Unplug Meditation Photo by David Young-Wolff
For former fashion and makeover mogul Suze Yalof Schwartz, opening Unplug Meditation was a feat of feeling. “I run this business based on feeling,” says Suze. And while people warned against intuition-based business practices, Unplug Meditation is booming. Unplug Meditation includes the founding Santa Monica studio, the newly minted second location in West Hollywood, and a world famous Unplug Meditation smartphone app that reaches 60+ countries.
You can see Suze’s keen eye for style in every part of the design of the Unplug Meditation studios. You’ll also notice it while perusing Unplug’s floor-to-ceiling bookshelves heralding titles by New York Times best-selling authors and visionaries of the meditation and personal development worlds, many of whom have visited or spoken at Unplug. Every item in the perfectly curated cache of mugs and playing cards, books and glittered jars is a reflection of Suze’s taste. If she would read it, buy it, use it, or love it herself, an item makes its way into the collection.
Photo of Unplug boutique area by David Young-Wolff
Suze’s twenty years in the fashion industry have primed this makeover guru’s ability to be in front of a trend. As the Associate Accessories Editor for Vogue and Executive Fashion Editor at Large for Glamour, she covered the Oscars’ red carpet for Access Hollywood and did makeovers on Good Morning America and The Today Show.
When she searched for her second Unplug studio location, Suze found what was famously named, “The ugliest building in all of Los Angeles.” Suze states, “I saw what it could be.” That same ugly duckling edifice among its couture shop neighbors is now the “It” place on Melrose Avenue.
Unplug Mindfully Plans Classes
When designing her class roster, Suze says, “I think about my husband—who is in the financial world and not interested in the woo woo and I ask myself, ‘Would Marc sit through this class?’ And if he wouldn’t, we’re not doing it. Although we do broaden our offerings on Friday nights to include just about anything. So no matter whether you are super spiritual or just looking to destress, you will have as profound an experience as the person next to you.” The mindfully simple language allows everyone, from avid practitioners to new meditators, to access their own experience.
Making Over the Meditation Studio Experience
The bottom line for Unplug is for each person to leave feeling one hundred times better than when he or she came. For a makeover guru who has dressed the who’s who in fashion, celebrity, and entertainment, Suze Yalof Schwartz has now made over the meditation world. Her vision for the first drop-in meditation studio was born from a solitary idea of what is possible. Unplug has certainly changed the landscape. And because of Suze’s eye for transformation, her ripple will be felt for generations to come.
Visit Unplug Meditation in WeHo
Unplug Meditation WeHo, 8500 Melrose Ave #201, West Hollywood
Learn more about the studios and app at: unplug.com
Marja Lankinen is a poet, prospective scholar, and former professional dancer (Beyonce, Oprah, The Billboard Awards). Recently, she graduated from Harvard University with an ALM degree in the field of English and is currently an independent researcher and freelance writer. Marja has been a staff writer at LA YOGA Magazine since 2017.