If You Can Breathe, You Can Meditate: An Interview with Suze Yalof Schwartz
Getting to know Suze was an added bonus of taking the Unplug signature meditation teacher training program. After 6 immersive and rewarding weeks, I became officially certified to teach meditation after 17 years of meditating on my own. I am filled with gratitude for the personal attention and guidance I received; the kind and supportive community of people I’ve studied with and befriended; and Suze’s innovative vision 7 years ago of building the world’s first drop-in meditation studio, Unplug Meditation, that has paved the way for meditation teachers everywhere.
Suze’s ability to simplify what seems to be an impossible task to many into relatable, no-pressure ways of practicing without losing profound spiritual learnings is what makes her meditation studio a success in our modern way of life.
This afternoon, I sat down with Suze to dig a little deeper into her philosophy for success, favorite meditation techniques, as well as her personal journey:
Q:
What are some of the biggest misconceptions about meditation you’ve come across?
A:
The biggest one I would say is that most people think they can’t meditate because they think too much, and if they are thinking during meditation they are doing it wrong. They think in order to meditate correctly they have to clear their mind.
But meditation is really just about showing up and being present. And that includes being aware of the moments that you are thinking and being aware of your thoughts. We, human beings, have 50,000–80,000 thoughts a day, we will all be doing this little dance between our wandering mind and bringing it back to the present moment. So meditation is not about just sitting there in silence and doing nothing, we are actually actively participating in being present and that’s not always easy, but it is definitely worth it.
Once people understand the simplicity of meditation and make a commitment to show up consistently for their practice it gets easier and easier.
Q:
Can you share 3 easy meditation techniques for someone who is just getting started?
A:
Here are my 3 favorite quickies to help anyone get started in meditation:
1. Boxed Breathing is probably the best and easiest way to get started. It is a technique used by Navy Seals to help get calm and get present fast.
Breathe in for a count of 4.
Hold your breath for a count of 4.
Breathe out for a count of 4.
Hold for a count of 4.
(Repeat)
Breathing exercises such as this brings your focus and attention to your breath. And as long as you’re thinking about your breath you are not thinking about anything else. It can also physically slow down your heart rate and calm you down instantly.
2. Visualizing your favorite place of happiness is another quick and easy way to instantly transport yourself to a place of peace and calm. It’s a quick mind hack because your brain doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and not real when you introduce it to an experience, even if it’s just in your mind.
For example, my favorite place of happiness is Jamaica. So I just close my eyes and visualize being on the beach in Jamaica. I engage all my senses and truly feel the experience of being there, even just for a few seconds. I can get away to Jamaica for a quick vacation even when I’m on a Zoom call.
3. The Breath of Joy is one of my favorites to share with a group, because everyone is smiling or laughing at the end of this exercise.
(You can do this sitting or standing up.)
Raise your arms straight above your head.
Take a deep breath in.
Fold over your body leading with your arms while releasing the exhale, and let out a loud audible sigh: “Ahhhhh…”
Repeat this 3 times.
Q:
What made you start your own meditation journey and how has your own personal life changed since you began meditating?
A:
I found that I am able to handle life’s challenges in a much easier and effective way. There’s a lot life can throw at us, constantly, and some of it can crush you. Someone can say something one moment and really hurt your feelings. You could say or do something that really hurt someone else’s feelings, and you can’t let go of it. Or you could have a responsibility and it didn’t go according to your plan. Those things used to crush me or ruminate in my mind over and over again. I don’t do that anymore. I am easier on myself. I forgive myself easier; I forgive other people easier. No matter what comes to me, things are no longer seen as a problem, they are just challenges I would overcome.
I would say that is the number one benefit for me, to be able to see everything as challenges instead of problems. I have become incredibly resilient. It is something I have been working on, not consciously but it has become a surprising and delightful benefit of meditation.
Q:
What made you open Unplug, the world’s first drop-in meditation studio?
A:
I worked in a very fast-paced industry in New York at the time as a fashion editor. My life was constantly going 200 miles an hour. We moved from New York to Los Angeles when my husband got a great job offer here, and for the first time in my life I wasn’t working. I felt uncomfortable and didn’t know what to do with myself. So I got back into the fashion industry, started working with New York again. I had 3 kids, I was working, and traveling back and forth between L.A. and New York. It was a very stressful time.
It was my mother-in-law who pulled me aside and said, “You need to calm down, let’s try this” and showed me how to meditate. I was immediately fascinated, and thought, what is this, this is amazing. But this feels hard, how can I make this easier? At the time, while traveling and busy with life, I was looking for a meditation studio I could just pop in for a class to feel better, but couldn’t find any. So I created Unplug, a place where I could go to meditate and destress, for 30–45 minutes at a time.
My personality has always been that if I have a good idea and it doesn’t exist out there, I don’t overthink it, I just do it and make it happen. And that is really my story, for anybody who's reading this, YOU can make it happen. Everything you need to know you will learn by doing along the way. Whatever it is you want to do, just start by doing it.
Q:
What can students expect to get out of the Unplug Teacher Training program?
A:
If there is one thing I can give to every student who graduates from the Unplug Meditation Teacher Training program, it is confidence.
I think the biggest hurdle we have is not feeling confident enough to teach others. Everyone who walks out of our meditation program has in-depth knowledge on what meditation is, how to do it, the scientific facts behind it, and how to guide others through the practice. Being able to offer that is a huge deal.
What I love about our program is seeing everyone actually doing and practicing, even if they are nervous and don’t feel they are any good in the beginning. We show them that it is the practice that makes it perfect. A lot of teachers learn the knowledge but don’t get to practice much within a program. The Unplug Meditation Teacher Training program is a balanced combination of Davidji’s wisdom and my experience as a business owner forming practical lessons and applications of how teachers can build their own teaching practice, or if anything, become expert meditators themselves.
Everyone who enrolled in our program is not only connected with me and Davidji for life, but often forms lifelong friendships with other teachers from the same program. We follow each other’s progress and are each other’s biggest cheerleaders. I’ve seen our graduates do some amazing things, such as open up meditation studios all around the world. We don’t just graduate you and say “goodbye,” you will be a part of the Unplug community for life. We help create a network of support for our graduates. I believe teachers become teachers because they’ve got something to offer, and I get great satisfaction helping others achieve their goals. Much like when I opened Unplug I felt like I got so much out of meditation that I wanted to share that wisdom, and now our graduates are sharing their wisdom, so on and so forth. Pretty soon that ripple becomes bigger and bigger and we create a world we really want to live in.
Q:
Are there any new and exciting plans for Unplug in 2022?
A:
Yes, there are lots! We are expanding our corporate program to engage corporations more in 2022. We will be teaching live sessions at several companies coming up. My goal is to create more consistency and to really make meditation a part of people’s daily life like brushing their teeth.
We have some exciting new partnerships coming up with The New York Times and Apple. We are also adding fun new features to our existing platforms, such as live streaming our studio classes so people from all over the world can attend, and adding the SharePlay feature on the Unplug Meditation app so friends and family can meditate as a group together. We are always adding cool new features to improve on what we currently have.
And we will of course be launching a new teacher training program on January 24, 2022. It is our 10th program now and we are having more and more people from all over the world join us. We have seen some modern Unplug-style meditation studios pop up in different corners of the world by our graduates, such as the gorgeous Medicha in Tokyo, Japan, and it’s exciting!
Suze Yalof Schwartz is the founder and CEO of Unplug Meditation and author of Unplug: A Simple Guide to Meditation for Busy Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers.
Unplug Meditation is located in Los Angeles, CA and offers live studio and virtual classes. You can also download the Unplug Meditation app on iOS or Android to access 850+ guided meditations from 80+ world-renowned guides and teachers.
You can follow Unplug Meditation on Instagram or Facebook to keep up with news and updates.
