, metal and greenery are the centerpieces of the studio. Everything in the studio was selected with careful consideration from the colors on the walls, called “calm,” to our cushions to the tea that’s waiting for you upon arrival (always free!). Often, people who come through our doors will comment on the sensation of transitioning from the street to studio: they feel an immediate sense of serenity and they “can’t believe we’re in New York.” That means we got something right. Ultimately, we wanted to create a beautiful space that someone would want to return to every day, thereby returning to his or her practice every day. 

Rip&Tan: What are some of your other healthy habits? What do you do, eat or drink to complement your meditation practice? 

EB: First, I make sure I get enough sleep. Meditation helps support my sleeping habits. Also, I talk to my body and it talks back to me. It tells me exactly what it likes and dislikes and it’s my responsibility to listen. Every body is different, but my body performs best when I’m consuming wholesome foods, whether organic, grass-fed meat products or loading up on greens. My body also likes when I replenish it with nutrients like probiotics and vitamins. It tends to underperform if I have consumed too much caffeine, alcohol or sugar. So I try to be conscious around how much of that I put in my system.

LR: The nice thing about meditation is that you don’t need to do things to adorn the practices. You can simply meditate and see great benefit from the practice itself. While I try to eat well, sleep well, and exercise each day in addition, you can eat like shit, get no sleep, and never jog and still see the benefits of meditation.

Rip&Tan: What is your most compelling argument for why people need to make time for meditation and contemplation? 

LR: They shouldn’t if they don’t want to! If you’re interested in less stress, better focus, being more productive and all those other reasons science tells us we should meditate, great. For me personally it’s always been more about being present with something as simple as the breath so that I can be more present for the rest of my life—both the pleasurable and the painful aspects of it. But no one should feel like they have to meditate. If you do try it, try it for a few weeks and do a deep dive so you can see the benefits of the practice for yourself.

EB: We’re always chasing the sensation of “feeling good.” When you think about it, it’s all very silly since that feeling is just waiting inside of us. We just need to learn how to turn the volume down on the noise and up on the quiet. And, well, that takes practice. 

Photos: Sarah Elliott