WHAT IF LIFE FELT LIKE REMEDY?
Designing more than rooms. Slow living inspired by Remedy Place.
Welcome to Issue #027 of Sojourn. Each week, I share two original essays to help you slow down, reconnect, and rebuild with intention (hence ‘sojourn’), in a private community that uses travel as a path to reinvention.
THE ROOM THAT HELD MORE THAN REST
I had just arrived at Remedy Place in SoHo, NYC.
The pioneer “wellness social club” built to restore you—physically, emotionally, energetically.
As I waited for my scheduled AI massage (still thinking about it), I picked up a book on the table called Calm, by Sally Denning, a Simon & Schuster publication.
The scent of cedar, I believe, lingered in the air. Everything around me was intentional—quiet colors, soft textures, low lights, space to breathe.
And while there, something happened:
My thoughts slowed. My shoulders seemed to drop. My body exhaled.
Not because someone told me to relax.
But because the space reminded me how.
IT WASN’T JUST A ROOM
It was a rhythm.
One that didn’t ask me to perform or produce.
One that didn’t demand more from me to feel worthy.
It gave me a pace I didn’t realize I’d lost.
I didn’t need stimulation, noise, or productivity to feel held.
I needed silence, slowness, and sensory ease.
And I left thinking:
What if we built our lives the same way?
THE TURNING POINT
For years, I designed my days like hotel rooms packed with amenities—everything in reach, nothing in harmony.
But the older I get, the more I crave subtraction.
Less input. Fewer decisions. More presence.
I don’t want more stimulation. I want more serenity.
I want space that makes me feel like a person.
Because at the end of the day, what we’re all seeking isn’t luxury.
We’re seeking calm.
WHY THIS MATTERS
You don’t need a retreat to reset, although it helps.
You can start with what surrounds you.
Dim the lights.
Soften the edges.
Protect the quiet.
Design your day like it’s meant to support you—because it is.
As Dr. Jonathan Leary says,
“Everything that applies to your senses has a purpose to make your body more relaxed and comfortable.”
And sometimes, that’s all we really need:
To feel safe enough to breathe differently.
PROMPTS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
→ What kind of pace does your home invite?
→ Where could you remove, soften, or slow—rather than add?
→ How can you use your surroundings to shift your inner state?
THE REFRAME
The best spaces don’t just give you a view.
They give you back to yourself.
Design isn’t just what you see.
It’s what you feel when the noise is gone.
And sometimes, the most powerful shift isn’t something new.
It’s the calm you remember was possible all along.
~ Ana